Awaken Your Inner Action Hero. John Davis

Bob: [00:01:00] Welcome to another episode of Money You Should Ask. I’m your host, Bob Wheeler. And in this episode, we’re going to explore, question, examine, converse, dig deep, expose, laugh and cry about the money beliefs, money blocks, and life challenges of our next guest. Turn up the volume, listen, learn and laugh.

Our next guest is John Davis. He is an internationally known keynote speaker, comedian, fight director, stuntman, college professor artistic director, comedy sword fighter, and action hero. He’s traveled extensively throughout the world. Speaking to audiences of all ages and all backgrounds. He’s done over 4,000 live performances.

John inspires you to set and reach your maximum potential and awaken your inner action hero. John is so awesome to have you here. I so appreciate you coming on and joining the show.

John: [00:01:55] I’m so happy to be here. Really excited to get into this and have some fun with you guys.

Bob: [00:02:00] So you you call yourself a Corporate Action Hero. Tell me a little bit about that.

John: [00:02:06] All right. Well, well, before we get into that, let’s, let’s let’s first explain the difference between an action hero and a superhero. See, action heroes are ordinary individuals who create extraordinary results in service of others. And a superhero is someone who wears their underwear on the outside of their pants was irradiated by some sort of goo and probably has super powers. That’s the main difference. What’s really cool about COVID and all the stuff we’re going through right now is the fact that we don’t know whether we’re wearing our underwear because of the cameras.

Bob: [00:02:34] If we’re wearing underwear.

John: [00:02:37] Exactly. I can be wearing feathers for all you know, at this point, but I call myself the Corporate Action Hero because after years of doing all the, all of that work, I discovered that I was really enjoying, helping people. You know, awaken that power within themselves, that I’ve found in myself.

And so I just started to taking it out into the corporate world and then became a corporate speaker. And one of the, one of the neat things that I do when I go into my corporate speeches is I use bullwhips and numb chucks and crazy things like that. And I actually, the final, the finale of one of my big speeches is I’ll drag someone up on stage and an under five minutes time, they will learn to crack a whip and take targets out of my hand.

Bob: [00:03:14] Wow. That’s pretty awesome. That’s pretty trusting.

John: [00:03:19] That’s that’s well, you know, it’s interesting. It literally is. I really trust the inner power of the person on stage because it literally is them taking their power and, and basically hacking their mind hack in their fear.

Bob: [00:03:31] No, that’s awesome. And when you were a kid, did you always want to be either a superhero or an action hero when you were young?

John: [00:03:39] When I was a kid, I wanted to be Errol Flynn. I wanted, I wanted to do all the swashbuckler movies. And I was very interesting because many, many years later I had the chance to work with a gentleman named Patty Crane who was Errol Flynn’s, stunt double. So I had a chance to actually work with Patty and take some classes from Patty, which is really kind of cool.

But yeah, I was always the kid with the, with a stick in his hand that was a sword swinging from trees with ropes and doing all kinds of crazy things as a kid.

Bob: [00:04:04] That’s awesome. And when you first started. Fighting. I mean, it seems like it’s a little scary. I mean, I know you don’t work with blades initially.

John: [00:04:12] I think you, well, the way it worked for me is I actually first got drug to a Renaissance festival many years ago. And for those of you guys who don’t know what a Renaissance festival is, that means people are somewhere wearing tights and living in the woods. Anyway it was I got jungle Renaissance festival and I ended up liking it so much that I started doing them and I met two guys who are the top two of the five top fight directors in the world. And they immediately threw me into a, a live combat, chess match. And so I, I went from having never done fights to doing six of them in one season.

Bob: [00:04:45] Wow.

John: [00:04:45] And it was amazing.

It was amazing. And it was, it was a fascinating. A fascinating moment to suddenly have a real sword in your hand, but you know, they’re in stage combat. There’s, there’s many safeties to keep you in place to distance placement, timing, communication, and those things, you know, really keep you safe. But there are times, I mean, if you look at my face, you can’t see it in this camera, I’m sure, but there’s, there’s a broad sword scar.

