Rising Above Limits with Jose Flores

You are now tuning in to Discover Your Potential. So listen, participate, be inspired, know that you can discover your potential. Hello everyone, you're watching Discover Your Potential. I'm your host Dan Gilman, and I am honored and blessed to have a dialogue with the amazing and extraordinary Jose Flores. Jose is a global motivator, mindset disruptor, and the number one best-selling author. He speaks all around the world using his unique story of growing up with a physical disability and how can you use your power of your mind to overcome anything in life. His main message is to never allow your struggle to become your standard and how to dominate your life and in your business. I want to introduce, and it's an honor and a privilege to introduce you to discover your potential. Hi, Jose. Thank you so much for being here. Hey, Dan, man. Thank you for having me. I appreciate it. Well, again, it's truly an honor. You inspire me. You've always inspired me. You've inspired millions across the globe. And I wanted to start with your upbringing. What was it like growing up in your background of your story? And I know you were also born with a disability called muscular atrophy. And I would love for you to talk about just your whole background. Yeah, yeah, for sure. So I was born and raised in the Bronx, New York. I had a great childhood. And, you know, like you mentioned, I was born with a neuromuscular condition. It's called spinal muscular atrophy. It's in the muscular dystrophy family. and my mom, you know, everybody, I used to walk with a little limp, but everybody was like, oh, look at him. He looks so cute. He walks like a little tough guy. And it was cute until my mom noticed that it wasn't going away. So that's when she took me to the doctors to go get checked out. And they did a muscle biopsy and they, you know, they determined that they diagnosed me with spinal muscular atrophy. And the thing is, is that I was fine though, you know, other than that little link that I walked with, I was able to, you know, go up and down the steps, right? I learned how to ride a bike. I would climb trees, skateboard, roller skate, you know, I played sports. So I had a great childhood. But once I got into high school, that's when I really started to feel the shifting in my body. That's when things started to get a little weaker. My body started to get a little weaker and things started to become a little more difficult for me to do. And, you know, it was tough because high school, we all know what high school is like. High school is, you know, you're trying to figure out and try to fit in, see where you can fit in or get in. And you try to, you know, see what you want to do in the future and start thinking about, you know, your career and if you're going to go to college or whatever the case may be. And for me, you know, the doctors that told me when I was younger that they were expecting me to be in a wheelchair by the age of 15. And they weren't even expecting me to live past my teenage years, which is crazy. And so I wasn't thinking about my future. I wasn't thinking about college or career because I was in survival mode. I was just trying to, you know, make it to 19. And I actually didn't end up in a wheelchair until I was 22 years old. And that's when I moved from New York to Florida, where I currently reside. And again, you know, you're 22. I'm in a new state, new environment. I don't know anyone. I don't know how to get around. So I'm excited, but I'm also a little afraid. and then a couple months after I moved down, I lose my ability to walk and now I'm in another dark place and I'm like, oh man, what am I going to do now? So it was tough, man. High school and then after high school, things got tough. But my childhood was great. Like I said, Bronx, New York, it was fun. I was born in the late 70s, grew up in the 80s and 90s and we had a lot of fun, man. So when did you meet your amazing wife, by the way? I met her when I moved to Florida. You know, I got, you know, I was on, it's the thing, man. So when I was younger, my, my, you know, my dad passed away when I was young. So I got what was called survivor's benefits. And then when I turned 18, that turned into SSI, disability. Right. And so I was getting $850 a month. and when I moved to Florida, I'm like, this is crazy. Who the heck can live off of a measly $850 a month? So I said, I got to do something. So I went and got a job. So I got this job at this corporate company. It's a timeshare company. And that's where I met my wife. She was working there. When I got hired, we were on the same team and we used to hang out with the same group of peers. And we just became really good friends and then turned into best friends. And then, you know, I built up the courage to ask her to be my Valentine one day. And she said, yes. And that was all she wrote. Wow. That's great. And that was 20 years ago. I know you've, you've worked with Les Brown. You have the Les Brown connection. When did you start working with Les? That was in December of 2015. I met him at an event that he was speaking at, and that a friend of mine was speaking at and invited me to the event. And it's funny, I write about it extensively, that whole experience in my book. But long story short, I was on a mission to meet Les because he came down to Florida. He was on a tour with Get Motivated. That's a seminar they traveled the United States. So he was on a tour with them. He was in Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and Miami. So I went to Fort Lauderdale, saw him speak. I was hoping to try to catch up