All right, welcome back to The Daily Mastermind, George Wright III with your daily dose of inspiration, motivation, and education. And we're joined today by Stephen Ridley. How are you doing, Stephen? Dude, you're doing very well. Thank you for having me. Brother, I'm so excited about this episode and I'll tell you why. Everybody that knows me is like, boy, you are like nonstop business mindset, but it's rare. It is really rare that we find someone with your background, which by the way, covers the gambit in music, business, thought leadership. And so I'm super excited. Probably if you're listening to this, there's going to be a follow-up to this for sure. But if you're listening to this for the first time, remind yourself, the reason you're here listening to The Daily Mastermind is you want to associate with people that think differently, successful people that can help you to create the life you were meant to live, the one that is never too late to start doing. So Stephen, I want to give everybody a little bit of background on you and then i'd like you to kind of give us your story so they get a framework of who you are but um from investment banker to globally recognized musician that's sharing the room with some of the biggest names out there founder of ridley academy um how to learn how to play the piano taught i mean 60 countries 50 000 students i mean like you have kind of been there and done it all but everyone's going to look at you and say this guy is just like high level. Can you give us a little bit of the backstory? Where'd you come from? What is it about you that, that got you where you are? I come from a tiny village in the North of England, 40 people. Um, there were no children. Uh, the youngest person after me was my dad and he was traveling all the time. Uh, there were no musicians. Uh, so I was the least likely guy to have anything to do with music. Um, it's a pretty working class place. You know, most people are well to be honest most people were unemployed so that it was my whole area was uh when i was a kid was 80 unemployment a lot of welfare it was a coal mining place in the 60s and then all the coal mining went to china and and it never really regenerated um and that's where i come from and i was brought up with this work hard and get a good job uh no no specificity as to what that job might be but uh that was going to be my way out is i'm going to work hard at school and eventually i'm going to get a good job and so i did what i was told and i worked really hard at school um i was always hustling first gig at six years old i was selling sweets at school and i had a couple of kids working for me and then i got busted because nobody was eating their lunch because they spent all their money on the morning break buying my sweets and i got kicked out of school for that and i was always wheeling and dealing but and i enjoy that i enjoy i enjoy making something out of nothing um and i did that many many many times uh through school and and i wind up at university um always felt like an underdog i went to a really fancy school i got a full scholarship to that school but i didn't tell anybody um so everybody they're all these rich kids like families with double barrel surnames and pinky rings and and uh and then you know and in the beginning that was easy but you get to this age where everybody gets cars and then all of a of a sudden I'm pretending that I'm like an environmentalist because we can't afford a car. And that was my life. My dad died at 15. It made a huge impact on me because I saw what happens when you don't go after your dreams. I saw that this life is short. I knew that I was the next generation. So I'm going to be the next one laying on the kitchen floor, having a heart attack um that put the fear of the fear of life into me um and and then i started really buckling down i was like look i've i've got a i want to live an extreme life i want to live a life of extreme adventure i want to i want to really squeeze all the juice out of this lemon and uh but the only thing i knew how to do was work really hard and get a good job so i worked really hard and then i got a really good job um in the top most people know that that road by the way yeah that's that's that's what we all get told right and i believed it and uh so i wind up with the top job in the top team of the top investment bank in the planet uh there was one place in that there's one job opening uh there was over 16 300 people applying for that job um and i landed that job and i was like i have made it i was gonna swear but i have fucking made it and the boy from the village has done it and yeah and then i got into this job and it took me a i immediately realized that this is not for me why is the six computer screens i thought success was like playing golf with some inspiring guy and then driving home with my lambo at 3 p.m to have sex with my hot girlfriend why is the six screens on my desk why why is it a grind yeah like what's all this about why is the cocaine in the toilet what is this why is everyone so miserable what what is this quiet suffering this in this this like silent uncommunicated unexpressed quiet suffering this is supposed to be success where's all the exuberance and where's all the joy where's the laughter lines on people's faces. Where's this isn't what I signed up for. I was inspired as a kid by, you know, I'd read books by Hemingway and these big adventure novels and Huckleberry Finn and a guy going out, Captain Hook, going and