There’s a rapier scar, the numb chucks scar. And. I said that to another fight director in front of mine, he says, you should stop pairing with your face. Hey, we all have different ways. We all have different way. Yeah. You know, you gotta do what you gotta do now.

Bob: [00:05:22] Were you an only kid?

John: [00:05:24] I was number six of seven of a good Catholic family.

Bob: [00:05:27] There you go.

John: [00:05:30] Yeah. I grew up as the baby for 14 years, then this little punk came along that took that role away from me. Cause it’s always good to be the baby of, of the six kids that was render number seven came along and it was like, ah, I want to just smack that kid around, only kidding. I don’t smack kids.

Bob: [00:05:45] Everybody assumed we were Catholic because we had, there were five kids in my family and You know, but we just liked to go to Catholic mass for Christmas and drink wine. So I think that’s why they thought we might be Catholic, but that makes you Catholic confirmed. But we had that same thing when number five came along, number four was like, Hey, wait a minute. I had the good spot.

John: [00:06:07] Right, right. It’s true. It changes, when I had my son, I only have one and I kept saying, I should, we should have a second. And then my wife and I split and I was like, you know, I think it’s probably good that it was only one because then he gets more focus.. But again, it’s a struggle with the sibling rivalry.

Bob: [00:06:22] Exactly. Well, now growing up in a big family, did your family, did your parents talk about money or was there…

John: [00:06:29] That is a great topic because my parents were, were children of people who went through the depression and they came out with a massive lack mentality. And so my parents had a massive black mentality, which made us all have a massive lack mentality because that’s handing that, that mindset down, you know, and it wasn’t until many, many years later when I was able to change my mindset about money, that money started to come.

Bob: [00:06:55] Yeah.

John: [00:06:55] You know? Yeah. Another thing is when you’re not, when you’re in a lack mentality, it’s not just a mentality of lack. It’s your mentality of how you value yourself as well.

Bob: [00:07:04] Absolutely.

John: [00:07:04] When you change your, your perception of value about self, the value starts to come.

Bob: [00:07:10] Absolutely. And, and I want to jump into that a little bit more, but I w I’m curious with knowing that your parents had that Limiting belief. Did you did you get an allowance? Did you have to do chores? Did you have to pitch in obviously in a bigger family, everybody’s got to pull their weight?

John: [00:07:26] Yeah, we had, we had no allowance. We all had to find work early as early as possible. I had a paper route young. And th the fact that we had so many kids, you know, Christmases and all those things were tough for the family.

My father was a plumber. My mother was she actually worked for the church itself. She had her master’s degree in liturgy and was head of the liturgical doctrine at our church. So we had a lot of Catholic stuff going on and we used to call her Saint Joan because she always started a prayer as long as I’m in the neighborhood.

But the thing was, was that that meant  was not only handed down in, in the words that they use, but in the actions they use, whether it raises. So I literally was a paper boy at a very young age, and then I had a job as a stock clerk at a store all through high school in the latter part of junior high, you know, and then when I finally got out of high school, I still had the lack mentality.

I didn’t actually change my mentality about money and, and realize my value of what I was bringing to the market until much later when I started breaking myself free of their beliefs and started really taking control of my own beliefs , which is a huge factor in success.

Bob: [00:08:31] And did your parents put any expectations on you? Like you need to go to Notre Dame or Boston college or you need to be certain, like what, what was, what was the message as, as a kid, as expectations?

John: [00:08:43] As a kid, I showed talent for art, for drawing. And my mother’s big, big thing was that you can’t make money in art, but because you can draw all, you need to be an architect.

Well, if you know, if you know the mental needs of those two professions, artists, aren’t mathematicians, and I am not that guy. Right. You know? The interesting thing was is that by shifting, I went on to, to go to college for architecture and I hated it and ended up going off often doing Renaissance festivals and loved it, found myself acting and doing art and doing all kinds of amazing things and suddenly found myself surrounded by people who were making a lot of money.