with him there. I missed my shot there. But I met the CEO of the company, Brian Forte, and he actually invited me to come speak the following week at the West Palm Beach Convention Center. He said, hey, man, I heard you're an up-and-coming speaker. And I was like, yes, I am. And he was like, well, if you can make it, I'll give you 10 minutes and you can show me what you got. So I was like, oh, man, I'll be there. So I showed up. Les was there as well, but he showed up literally just in time to get on stage. And so I saw him speak again. But when I went backstage this time, because now I have backstage access, when he was done with his presentation and I rushed backstage to go catch up with him, he had already left because he had another event to go to. But anyway, then he went to Miami that same day. So that's why he left right away because he had another engagement in Miami. That happened to be the same event that a friend of mine was speaking at. And that's where I finally met him. We locked eyes. He shook my hand, gave me a hug. We took a picture. And then I gave him my speaker kit. And I was in an envelope and I had everything in there. And that was on a Wednesday. That Thursday I go to work. and get a phone call. And it was Les calling me the very next day, asking me how he can help me and how did I hear about him. And we had about an hour long conversation. And that was six years ago. Yeah. He wrote the forward to my book, the bestselling book, Don't Let Your Struggle Become Your Standard. And we went on tour together three years ago and done a bunch of things together. And I love him. He's like my spiritual pops. He calls me his spiritual son. I call him my spiritual pops and such an amazing guy. Yeah, he really, really is. And we'll talk about your book soon as well today. But you're known as the mindset disruptor, right? People need your support, especially right now. With so many, I would say there's so many disruptions in life right now. People reconsidering their entire life, really. Quitting their job. millions of people just quit their job and and shifting making a shift with their with mindset uh and i i wanted to say you know life is as you as as you've mentioned life is so amazing and and just to be alive is just is a gift for everybody actually but people don't stop and realize how blessed we all are actually those who are living i unfortunately i lost my mother in April, but it's, I, that's the reason why, one of the reasons why I took over her show was because I wanted to continue to touch people's lives as she did. So especially amplify that and have people like you on who help others. And I'd love to listen, hear more about, you know, the disruption of, of, of, you know, mindset disruption. That's fine. I like to say that you have to find your why before you find your high. Right. So what is that high that gets you high on life? So before you can find your high, you have to find your why because they're attached. So for me, like you said, sometimes you're just grateful to be alive. And for me, that's a very powerful statement because according to what the doctor said, my cutoff date was 19 years old. And so for me, waking up every morning and just thanking God that I'm alive, that holds so much weight for me. And that's what really pushes me through on the days where I'm down and the days where I'm feeling a little off because I'm alive. Right. Some people didn't wake up today and you and I did. Right. And, you know, for some other people who may not have any type of physical disability or mental disability, and they don't really think about being grateful for being alive because, you know, we do take things for granted. Right. So it's like we go to sleep, we wake up, you know, we do our thing throughout the day. and it's just like rinse, wash and repeat. And so we don't really think about, wow, I'm alive. And like, how powerful is that? Like, I'm here. What am I doing with myself? Like, what am I good at doing? That's why we have to ask ourselves those questions. Like, if you're listening to this or watching this show and you're struggling right now, you know, maybe the COVID or maybe even before COVID you were struggling with, you know, finding out who you are and what your purpose is and struggling with your identity. Those are some of the questions you have to ask yourself. Like I always said, like, what the heck on earth am I doing here? Like, why was I born like this? Why wasn't I given a fair shot at life like everyone else? You know, those are the questions I had. And maybe you have similar questions like that as well. But once you can remove those questions, right, because those are all negative questions. They're valid, but they're more have a negative connotation to them. But when you can start switching, you know, switching it up and flip the script and just start asking yourself, well, this didn't happen to me. It happened for me. And when you figure out why that happened for you and, you know, what your purpose is in life, that's going to catapult you to the next level. So once you and that's the problem with most people that they're not doing what they would what they've been created to do, you know, because we've been programmed. Right Go to go to school go to college get a job you know hopefully have a retirement retire and then hopefully live long enough to enjoy your retirement That like the kind of basic programming that we all been programmed to have So we get caught in these jobs that we're not happy in, that's not fulfilling to us, where we're not really serving others and, you know, giving impact and impacting