living this wild story. And I come here and I'm like, wow, it's so sterile. It's so safe. It's so risk averse. It's so the safety net safely suffocates It's the dream, this whole choking corporate. Yeah. And but, dude, I've worked my whole life for this. What am I supposed to do? I've got no safety net. My dad's died. I have no there's no trust fund for me to fall back on. And this was in a huge recession. You know, the housing crisis had happened. None of my other friends got jobs and I've somehow landed this like top, top, top job. And to fast forward, I end up quitting that job. with no plan absolutely zero plan um the same day that i quit i was walking down the street i saw a piano in a thrift shop i was in total shock i've been playing piano my whole life i've i've loved piano forever it's my best friend it's my dear diary it's it's got me through the best and worst times it is it is as it's more part of me than my own body i am so connected with i know i forget anything else when i'm on that thing it is true true freedom to me always has been it's always been this eject button um that takes me wherever i want to be infinite space infinite size infinite it's just you know that was what got me out the village my whole life and i see this piano in this huge state of shock i've just burned my life to the ground what am i doing what am i going to do next um when i quit the bank all i wanted was an adventure all i wanted was like i've got to fucking live because i'm being like my dad i'm making sense out of a small life i'm making sense out of a logically good situation yeah actually feels like fucking suicide yeah and i gotta live i don't know what i'm gonna do but i'm not gonna find out day in day out sitting at this desk there's nothing here there's nobody above me that i admire there's nobody i'm chasing there's no game here there's nothing i want to win at win or lose feels the same this is numb this is this is not living and i'm not being somebody i admire and i'm not living a life that excites me and I'm not pushing the boat or I'm doing nothing. I'm existing for a while and then I'm going to be dead. And I can't have that. I can't have that. I've, I want to live whatever that means with all the grazes and the cuts and the bruises. I want stories, real stories, not made up ones. And so that was the attitude of quitting the bank with all the naivete of youth. Thank God I still had that naivete. And, uh, and then I went out and 20 minutes later, I see this piano in a thrift shop and I start playing it and and the dude is really grumpy and he said if I want to play it I've got to buy the piano so then I had to buy it it was 100 pounds and then he tells me I've got to get it out the shop so he helps me lift this giant old piano into the streets and then I start playing this piano in the streets and and and I was nervous and had not been nervous I felt nothing in like a couple years because because I was stuck in a life that meant nothing I mean, I can't describe how good it felt to feel nervous because I've not felt anything. And I was like, wow, I feel like I'm having a shower and all this numbness has been washed off me and my heart's beating and I can feel my body and the hairs on the back of my neck are standing up and I don't know why I'm nervous. And I closed my eyes and I'm playing the piano and I playing I playing I playing I loving it And I elsewhere And then I get this immediate flash of danger perception I just feel someone behind me And I turn around and... Well, I didn't turn around initially because I was really aware. I was like, fuck, I'm sitting here. I've got the Hermes tie and the fancy suit and the Rolex. And I'm going to get mugged. What the fuck am I thinking? I'm sitting on this dodgy street in London. Oh, my God, I'm so stupid. but i realize he's not robbed me yet so i must be waiting till i finish and then i really abruptly in the middle of the song it's now become the signature move but i like rolled up the piano punched the bottom of the piano and turned around real fast trying to scare this guy because you're either going to be the victim or the aggressive right right but i'm gonna give you the scary one and uh and i turned around like ready ready to have at it and um there's about 600 people standing there all with the mouth open all holding phones all totally silent i'd never experienced like and i that moment was unreal i've never cried in my life um i forced myself to cry at my dad's funeral i took to be honest i was too in shock to feel any grief i didn't but i felt like i should cry so i sort of forced myself to cry but this was the only time in my life. Up until that point, I convulsively cried. I couldn't hold it in. Convulsively cried. And all these people come up to me. They're hugging me. I've never been hugged by strangers. They're smiling at me. I don't think I've ever done anything that really makes anybody smile. Not strange. Maybe my mom, but they're telling me their stories. These people from all over the world, they're giving me their number. They want to be friends. They want to hang out. They're taking selfies and getting me to sign things. I don't know why I'm signing things. And it was so overwhelming. I felt all the love of humanity. And all I'd done was the thing I loved the most. And awkwardly, I'm English and awkward, so I threw my hat on the floor because I didn't know what to do. It piled up with notes and coins. And I was like, what the hell is that? I was like, wait a minute. And