Most people don’t realize a lot of the vendors and things that those Renaissance festivals make a lot of money. And many of them who aren’t the traveling. Artisans. They make their, their year’s worth of income in nine, 10 weeks sometimes.

Bob: [00:09:38] Wow.

John: [00:09:39] And it’s, it’s amazing to see that, that, that model of business, but then those people who take that same art and travel into six, seven, eight fairs a year now.

They’re making major money, major money, and then branching out and having booths and multiple fairs at once. And it ends up becoming a huge, huge profitable venture.

Bob: [00:10:01] No, that’s awesome. I have some of family members that are involved in Renaissance festivals, so they’re big, big into that. So I, I live on the peripheral now. What was the turning point for you to say. Wait, I’m having a good time. I’m having fun. I want to follow my passion instead of draw buildings.

John: [00:10:22] Well, well, what was interesting is I started doing those Renaissance festivals, my father and I had her very bad relationship. I mean, of the seven kids. I was the one that he chose not to like, and that’s not even, that sounds funny, but it’s, it’s the honest to God truth.

I was the one who was the, who was beat up and, and, and, and, you know, drug out in the front yard and fist fights and, you know, all kinds of stuff with my father. But but. What was interesting was, is, is that, when I, as I was going to those Renaissance festivals, I found a place where people were giving me positive reinforcement and the more positive reinforcement I got at those places, the more I was building my own self worth, because your self worth is, is going to show itself in your outer experience.

Because if you believe you’re worth nothing, you’re not going to make any money. If you believe you have value. So the more I started doing that work and I started giving back to my community, like when I, my Hack and Slash Comedy Show  when I did the,  comedy show, it went all over the world.

It did amazing things. But when we first started that show, we just were trying to follow our passion. And there’s an old saying by a motorcycle builder, who’s now passed away named Indian Larry. He used to say,” If you do what you love, the money will come.”

Bob: [00:11:34] Right.

John: [00:11:34] And as I started doing what I loved, I started getting more and more work and I started getting more and more opportunities.

And then one day the Pentagon guys showed up at where I was performing and they said, “Would you like to do USO tours?” And I ended up going off and doing USO tours. And so that took me to 16 countries with the USO. And next thing you know, I’m, I’m, I’m. Getting known all over the world. And then the Hack and Slash show got really big..

But then I realized the more I was valuing myself and creating more, more money into my experience, I discovered that I could help other people do that. Yeah. And so after the show I would get off the stage and I sit in the audience for hours, helping people get through their stuff. And next thing you know, I decided I needed to take this to a broader audience.

So I started doing corporate speeches and working with companies to bring their. inner action hero out of their, their teams.

Bob: [00:12:27] That’s so awesome. And I, what I want to ask you specifically for the listeners to remind them is it sounds like it doesn’t just happen overnight, right? You you don’t go from, Oh, I have a bad mindset. Let me change it. Boom. Oh, now everything happens right. There still might be some doubt. There still might. I know I should move towards what I love and it might bring more money, but can tell me a little bit about that process for you.

John: [00:12:52] Okay. So that process actually, one of the most pivotal moment in all of my, my my whole life, I will say that as I said, early on, I was wanting to be a stunt man.

I want to be a fight director. I wanted to do those fights, going to the Renaissance festivals at 22 years old, I was helping someone own load of a box of clay from his, his van. One of those artisans was a Potter.

Bob: [00:13:14] Yeah.

John: [00:13:15] And when I twisted and turned my upper body separated from my lower body and I was collapsed, and was paralyzed.

Bob: [00:13:21] Wow.

John: [00:13:22] And ended up in the hospital and in the hospital, a doctor told me that you’re done. Your career’s over. You’ll never have a physical career. You know, you have spit spinal bifida occulta and you know, basically that means three of my vertebrae never formed properly at birth. And you don’t have the physical back that can do the job that you want to do.

And I ended up. Read a book called The Tao of Jee Kun Do by Bruce Lee. And there was a thing in there about mental flexibility. And as I started dealing with the mental flexibility of my scenario of what I was going through, I found something really interesting that really helps break that mindset. And what it is is that you have only have one present moment that you’re experiencing and only one present moment that you’re living. That giant goal that you’ve set for that financial wellness.