lives. And there's so many different ways. Right. And I'm not saying that, you know, if you have a nine to five job that you're not serving, and you're not making impact, you can. And if that's what you love to do, then great. And you're working in your purpose, then great. Go all in with it. But most people aren't. Most people are stuck in jobs that they hate going to every single day. So they're miserable. They're not functioning at high capacities. And they're not living their life to the fullest. And that all has to do with the mindset. So once you can disrupt that theme and that story, right? The story that we've been told in that programming, I mean, once we can disrupt all of that and then start from scratch and just ask ourselves, well, what do I like to do? What do I love to do? You know, who can who can who can benefit from what I'm good at doing and asking yourself those questions and really digging deep. Right. And for me, you know, one of the things is funny, because for me, when I was younger and I was in school, I always used to get in trouble for talking in class. And we joke about that now, my mom and I, because I'm like, who would have known all these years later? I'd be getting paid for talking too much. Right. Or so much. And so, but that was a gift, right? And, you know, being from New York, you know, New Yorkers are automatically known for having the gift of gab. So we're talkers by nature, right? We love to talk. We have great personalities. And we talk that talk. And so, you know, growing up in New York and learning the gift of gab and then bringing that into my adulthood, you know, I didn't know that was a gift. I just thought that that was a part of my environment. That's how I grew up. We had great personalities. We were always outgoing. We were always outspoken, always opinionated. And so I carried that into my adulthood. And then I just learned how to master the art of speaking and using my story, using my experiences to touch the lives of others, to touch the hearts and minds of other people. and once you can make that connection with people right because we can all you know for the most part make a head connection with people and that's fine but when you can make a heart connection with people that's when you you touch their heart now that now they're going to become a fan a lifelong fan now they're going to want to be connected to you some way somehow that's why so many people love less right because he knows how to make not only a head connection with people but he knows how to make a heart connection with people. You also mentioned your book, actually, because I'd love to really talk about your book and how people can get access to it. Just as an aside, I'm going to try to give away four or five books of your book, actually, to five lucky people, and I'm going to actually promote this also on social media. But what I'd like to do is if they can send an email to, I'm going to use my mother's old email address, but Cindy at CindyGilman.com. That's Cindy at CindyGilman.com. I will bless, you know, four to five or more people with Jose's book. You must, must read this book. I have, I have a digital copy. I'm put in an order for, for a hard copy. I don't have a hard copy with me today, but it's just, it's, it's brilliant. And it's amazing. And I want everybody to have the gift that you've gifted to so many people. And you're a gift to the world. So I truly appreciate you. And I'm so glad I'm connected. This episode of Discover Your Potential is sponsored by Squarespace. On Discover Your Potential, we talk with people who take bold ideas and turn them into reality. But every great idea needs a home, a place where the world can see it, understand it, and connect with it. That is why we use Squarespace. Squarespace makes it simple to build a beautiful, professional website that reflects your vision. You can showcase your business, launch your podcast, display your portfolio, sell products, or create a platform for your next big idea. Their drag-and-drop tools, award-winning templates, and built-in marketing features give you everything you need in one place. If you have ever dreamed of starting something new, this is your moment. Build your online presence with confidence because Squarespace is designed for creators, entrepreneurs, and dreamers who want to make an impact. So if our guests inspire you to take your next step, let Squarespace help you show the world what you can do. Visit Squarespace today and start building your future. Check out squarespace.com for a free trial. And when you're ready to launch, use offer code DYP to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. Squarespace, where your potential becomes real. That's awesome, man. I appreciate that. And I hope that you guys that are listening are grateful and appreciative that he's going to bless four or five or more of you lucky people because it is a powerful book. You know, one of the things, too, about mindset disruption is that when the mind decides, everything else follows. You know, you have to make up your mind and go after what it is that you really want in life. Because what I'm starting to realize as I get older, Dan, is that life is way too short. life is way too short for us to waste any more time not living our lives to the fullest. I lived in fear. I lived in hiding for so many years because I was embarrassed. I felt guilt, shame, condemnation, you know, and because of my condition, my body was underdeveloped. I was really skinny. And thank God, you know, after I got married, you know, some good cooking here and there, you know, my wife helped me up