it took about an hour for everyone to leave. And then after they left, I felt like Elvis Presley for an hour. And then they all left. And I walked across the street. I counted all this money. It was £16.34. So that's like 25 US for about three minutes of work. Oh, not even work. You don't work a piano. You play a piano. Three minutes of play. And I was like, what the hell? And then I had this bright idea, an idea I would never have been able to come up with from behind a desk. And then I was like, I'm going back out there. And I stayed on that piano till one in the morning. I had to buy a bag from the vintage shop to put all the coins in. dragged this bag home, slept for four hours, woke up. All I could think about was getting back on that piano, ran to the street to make sure that the police had not moved it. It was still there, thank God. Wow. And five minutes at a time, I was Mick Jagger. It was the most amazing thing. I was meeting thousands and thousands of people a day. And in their world, I'm like some special thing. I don't know why. And they're a special thing to me. I very quickly realized I want to be a friend to the world. I love this. I am addicted to this feeling of giving something that's beautiful to people. And then they give me the best version of themselves in return. And this is amazing. And I had a hard time making friends growing up. I was lonely. I was introverted. I got bullied all the time through school. I didn't really make a lot of friends. And I'm making hundreds of friends every five minutes. And I'm like, oh my God, this is cool. And I loved music. I love everything about it. I felt valuable. I feel I'm really doing something. I'm really contributing. I'm making people happy and like thousands of people a day. This is so cool. And I'm not even counting the money. I've just, I know it's a lot. I'm not, I just look, if I'm thirsty, I put my hand in the bag and pull out some coins and go buy a drink. If I'm hungry, I go buy some food. All I know is I get home. There's a shit ton of coins left, but I don't even care. I just throw them in a suitcase and then I go back out the next day. And, and I'm like, what I'm living. This is cool. and I did that every single day for nine months and that's how the journey began. Wow, brother, I don't know if you saw me scribbling down notes furiously, but like your message is so powerful and at the same time, I think people might be listening to this and thinking, boy, he was so courageous. Boy, he was so aligned and all these things and I think there's some power, not just in your story and your message, but in the unsaid, meaning it took courage for you to be able to walk away without a plan. Like you didn't know, but you made a decision. I'm leaving this thing, which by the way, I'm sure 90% of people relate with being in a job they don't love, a life they are not fulfilled with, a boring certainty. We crave uncertainty, but we need certainty. But you made a decision not having a plan, and yet you also took some action. And so I'm saying this for the benefit of our audience that I think that success leaves clues. There's so many reasons. There's such, I mean, power behind music, obviously, too. But I want to ask you about how that all came about because I want to pivot into business as well and your message. But do you feel that you just had had enough that you wanted to walk away from that job you had worked your whole life to get? Or was it a point in your life that you hit a low? Like what was it that – or was it just simply a decision you knew you had to make? It's a great question. This is going to be very personal But I'm just going to tell you From being a kid, the world didn't make sense to me I remember being three years old And I was at a New Year's Eve party And I was watching my mum and dad pretend to be happy Surrounded by a bunch of people They didn't really like Also pretending to be happy Pretending to be friends And then they got in the car and they bitched about all the people the whole way home What is this? It makes no sense And that's my future what like it doesn't make any sense i'd grew up in a place where there's high criminality and high unhappiness just i was watching disney movies and then i was looking at real life and i'm like why is real life not like disney like what's going wrong why is everyone broken what's going on and i was looking for some game that would inspire me and i was like the adult game looks like it sucks and we're all miserable but equally childhood was full of like these school school ground games and I went to an all boys school and they were all very posh and it was all very, you know, I was like, oh fuck, that's not my group. Like I've constantly felt like I don't fit in, but this is not it. I'm looking for something and they might be satisfied with this little life. I don't, I want more from life. And I was always looking for that. And I was incessantly unsatisfied with a status quo. Like when I was six, I wasn't happy being a kid because my dad told me, no, I wanted this toy, an incredible Hulk figurine. and it was $25. We were on a trip in the US. I was going with him. He was trying to sell something. He was a salesman. And it was like the pursuit of happiness. If you've seen that movie, he had to sell one thing. If he sold it, we were like good. If he didn't, we were screwed. And so I get dragged around with him and I had no idea. He never let me know how under pressure he was. But he dragged me to these meetings