And that, that, that wealth that you’re looking for is, is a giant goal. But that goal is not going to magically appear in your present moment. That goal is only going to happen when you take small successful present moments. The tough part that people have is that their past is nothing but a stack of memories, of present moments.

And in your present moment, if you’re, if you’re thinking about lack and poor and all those things, you’re just creating the subconscious belief behind you. That is telling you that you’re poor. And that’s what my parents were handing down to all of us as kids. But the interesting thing was you can change that subconscious belief by staying firmly present and just doing successful things.

And if you can do that, then you start stacking those present moments behind you. And what’s really interesting about changing the subconscious belief is once you’ve changed that belief, or even when you haven’t changed that belief, when you, whatever you have in your subconscious belief. Is something that you’re believing in the present moment.

And that present moment is subconscious believes is going to help you achieve it. So say for instance, if you decided you wanted to buy a car and suddenly you chose the kind of car you wanted, and suddenly you started seeing that car everywhere because you chose that car. Right?

Bob: [00:15:19] Right.

John: [00:15:19] Well, that’s your subconscious mind kicking into help.

So if you’re, if you’re consciously thinking about being poor or lacking money, then your subconscious belief is going to show your reasons to believe that. So. By staying here in the present moment, stacking, present moments that are successful, small little moments by stacking them up, they build and they build up behind you as a new subconscious belief.

And then this thing that we all trying to get to that, that final wealth, that big monetary goal, I think we don’t have to get to it. It’s coming to us.

Bob: [00:15:50] Right.

John: [00:15:51] Determined upon what we do right here and now. And so that’s what I learned by having my back get, go out like that.

Bob: [00:15:58] Well, that, so, and that is so awesome. And what I, what I want to bring in. And I, I, I think it’s there you didn’t infallibly stated, but it’s consciously being aware of the present moment, right? The gotta consciously be there. You’ve got to be consciously aware. And one of the things, when I work with people about. Trying to shift a mindset is getting them conscious and then trying to get a hiccup. What I like to call a hiccup to break the pattern so that it’s like, Oh, Oh wait, wait. Oh, I’m choosing or I in the past and, and reframing so that we can start to shift that. I’m just curious for you. About that.

John: [00:16:38] I I’m so glad you went there because, because words to me are, are the key factor to changing your subconscious mind? I took certain words out of my vocabulary. I took wanting, needing, hoping and trying out of my vocabulary. I only say things that are, that are present moment creative, not present moment destructive. So if I’m asking for wanting in my present moment that I’m just going to see more reasons to want, right?

So as I changed those moments and said, I am receiving, you know, I am, I am creating new wealth. I am creating new avenues of revenue. I am creative creating passive income. That word I am creating is huge, you know?

Yeah. And it’s interesting. I’m, I’m a, I’m a student of all, all spirituality. I studied Buddhism and Hinduism, Christianity, all that. And what I find really interesting was when you look into the Bible specifically Jesus says, “Whatever you ask in God’s name is granted”, but Moses, when he talked, climbedthe mountain and said that God’s name was “I am.”.

Bob: [00:17:31] Yeah.

John: [00:17:32] So if you’re saying I am …’blank’, you’re asking.

Bob: [00:17:36] Yeah.

John: [00:17:36] And you’re, and that you’re going to get it, right. So I am wanting gives you more, wanting, it’s natural. So stay in the present moment. Stay really clear about what you’re creating in your present moment.

Bob: [00:17:47] Absolutely. I so believe in the power words you know, and I really try to emphasize to people the power of even small words, you know, the, the biggest small word is no.

And and. It’s either us taking in a ‘no’ and then not moving forward, or it’s us saying ‘no’ to things that we don’t want and setting healthy boundaries. And my other word that I really push to remove from people’s vocabulary or use it sparingly is the word, ‘but’ because, to me, that’s such a negation, you know, I want to be rich, but I’m really scared.