a little bit. But when I was younger, man, I was looking like sickly skinny, you know, and I was embarrassed about it. So I never went out because I didn't want people looking at me. I wore baggy clothes, trying to mask it, even though it made me look more of a clown, you know, but it wasn't until I really started asking myself those questions. Like, like I was saying, I was on disability checks and I didn't want that anymore. I wanted more out of life. So what did I do? I went and got a job and I worked my way up the corporate ladder. I have a 20 year corporate America background and I worked my way up the ladder. I worked hard. I was there early, left late. You know, my numbers and my stats and my production was always high. I was always a high top. I was always one of the top producers, you know, getting awards and recognition and appreciation and all of those things. And it's because I wanted more of life. And for me personally, I always felt like I had to prove myself to people, not because, you know, of anything they did. But in my own mind, I felt like like I was the underdog right in a wheelchair. People are already stereotyping me. People are already thinking that I'm not capable. And so I always felt like I had to prove myself to people. So I did that through my work ethic, through the way I work, through the way I spoke. I try to speak properly and let people know that I'm well-read and also let them know that I'm intelligent and I'm educated. Just because I'm in a wheelchair doesn't mean that I'm dumb or I'm not qualified to do certain things or I'm not capable. So I always felt like I had to prove myself to people and show people like, hey, this wheelchair doesn't define me, guys. Get to know me, get to know who I am, get to know what's in my head and not what you see. And you'll see that I'm just a regular person just like you. And so that's kind of like the mindset that I had growing up. And then once I was able to build up the courage and then, you know, be secure in my identity and who I am and understanding that, you know, this condition didn't happen to me, it happened for me. And, you know, with school, man, Dan, I was doing an interview the other day, I think last week sometime. And I shared that same thing. And I was like, you know, once I understood that this condition didn't happen to me, it happened for me, the guy who was interviewing me, he was like, well, it didn't only happen for you, Jose. It happened for all of us too. Absolutely. And that kind of like clicked for me. It blew my mind because I was like, wow, I never even thought about that. Like it happened for me, but it happened for everybody else because of the way that I show up for everyone else. Like I live my life, obviously, you know, for my family, my wife and my children, but you know, I wake up every day on fire then because of all the other people that I get to touch and inspire and impact and motivate and encourage their lives. Like I'm already inspired. I'm already motivated. You know, that's why they, Les Brown calls me the motivator to the motivators because I motivate him, you know, and you know, there's days where I need motivation. Right. And that's when my wife kicks in, you know, she's an amazing motivator to me. She's an amazing inspiration, but I'm that guy. I'm the one that people look to for motivation, for inspiration. And so I have to show up. I feel obligated to show up every day because I know that people are looking for that post or that email or that video or whatever type of contact or reach that they have with me because it inspires them. And so me not showing up, one of my other mentors said, you know, every day that you wake up, Jose, and you don't put a video out there or you don't put a post or some type of content, you're being selfish and arrogant because there's people that County run you. And that blew my mind right there in itself as well. So, you know, I try to show up as best I can every single day, because I know that whether it's through a video or me just, you know, out in my community shopping grocery store, because I do drive my own car with hand controls. And I remember one time going to Costco and going some shopping and the guy helped me out and he saw me hit the button and my ramp, you know, the door opened up and the ramp came out he was like, oh, wow. And you drive too? I go shopping by myself. I drive by myself. He was so surprised to see a guy in a wheelchair living independently. I guess it was some unheard of thing. But it's because it is very unusual to see people in my condition doing the things that I do. So it does shock people and it does inspire and motivate people because they don't see that often. And so when they do see it, they're like, wow, man, this guy is killing it. And the guy wound up telling me, he was like, man, he was like, you just inspired me, man. Just seeing you doing your thing and shopping and now driving and going home on your own. He was like, you just inspired me, man. I'm not going to complain about anything ever after seeing how you have to live and what you do. And so it was like, we didn't even exchange any words other than that. He just saw me and was inspired by what he saw. And had he not said nothing, I would have never known that he was inspired. But I'm pretty sure that there's so many other people that see me just live my life that don't say anything to me that walk away inspired. And so that's why I show up for life every single day, Dan. Yeah, that's incredible. Yeah and not only inspire but educate too So there some education that people just they they never been around so and