because he was hoping the cute kid might help him close a deal. And I remember he left me in a toy shop and then went off to do a meeting for a few hours and came back to the toy shop. Wow. I spent hours in this toy shop and I figured he was going to get me a toy. And I was like, man, I want that toy. And I've been thinking how I'm going to close him. And he comes to pick me up and he's in a really bad mood because it didn't go well. And I'm like, okay, let me show you this. I'm going to show you the Hulk. And without even hearing me out, he was like, it's too expensive. No, we've got to go. And just walked out. I hated that I was in a position where you can tell me no. And that's the end of the story. Six years old, I made a decision. I will never, ever, ever be in a position where I've got to go ask you to get what I want. I'm going to go like, fuck that. I'm done. I came home. I started cutting grass, cleaning windows. What can I do for you? That was my guiding question. What can I do for you? Because at the other end of that question is me being able to have an exchange and me getting out of this child situation. Hence why I was wheeling and dealing all the time. I'm not going to accept to be a kid. I hate being a kid. I'm not going to get told what to do. But then I grew out of that. And I'm like, okay, so what is it? What's my next thing? And is it prestige? Is it getting the good grades? And I did that and then it didn't feel like anything. Okay, fine. What else do you do? Okay, you get a great job. Okay, you got a great job. No, that's not it. Okay, you got to get hot chicks. Okay, so I start getting loads of hot chicks. Dude, when you go into music, there's a lot of hot chicks. It turns out that's not it. All this degraded behavior all this amoral hedonistic lifestyle total misery lies at the end of that total Yeah Yeah Okay Well what is it And I was looking for more and looking for more and looking for more. And what I've come to realize is that nothing worked because it was all about me. It was about my success, my happiness, my pleasure, my misery, my loneliness, my fear. and I'm stuck in this little, little box called me, this little two by two little body called me. And I'm choked, I'm suffocated and nothing will ever be enough. Nothing will ever be enough because I'm bigger than that. And I wanna, I'm so done with this. And every adventure you read, it's a guy going out into the world. It's somebody going out into the world. It's dealing with the planet. It's going out into the great unknown. And it's this idea of them versus something external, not internal. And I wanted a very external game. I wanted to give value. I wanted to be kind. I wanted to meet millions of people and have something to contribute to them. I want to have a massive contribution because what comes with a massive contribution, what comes back at me from that is massive friendship, massive experience and adventure, massive, all the doors that open, if you should come here and do this and check this and all of their creativity and how we can create cool things together. And that's a creative, that's maximum living. And I'm not going to do that sitting there thinking. I'm not going to do that playing it safe. I'm not going to do that with six friends in my life. I'm not going to do that doing the same repeating little life day after day after day after day. It's not enough adventure. It's just that doesn't lead to anything. It's this repetitive hamster living in a cage, making sense that I've been in a cage whilst been unhappy that they're in a cage because hamsters aren't made to be in cages. We're not hamsters. We are, you know, we are, we're adventurers. We are people that are, that are capable of the most wild creativity. And, and I look at the world and I'm like, just people are operating at 1%. People are trying to make sense. They are giants, giants held down by tiny pieces of string. And I'm like, and I was that, and I knew it. And I'm like, I'm, I'm restless. I'm suffocated. I'm stuck in this little box and I want a game that's bigger than me. I want, it's not about material. It's not, I just want venture. I want, I want to do something I've never done before for the joy of doing something I've never done before. And it's a real, it's a real dichotomy too, though, because I think, you know, Tony Robbins talks a lot about that. You know, we, we, we, we have these six core human needs and one of them is certainty, the job, the success, the thing. But what we forget is that we also have this need for uncertainty, for adventure, for change, for living your life to the fullest level. And, you know, you took a, And I think this is important to point out. You made a decision to do something not knowing the plan. You didn't know what you were going to be doing. Now, you aligned that with something that inherently you loved and you were talented at. And that's also one of the big secrets of success, I think. But what would you say to somebody that is – because I can tell you 90% of people, right? We talked about this before. They aren't happy where they're at. They're not happy with their life. They're not happy with what they're doing. Maybe it started that way. Maybe it started with something they wanted to do, but they're not where they're at. How do they inspire and motivate themselves to just make a decision? What would you say to somebody that's not happy where they're at, but they need more adventure? They need to have a life that's more fulfilling