So I try to hold both as true. I’m really scared and I want to have success and I’m learning to do it differently versus, but I’m not capable, ‘but’ because it just feels like such a negation.

John: [00:18:30] Can I, can I throw something in here? So, so your, what you said was absolutely perfect because every, if you’re, if you’re not being creative in your present moment is because you’re afraid of something, there’s a fear that’s stopping you from doing it.

Right. And the interesting thing is people get in fear and they shut down. Right. And when they shut down, what they’re actually doing is turning off their brain. Yeah. Because the body has a natural, physical reaction known as the fight or flight response. When we have a fear response, the first thing we do is we gasp for air and we, we, we fill our lungs up.

Most people when they’re afraid, they say, Oh, my chest is tight. I can’t breathe. Well, it’s not that they can’t breathe. It’s that their body is conserving air so they can run further and faster because it’s a natural, physical primal response. Actors in Hollywood, actors on stage are trained that if they forget their lines, they’re supposed to exhale and relax all their muscles and it shuts off the primal fight or flight response, and all the words come rushing back into their head, all the lines.

It’s the same thing when you’re in a moment of stress and you’re not taking an action in your present moment or creating something in your present moment, exhale. Because no successful outcome has ever achieved, been achieved without change. And without action, if you’re not willing to take an action, there will be no change.

And so you have to make sure you’re setting your fears aside just by exhaling. You know, you just let it go.

Bob: [00:19:55] Absolutely. And I think it’s so important, you know, people talk about fight or flight. And I think like for my own personal self, I was right in the middle. I was frozen. And so I kept going, well, wait, I’m not fleeing. And I’m not fighting. And I didn’t re… you know, I didn’t realize that, Oh, wait, there’s this other piece for me, there was this other piece of learning to become unfrozen so that I could then say, Oh, I better run or I better move.

John: [00:20:20] Well, well for frozen stagnation is also a fear. It’s a fear of not moving forward and not going, going ahead.

The interesting thing about the whole. Stagnation thing is that if you think about nature in general, if, if a stream is running wild down a hillside it’s full of oxygen, it’s full of life. It’s wonderful. Take that same water and you put it in the puddle and it becomes stagnant. And the bugs start to lay their eggs in. It becomes poisonous.

Bob: [00:20:45] Right?

John: [00:20:45] So you have to remember that your, your life to be successful has to be a constant motion. You have to constantly be setting new goals, striving for new things. I’m not a lot of people who’ve quote, unquote, become. Successful because they set a monetary figure and then they got there and they lost it all because they didn’t set a new goal, set a new direction because that, that momentum, that, that goal setting and that action towards the goal is what keeps you moving and it keeps you more successful.

Bob: [00:21:14] Yeah. And I’m wondering. In terms of success. And I don’t know if it’s just the USA, I know that I was socialized to be my accomplishments, that I, my value was based on how much is in my bank account. So if I don’t meet that minimum balance then I have no worth. And I don’t know that that’s culturally true in other countries.

You’ve been around the world a bit and. You know, I don’t know that the goal should be, at least for me to be really, really rich. And for a lot of people, it’s like, I need to get $2 million without understanding the why.

John: [00:21:50] I think setting a monetary goal is the biggest mistake you can make in your life. Because the reality of it is, is that. When you look at what you want from success, it’s really freedom. You want to be free to live, where you want to live, free to have the car you want to have. You want to, you know, be free to, to not have debt, free from debt, right? So you’re really looking for a life where you don’t have to worry about anything.

That’s really all success is. So I know some people who are the happiest, most lovely, wonderful people in their life who feel completely successful, but they, they have nothing.

Bob: [00:22:22] Yeah.

John: [00:22:22] You know, and it’s not about, it’s not about their money, it’s about their mindset. But the interesting thing is you can have both, you know, as long as you’re staying in that space of, I am free and I am going to achieve.

No, I’m okay. I’m going to go for that. You know, you can set a monetary figure, but I would say, why don’t you just aim for more aim, for abundance, whatever that is because setting the monetary figure creates a deadline. It doesn’t create a thing to keep striving towards, you know, You’re going along and you get to that goal and now you have to go, okay, I have to rethink everything because I got there, you know, just keep moving, moving.