bringing that awareness i an advocate for you know people that that have all type of different you know different abilities which is what i really like to call it a lot to say different abilities so when you see somebody with a different ability you know acknowledge them and have that conversation and educate yourself, like you said, and have that awareness so that now you can share that awareness with your peers in conversations. So many people tell me, oh man, I was talking to somebody about you today and telling them about this. That's ongoing education, right? And I don't even know that that's happening unless they tell me. But it's cool because I want people to be educated. I want to raise awareness that, you know, people like me or similar to me or, you know, whatever type of situation you may be in that we're just as human as you are. We want to be loved just like you want to be loved. And we want to love like you love. And we just want to like be normal. Like my whole life, I just wanted to be normal, right? I just wanted people to treat me normal. And then when I became an adult, I was like, I don't want to be normal. Right. Because then that means I look and that means I look like everyone else. I'm doing what everyone else is doing because that's what normal people do. So it's kind of funny, like that paradigm shift of wanting to be normal, then getting older and not wanting to be normal and being set apart and being different. And so it's funny, man, how life happens. Yeah, it really is. as your as far as your book is concerned it's uh i just wanted to show don't let your struggle become your standard and that is available on amazon barnes and noble too correct yeah amazon barnes and noble um if you want to get a signed copy you can get it through my website at joseinspires.com i'll go ahead and sign a copy and have my team ship it out to you if you have an organization. That's where I'll get those books from. Yeah, exactly. If you have an organization or you do book clubs, you can order them from Amazon and all those other sites. But if you want the signed copy, I'll go ahead and personalize it for you. Ship them out. No extra charge for that. I know some people charge extra for the signatures, but no extra charge for that. And enjoy the book. I wrote the book, Dan, because I know what it is to struggle. I struggle every single day living this life that I have to live. And it wasn't until I learned not to let that struggle become my standard that my life changed forever. And the issue is that people will allow their struggle to become their standard. And then that standard becomes their norm and that norm becomes their comfort zone. And then years and decades and decades pass and you're still allowing that struggle to become your standard. And you think it's OK, right? You're comfortable. So when you step out of that comfort zone and then you experience these different things, it feels a little awkward sometimes. So you go back into your comfort zone where you really don't want to be, but you've settled there and you're satisfied. You become satisfied with living there because in your mind, you're thinking, well, this is what it is. This is what my life is like. This is what it's going to be. And we hear people say it is what it is. But I wrote the book because I wanted to tell you that it's not what it is. it's not what it is and it can become more. And the moment that you learn not to let your struggle become your standard will be the moment that you disrupt your mindset. You can even disrupt your environment and you can move forward in life and you can excel in life and you can become successful because I forgot who said it. I want to say it was Bill Gates, if I'm not mistaken. I think it was Bill Gates, but he said, you know, if you're born poor, that's not your fault. But if you remain poor, that is your fault. Right? And so that just means that, you know, we don't have the option or the choice to pick which environment we want to be born into. But once we're born, and we start, you know, we're becoming adults, and we're making choices and decisions on our own. Now that's, now that's on us. Like, we can't blame anyone else for the choices and decisions we make. So we want something in life. We got to go after it, right? It's going to take work. It's going to take dedication. It's going to take commitment. It's going to take sacrifice. And those are all words that many people struggle with, right? Because if that was the case, if that wasn't the case, that everyone would be fit, looking amazing and successful and attacking life like never before. But the reality is, is that most people aren't. And it's because to be able to accomplish those words, right? Dedication, commitment, sacrifice, you know, and those things, you have to put in the work. You have to do, because this is the reality, ladies and gentlemen, is that if you're doing the same thing that everyone else is doing, you're going to get the same results, right? Most people are average. Most people are normal. So if you're doing what everyone else is doing, then you're going to be average and you're going to be normal. You're going to be mediocre. But in order for you to surpass the norm and surpass the mediocrity, you have to do a little bit more, right? And sometimes you can do a lot more, right? As your energy allows you. But I like to say slow and steady wins the race. So if you just, and we've heard this said before, Dan, if you just give yourself or do better than you did before, the day before, just 1%, even a half a percent, every single day, you're doing better than most