for them. What would you say that would help them where they're at? one step you don't need look i'm talking about i i went from extreme stability to extreme instability in one move now truthfully just rip the fucking band-aid like that would genuinely be my advice but if you if you can't do that or you're not willing to do that i promise you one thing if you do rip the band-aid you will put yourself in a position where the things that actually are your security your security is not a job it's not the money in the bank because that isn't who got the job, who made the money in the bank? You, but how did you make the money? You made it with creativity. You made it with coming up with stuff, with doing stuff, with putting yourself out there. Like even if you only did it a little bit, you went and did the job application or, but yes, some step, right? Yeah. Your security is that it's your creativity. It's your persistence. It's your tenacity. That's a word, which means the ability to hold on, to keep going on a given course. That's your actual security. Now you might not be using very much of that security right now. And, but if you don't want to rip the bandaid, one step, write down a dream, something that would be fun. Forget a dream, just something that would be more fun than this. And then break it down into steps and take one step today. And it's more important than Netflix. It's more important than sitting on YouTube. It's more important than hanging out with bullshit people. One fucking step. And take that step. And you're going to start feeling the fire. And that's going to motivate the second step. You don't need to worry about how you're going to get to the top of the mountain. You need to worry about how you're going to find a backpack and go find a backpack and just finding the backpack is going to inspire you to go find the contents of the backpack. And that's going to inspire you to start putting on your boots. And that's going to inspire you to start talking to some Sherpas and figuring out the route. And that's going to inspire you to maybe start packing some spam because you're going to go to the first ascent and then you're going to go to the first ascent and you're going to get the bug and you're going to realize, holy shit, I didn't die. Actually. Wow. This is amazing. This is amazing. And it's Walter Mitty. It's like, oh my God. so you can do this on a gradient or you can rip the band-aid and uh and and understand that look if i have something let me let me do a demonstration if i have this can of coke right but i'm not happy with this can of coke i've only got one hand now my hand here represents your attention you only have so much attention to give in a given day there's so much that you're giving me your attention right now that's that's valuable right you only have so much attention to give now if you're feeding this but you're not happy with this you're gonna have to let it go yeah and so you can go get the next thing now the reason you don't let it go is because then you're gonna have nothing and that's scary it's scary to go from something to nothing scary i'm in a relationship i don't like yeah but i don't want to be lonely okay but if you're not willing to tolerate loneliness you're never gonna have the relationship you want if you're not willing to tolerate making a steady paycheck every month you're never gonna make huge money or grow a big business if you're willing to lose money month after month after month, you're never going to build a big business because that's what it takes. So ironically, if you can't get comfortable with the dichotomy, if you can't get comfortable with the opposite of your dream, you're never going to have your dream. If you can't get comfortable with uncomfortability, you're never going to have adventure. It's part of it. And ultimately, what does that mean? It means fundamentally, you've got to be okay with letting down the can, having nothing in your hand, and then going and fishing around for the next can. And if you pick up another can, because by the way, you can, there's billions of cans. Sure. You might pick up a can and realize, oh, this isn't as good. Good. Put it back down. Go get the next can. But right now, you know, you don't like the can. You know, you're not happy with the can. You know that this is not what you want. So anything, there's a million jobs that you don't like in this world. There's a million ways to live a miserable life that's not satisfying you. That's always going to be there as an option. You can always go back to live in a life you don't like. Many people do it. There's billions of opportunities to do that. Right. Right. Well, and not only is that true, and maybe it's sometimes hard for people to do and hard to accept and hard to move to the next level. You've got to do it. And sometimes it's having someone in your life or being around the right people. But I think that complacency that people have is because they surround themselves with complacency. They surround themselves with that and they care about what other people think and this and that. So it's like anything else. You have to make it a must. If you really, truly want to live your life, you've just got to make it a and you've got to take a step. And I think that's brilliant advice. It really is. It's true. And I'm going to say two things on what you just said there. First of all, it is uncomfortable, but the only thing more uncomfortable is not doing it. And you live that every