Bob: [00:23:03] And when you talk about freedom, for me, this feels important. We want freedom. We want to be able to live where we want and all those things. But you also earlier talked about how you were in community and the Renaissance festivals and you were getting reinforcement. And so. Having freedom, but what’s the importance, how important is community?

John: [00:23:24] Oh, community is everything. It’s the one thing that when I was laying in that hospital bed, it was the one winning thing. That thing that really got became very clear is the fact that we’re not in this alone. You know, a lot of times when I’m on stage and I’m talking to my audiences, I say, guess what?

I got a big secret for you. Somebody in this room is smarter than you and they go and they go. And guess what? When I just said that somebody just thought of you and the reason is, is because not all of us, not one of us in this room has all the answers,

Bob: [00:23:57] Right.

John: [00:23:57] We all have our bits and pieces and parts, and it’s us working together, dynamically that comes together to get it.

You know, like I said earlier, I’m not a, I’m not a mathematician. But I know some great accountants, you know, and I, I work with my teams, right? I work with what I have to work with. And so I surround myself with people who are amazing. I, I got off the phone this morning with my good friend. Dan Thurman, Dan’s, he was the president of the National Speakers Association last year.

And I mean, he is a world-class motivational speaker and I lean into Dan for advice and, and about my speaking career all the time. Cause I know he’s part of my team, you know, and my son who’s 17 years old that boy has taught me more about life lessons than anything else. You know, your community is your power lean into it and realize that we’re all in it together.

Bob: [00:24:47] Absolutely. I, I think one of the things, my experience of having traveled around the world is that in the U S I don’t think we value community enough. I, I feel like we have enough wealth to isolate from the people that are undesirable or less than, and that we don’t see that we’re all actually connected, hence potentially the homeless problem in this country and other things like that.

And so I just, yeah, to me, it’s so important that we understand that. We don’t have to do it alone. We can’t do it alone. And we have an arm on each side to reach out .

John: [00:25:23] The tough part about the United States is that we’re, we’re a consumer driven society. When I was, when I was in Egypt, I was traveling from Mount Sinai back to Sharm El Sheikh, and I had these two Egypt and drivers, and they were really curious about Americans. One of the questions they asked you, why does America support Israel? And I stopped. I thought about it for a second. I said, I said, “you have to understand America. America, 99% of Americans are only worried about what movies coming up this weekend and what’s the next great thing they can go buy. They’re not thinking about the broader global, global picture, because that’s the way we are.” In those smaller countries where we’re big things like that are very in the air open. Like, you know, that area is bombs are flying around, right?

Bob: [00:26:07] Yeah, absolutely.

John: [00:26:09] Well front of the mind here in the United States, we’re, we’re gifted in the fact that we are a consumer society. We’re going out buying things and doing things and doing all the things and not even thinking about anything broader. And I think in the process of that, and now with COVID and the Amazon and Amazon truck pulling into your driveway every day, you know, I think it’s, it’s, it’s separated us even more.

In some cases it’s made my, made my family closer because we’re all together, but. It, it it’s broadened our society. And my speaking to the speaking industry itself, I, I don’t think it will ever go back to where it was before. I think I’ll be doing live events again, but I bet you a big part, then my business will now be virtual because of it.

Bob: [00:26:50] Yeah, absolutely. And w Yeah. It’s yeah, I think it’s going to take a long time for us to feel comfortable being in large groups of people. And we’ll wait, should I be worried about that person and stuff like that? I do think this, this is going to have long term impact in many ways. Why is it important to you to,what I want to, I guess I’ll call it, pay forward. Why is it important for you to want to help those troops that came to you after the show, because that’s where the work is actually happening, right? The show brings them in, but the work happens after, why is that… why is that important? And what do you want your legacy to be?