people. Because remember, everyone else is just doing just enough to get by. But if you want more than that, then you have to do a little bit more and a little bit more and a little bit more. And then you'll start to see that those little movements, those little actions that you're taking start to turn into big actions and big moves. And then you'll find yourself in a different place. Yeah. Yes, absolutely. That makes sense. And people can go to your website too. I just want to post your website up there, Joseinspires.com, and get more information. Do you have any special events coming up shortly, or even virtual events, or speaking events that you're doing? I actually have a couple of events coming up, but they're private events for organizations. I typically throw my own event. I've done some of my own events. Obviously, with COVID, We haven't done anything. My goal is to definitely throw an event this year. So when we decide that, we'll definitely let you guys know. So make sure you follow me on social media is the best way to stay up to date with what I'm doing. And that's simple as well. It's at Jose Inspires on all platforms. And one other thing I wanted to mention, Dan, was that my wife and I just finished writing a book also on marriage, and it's called What Real Love Looks Like. How to have it all, even when you don't have it all. And so that's an amazing book. We just finished writing it. It's in the final processes of we're adding all the edits to it because our editor already edited it. We're just adding the edits to it. And my wife and I are going to be having marriage retreats, marriage seminars. And this is only for married couples. This is for, you know, single people as well. But this is primarily for, you know, couples who have, are struggling in marriage because we know that a lot of marriages are struggling. You know, they look great on the outside, but they're broken and screaming for help on the inside. So we want to be able to help those marriages, right? Maybe spark the flame again. And then we want to help those marriages that maybe are doing healthy, but just need a little marriage tune up and they just need some help fanning the flame. So we want to be able to help those marriages as well. So those marriages that are doing good, right? And they just want a tune up or maybe just stay in the flame. We want to help those out. And then the ones that are struggling as well. And then even those single people that are looking for that right person in their lives, who may want to just know what real love looks like. Maybe they're searching for that real love. Maybe they've been burnt and maybe they've been hurt in the past and they don't have an idea. Maybe they come from a broken home, So they don't know what real love looks like. My wife and I both come from broken homes. And but we have been married for quite some time now and we've been together even longer than that. So we believe that we want we have the life experience. Not only do we go through the same thing that every other marriage goes through, but we also we throw in the wheelchair aspect of it. And now my wife is not only my wife, but she's my caregiver. She takes care of me, takes care of the family. That's a whole that's a whole other ballpark. of, of, of responsibility. Right. And so when we talk about all of that, we talk about sex in the book, we talk about intentionality, we talk about communication, friendship. We talk about surviving and not just surviving. And then we have this really cool concept called Operation Recon, which I'm not going to give you the details about that, but it's something that we've done. It's powerful. It's worked. We've already tried it and tested it in other people's lives. And it's a powerful tool for marriages to come up and just keep families together. So that's going to be happening very shortly here also as well. Yeah. So be on the lookout for that. When did you, when did you actually, I know you were, you were speaking and working full time, but when did you actually find your purpose and actually focus on, Oh, this is really what I want to do for my life. I'm not going to be in, in this job. I want to move on to just speaking full time. Yeah. Yeah, no, that's a great question. For me, it was like, you know, I was just basically getting sick and tired of being sick and tired and just kind of living in the rat race, you know, the nine to five. And like I said, it was great, you know, while I was doing it, but I just knew that there was more that I could be doing than what I was doing. And I really wasn't making any impact. You know, the people in my, around my job, they were inspired when I first got there. Cause it was like, wow, this guy's in a wheelchair. He shows up every day. He's amazing. After a while, we just start turning into family. Right. So it's like no big deal. But then after that, there's really no one I'm inspiring or impacting with working in corporate America. So I was like, well, there has to be the more than life than just this, like working this job for the next 20, 30 years or whatever that looks like. It's just, I didn't want to do that. So I said, well, you know, I was the majority of my life. I was always focusing on the things I didn't have and the things that I couldn't do. And so I was like, well, we already know what that is. So what can you do? What do you have? And I said, well, I still have my voice and I still have my mind. So I said, let me look into motivational speaking. So I literally just Googled motivational speaking. And that's when I started coming across people like Les Brown and Tony Robbins John Maxwell and Eric Thomas and all of these Inky Johnson and all of these great speakers And I like my goodness all of these guys are physically able to body individuals And they're making a ton of impact and a ton of income by just using their voice in their mind. And I said, well, I have a great story. I have a voice and I have a mind. I can do the same thing. So I really started just diving really deep into that industry and just practicing, you know, practicing my craft. I know I was a good speaker. I know I had a good story. I just had to learn and figure out how to develop that story and craft that story in a way that was compelling and interesting and intriguing and also thought provoking and just, you know, putting things together. And again, like just practicing, I would just put up my cell phone, hit record, and then talk and then watch it and then critique myself, have my wife critique me. And that's how I started my journey in becoming a speaker. And then I put up a post yesterday. I don't know if you saw it, but yesterday was my anniversary, the 17th of January, where four years ago, my job, the corporate job that I was working, they had laid me off. and I was already speaking, you know, making money, making money speaking. I was already selling book, my book, but it wasn't to the level where it covered my whole salary. But I said, you know what? I felt like that was just God giving me the push that I needed to step into my greatness. And so I could have easily just gotten another job fairly quickly because I have a ton of experience, but, and it was a little, you know, I made the jump, I made the leap. I was afraid, but I did it afraid anyhow. And I said, well, we're going to see how this happens and let's just go with it. And so I, you know, we started our company and I said, well, this is rock and roll. And here we are four years later doing what we love to do and still kicking even through COVID and everything. And, you know, it's not easy, but like I said in the post, it's very rewarding and very fulfilling. And I'm just believing that this is going to be a breakthrough year where we're going to be doing a lot more speaking live on stage and even internationally and for a lot more organizations and even corporate. I love going back to corporate and speaking to corporate because that's where it all started for me. So I know the language, I know the lingo, I know a lot of the processes and procedures and the expectations. So I like to go back into corporate America and share with them what I've learned on my journey in entrepreneurship, but also what I've learned throughout my 20-year tenure in corporate America. But what would you give for feedback if somebody said, you know, I'm struggling, I'm stuck in this job, nine-to-five job, I really don't, I'm really not happy with my lifestyle, where would you begin or how could you help them? Or is that a good place for them to reach out to you to mentor them or to work with them if you do that? I know you do a lot of corporate work, but how do people engage and work with you? Yeah, absolutely. That's a good question. I do coaching as well. I do corporate coaching. I also do life coaching as well. So I have clients that aren't in the corporate world that I coach because like you said, they may be struggling with where they are in life and they don't know how to figure it out and they need some help. But I also coach corporate executives and leadership teams as well on how they can improve their processes and their transparency and engagement within the organization and the culture also. But, you know, if somebody reached out and said, hey, you know, I'm in a job. I feel stuck. I don't know what to do. You know, I just start by asking questions. You know, that's what good coaches do. They ask good questions, not because they don't know the answer, but they want their clients to know the answer. And most of the time they know the answer. They just haven't dug deep enough to pull it out. So I'll say something like, well, what makes you happy? Whatever they say. You know, I love working with children, for example. Okay, well, what about working with children do you love? And then we just start going down this path of discovery, right? So they can discover who they are, what they love and what they would love to do. And then we just talk about, okay, well, this sounds like what you like to do or what you love to do. How can we get you to that place to where you can be doing that instead of what you're doing now? What does that look like? Then we have them write that down. We talk about that. We discuss it. And then now we talk about an action plan, right? Okay, well, now we talked about how that looks like. Now, how do we get there? Action steps that we need to take. Maybe you have to learn a new skill set. So that means that you'll have to do like I was doing, working my full time nine to five job. And then after work, coming home and working from six to eleven, six to midnight sometimes and learning and doing things that I needed to do to get to where I am now. So it's going to be a rough road ahead of you. But if you want, like I said, if you want to see change, then you need to change and you need to make the change. And so it's about putting in that work. It's literally about putting in the work. We all have the capability of doing it. It's whether or not we let our mind play tricks on us like, oh, I don't feel like it. Oh, I'd rather just Netflix and chill. Or, oh, I'd just rather just go to the beach and hang out. And there's nothing wrong with those things. But if you want your life to be