John: [00:27:28] Well, my, my legacy is, is that I, I want people to remember me as someone who has empowered them and help them get forward. You know, when I was in, when I was in Iraq, I was in Ramadi, Iraq, and I had just finished a show and a Marine walked up to me and he said, Mr. Davis, he says, this morning I was in a firefight.

And this afternoon for two hours, I was able to forget all about that. Thank you for coming. Now, for the soldiers, to me, being able to go there and being a, a pressure release valve, they, they described Iraq as like the movie Groundhog Day. Only imagine being in Groundhog day, but every week, every day, someone’s trying to kill you.

Bob: [00:28:04] Yeah.

John: [00:28:05] Yeah. So by being able to go there and making them smile and laugh. I look at those guys from the perspective of, they have volunteered to go anywhere in the world, defend me. It’s the least I can do. Right. As far as what I said earlier about the community is your team, your dynamic, you know, what you give back, you will get.

And so, you know, I have, I have create, I created the largest charity holiday event in Baltimore was the Hack and Slach Christmas Special. We did 16 global clean water projects and two kids to Walt Disney world. We build a habitat for humanity home. We, I mean, it was just. We re collected over 20 tons of food and clothing for homeless shelters.

It was, it wasn’t looking for any glory or any, any fame from that. It was about literally trying to give back to our community because we have gotten so much from it. Your success is determinative upon all the people around you, and the more you can give back, the more, the more they’re willing to help you as well.

You know, it’s really important that you give back to your community and to create a better environment for all of us.

Bob: [00:29:09] Yeah, that’s, I can’t disagree. I totally believe the importance of paying it forward and the importance of community and, and doing it for the act itself, not for recognition.

John: [00:29:21] It’s but you know, the expression, you, you get what you give.

Bob: [00:29:26] Yeah.

John: [00:29:26] When I was on that Egypt trip, I was treated like a Prince everywhere. I went because I was really excited to meet everybody and talk to everybody. And I treated everyone with great respect while I was there. I ran into another American and he comes up to me say, are you American? Yeah. Yeah, sure.

Have you been having problems since you’ve been here? And I said, no, I have Brisbane treating me like a prince. Everywhere I go people want to fight me five minutes later, I wanted to kick that guy’s butt.. I mean, he was a jerk, right. He was putting out that he was just a jerk. And so he was getting that back.

So if you’re putting out giving good to your community, What happens is the community gives back. They remember you for that, but if you’re looking for the praise for it, they’ll remember that too.

Bob: [00:30:07] \Absolutely. It’s pretty obvious. Even if it’s not spoken, right. People feel it, people feel it. Well, John, we are at the fast five moment of the show. I’m going to ask you these five questions and just, whatever comes. What does your inner child want to be when he grows up?

John: [00:30:24] Less heavy than he is right now.

Bob: [00:30:30] How was your friends describe you?

John: [00:30:33] Jovial and goofy as hell.

Bob: [00:30:35] And what’s the most unusual thing you’ve ever eaten?

John: [00:30:38] Most unusual thing I’ve ever eaten. Chocolate covered ants.

Bob: [00:30:42] Okay. Sweet and sour, sweet and savory..

John: [00:30:46] Crunchy.

Bob: [00:30:49] What’s one thing you’ll never do again.

One thing I’ll never do again, that was a, that was, that’s a tough one.

John: [00:30:55] There’s very few things that I would never do again because I, I. I find that those experiences are have made me who I am. If I was going to, if there’s one thing I would never do again, it would be thast I never married my first three wives. They call me triple X. Cause I’ve got three.

Bob: [00:31:14] That’s hilarious. If you had to describe yourself as an animal, which one would it be?

John: [00:31:22] The sloths. The slot nice and slow and easy and taking things as they come.

Bob: [00:31:29] That’s, and they get to sleep about 20 hours a day. I think, or something like that.

John: [00:31:33] I love it.

Bob: [00:31:33] Not a  bad life.

John: [00:31:35] Oh yeah, man.

Bob: [00:31:38] We’re at our sweet spot. Our M & M moment, money and motivation. And I’m wondering if you have a practical financial tip or a piece of wealth wisdom that you can share with people that they can actually take away with them and activate.