different, then that has to change. So I remember when I was writing my book, I was literally working my full time job. I would come home sometimes and write, but I was wiped out from my day at work. So I would write my book on the weekends. Every single weekend, I'm at the computer for four or five, six hours a day, Saturday and Sunday, literally writing. And so that meant that I missed going out to barbecues, pool parties, the beach, even movies, sometimes even date nights with my wife. She knew I was in a season of execution, so she understood. But that meant that I had to really get laser focused and put the work in so that I can get the result. And because of the work that I did and because of the choice that I made to miss out on a little bit of life for a small moment to gain bigger results, now my book is the number one bestseller. It was featured in Forbes, Yahoo Finance, and USA Today during COVID as one of the top 20 books to read during the pandemic. And so, you know, the proof is in the pudding, man. If you want to see amazing results, then you have to be willing to put in some amazing work. And it's just as simple as that. And asking yourself what it is that you really want in life and how can you make it happen? Is there one thing that you would give to our audience before we end today's show? Absolutely, Dan. You know, first thing I would like to do is just as a small token of my appreciation of you for having me on the show and everyone who's listening and watching the show for showing up. I want to give you a free gift, completely free, no strings attached. You just go to freegift.hoseinspires.com and you can download an MP3 downloadable on one of my motivational talks on the power of showing up. So I share a little bit about the Les Brown story. I share a little bit about, you know, just showing up for life in general. So because you all showed up and you're listening and you're watching, go ahead and go to freegift.hoseinspires.com, download your free gift and um and enjoy and enjoy the audio listening uh it's great and you know the reality is that if we showed up again uh for life at a higher level we start to see higher results and it's as simple as that you got to show up you got to play to win and you got to go all in that's why i have my my podcast i won't stop until i win matter of fact if you're listening and you want to check that out, you can go on iTunes, Spotify, anywhere you can find podcasts. I won't stop until I win with Jose Flores. You can check that out. And yeah, man, I just want to thank you, Dan, again, for having me on. And if anybody that's listening and watching or watching this program, Discover Your Potential, that's exactly what I want you to do for 2022. I want you to discover your potential. I want you to discover your purpose. I want you to discover why you were created to live this life that you're living. And I want you to have an enjoyable discovery, right? Because when you start to discover things, when you start to unpack things and unfold things in your own life and learn things about yourself, now you become capable of going out there and helping other people to do the same. That's exactly what I'm doing. I used to be hiding. I used to hide from the world. I used to live in fear. I had this limiting belief system. I had self-doubt, you know, low confidence and all of these different things. And little by little over time, by me learning more, doing more and becoming more, I've been able to become this person that I am today. That's not the person I was just 10 years ago, just 10 years ago. And so, you know, you can live an amazing life in a short amount of time, It's going to take work. But when you think about it, I'm 45 years old. So just 10 years ago, I was 35. So 35 years of my life, I was living this average life. And when I made the decision in a short, and it hasn't even been 10 years. It's probably been like, I would say like six or six years, six or seven years. Right. But in a short six, seven years, my whole life was completely changed, completely changed. Right. And I know if it can happen for me, it can happen for you guys. So I just want to encourage you. I want to inspire you. I want to motivate you to go out there and live your life to the full. Live full. Live full and die empty. I appreciate you guys and I love you guys. And thank you for listening to me. And again, Dan, thank you for having me. Have an amazing 2022, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you. Yeah, I hope you'll be able to come on again, actually. We could do a live show and do call-ins, which would be amazing. and how people actually ask questions, which I always love. Oh, that's my favorite part. I love Q&A. And maybe I can come on again when my wife and I, when the book actually drops. That would be great. I'd love it. That would be great that we could have both of you on. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Possibly. That would be great. Yeah, when we have to do interviews about the book, she'll be on for sure. Excellent. That's a whole other amazing thing that we're doing. And, you know, not only do I do the online digital courses and I have my books and I do coaching and speaking, but now this whole marriage aspect, we're really excited about it. It's going to be huge. Yeah. Absolutely. You're going to help a lot of couples and a lot of people. So that's wonderful. Yeah, yeah, man. So thanks again, man. I appreciate you. Thank you. This is Cindy Gilman, and you're listening to Discover Your Potential. So until next time, do something nice for yourself, but do something nice for someone else.