John: [00:31:53] When you, you think about your future and you think about your future success, think about creating a solid foundation that is secure before you go into a larger financial risk.

For me, I’m, I’m leveraged in AAA stocks. I’m live, I’m leveraged in treasury bonds and I’ve leveraged in. Beach rental properties, because those are very secure and they’re yielding me a really good return. But when I also go out into the moves riskier investments, I’m I have a solid foundation to always fall back on.

Bob: [00:32:23] Yeah, that’s awesome. And I, I think for people out there investing always remember, don’t invest money you’re not willing to lose because it is a risk, it’s an investment. And if you, that’s just something that my brother-in-law taught me early, early, early on, and I’ve always remembered. If I’m going to, if I’m going to risk it, ,know , I’m willing to lose it, but normally it’s worked out really, really well, but you know, if you’re not willing to lose it, don’t get in the game.

Exactly. Well, John, this has been so awesome and I, you know, one of the things that I’m really excited about is the fact that you talk about mindset, that you talk about community. You talk about intentionality and whether it’s getting a new house, whether it’s having a million dollars in your bank account, it’s not about setting that monetary goal.

John: [00:33:08] Right.

Bob: [00:33:08] But more about the, the what’s beneath that. And and just really facing fears. I think for me, that was a big thing in my life was moving towards things that scared me to find out if it would kill me and then I’d like, Oh, I didn’t die. The next thing. And right. I think that’s, I mean, for a lot of people, I think there’s that it’s a life or death situation, even though somebody else might look at that and go.

You’re buying a car it’s not life or death or you’re right. But in that moment, when you’re in that present moment, if you’ve lived with fear or had experiences that reinforced fear, it’s hard to get out of that mindset, but that it’s possible to get out of that mindset, even though it may not happen overnight.

John: [00:33:51] Right. Right, exactly. And that mindset you’re talking about is that I do the 5-F’s, which is hacking your mindset for, for achievement, for success. And that, that to me is, is the process that I came up with through, through my work as well. And I want to make sure I give you your audience that today, if I can,

Bob: [00:34:08] You’ve got a five, the Five F system that they can download.

John: [00:34:13] Absolutely. And it’s a free download. The link that the Bob is going to share with you guys is a free gift. Now I say free, it doesn’t even ask for your email address, you go there and you get it. The only thing I’ll ask that if you’re there and on my site, anyway, look around, you’re going to see daily videos that are going up daily, motivational videos.

You’re going to see my podcast is on there. You’ll see all kinds of things. Get the gift because the five F workbook will take you through the process of hacking your mindset to get past your fears and all the success and onto the goals you’re looking for.

Bob: [00:34:46] That’s awesome. And I just want to tell the listeners out there that this is not available to everybody. You can’t just go and find this. You actually have to have seen this podcast or one of your podcasts to be able to get this download. So I really encourage people.

John: [00:34:59] Only Shows that I guest on.

Bob: [00:34:59] Not even on your own. See folks, go get this information. Where else can people find you on social media and online?

John: [00:35:07] Well, if you is the easiest way to find me is of course, Corporate Action Hero.com. And as you search me on, on LinkedIn and all those other corporate action hero, you will find me. There you start. Corporate action hero in Google. I have multiple pages.

Bob: [00:35:20] Thank you very much. Awesome. Well, we will put all that up.

And I want to say to our listeners, please, don’t forget to share the love. Like, follow, share on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, search for Money You Should Ask, all one word. Subscribe to this podcast on your favorite podcast player, or visit Apple podcasts and search for Money You Should Ask or click on the link in the description.

If you’re watching this episode on YouTube, don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe. For more tips tools, or to learn how to have a healthier relationship with money. Visit the money nerve.com. That’s nerve, not nerd. John, thank you so much. It has been such a pleasure. I really think you brought a lot of value to our audience.

John: [00:35:55] Thank you. Thank you for having me. It’s been an absolute pleasure and let’s all go out there and make successes and get more free.

Bob: [00:36:03] Absolutely.