day. The only, as people say all the time, it must be so hard going after your dreams. Yeah. The only thing harder is not doing. The only thing harder is waking up and knowing no matter what, this day is a waste. Right. Every day. That's harder. That's the only thing harder. Like you're not in the game. You're not in any game like that. So I promise you, It gets better from day one. The second thing is that you said that's absolutely correct is if you surround yourself with people who are not doing that, they're going to be filled with these ideas that make it right to not do that. And they're going to tell you how, no, it's okay. Oh, they're all, oh, yapper. He's such a yapper. Oh, yeah, you know, blah, blah. They'll make sense out of their situation because they're trying to be right. And if you're surrounded by that all the time, I love you just the way you are. Oh, you know, you don't need to do that for me. All these nonsense statements people are constantly justifying their own life They telling people why they right And the truth is you can live any life and make it right. That's true. But if you're not satisfied in your life, don't go looking for explanations of why that's okay. Just accept that it's not okay. Do something about it and don't surround yourself with people that validate a life that you don't want because you get what you validate in this world. And if we were friends, and by the way, I'm willing to be friends with anybody who's listening you can send me a dm on instagram i will happily like i like i said i want to be a friend to the world sure but but i won't i won't pretend if you come up to me going miserable and this and that but you know at least i've got a check i'm not gonna go oh well that's great oh that i go dude the cemetery is full of people who were trying to hold on to a check that there's a graveyard full of people that had these smart reasons for being miserable life like absolutely not i'm not gonna accept that and if i accepted that in myself you know i'd still be in the bank or still be in the village. Yeah. And I think taking that personal responsibility for creating your life is something people need to do. And, you know, what's interesting about this, and I just have to say this to you because I feel like I've been around a while, you know, with the kids and grandkids. I can say I've definitely been around a while, but I've had a lot of conversations. And initially, you know, if you're listening to this podcast, you know, I wanted to bring Stephen on to talk some real shop and business and things like this. And I think we're going to end up doing that at some point in time here. But I felt as I was listening to you, not only is your message what's most needed and by the way, is what's needed to lead someone to success in every other area of their life. But not only do I feel like that was what was needed, but I also feel like being around an individual like yourself is the point. Sometimes it isn't even the first step that somebody needs to take. It's just being around the message because maybe you don't have enough in yourself to inspire and motivate yourself. However, if you start surrounding yourself with positivity and inspiration or people that have done that and been there because, you know, it sounds like it's a great performance, you know, superstar type story. But if you listen carefully, it was hard, you know, and Stephen, you've been through the struggle and the trial, and I think people will benefit from that as well. So I do want to do this, and I wish we had some more time. I want people to connect with you. So how do people connect with you? What's the easiest and best way? And by the way, we will have a follow-up to this with the business aspect and things, and I'm going to drive some people to really, really go down this path with you because I think there's a power in music. I want to be real clear about this. I think there's a power in music. I think there's a power in success principles that translate to all areas of the game. But I want people to be able to resonate and connect with you so I can put some things in the show notes What's the best way for them to do that? Honestly, instagram is better than my text messages So, uh, I have a personal instagram. My school has an instagram You want to learn piano you can go to the school. We'll take care of it 10 minutes a day six months You're going to be playing piano 40 000 students 100 countries. We can do that uh, if you're If you're wanting to jack up your life improve your life what you just said there is absolutely true. And I used to do that, by the way, like I would sit and listen to YouTube because let's say you were friends with me and George and we were sitting and having a meal. You'd just be somebody sitting there while we're having a conversation exactly like this. This would be what we'd talk about over a coffee. And you're kind of virtually doing that with us right now. And so I still do that. I still like if you go and look on my YouTube recommended, it's a bunch of people that inspire me and that's how I can be connected with them. And if you go on my WhatsApp and you go my iMessage, that's who I'm talking to. I'm constantly like, I want to hear how well people are doing and I want to hear what they're doing because it's going to give me a good idea. And if I find out, even if you're a dentist and this guy's like, I'll give you an idea. My girlfriend's dad is a vet and he's starting his own product line of dog treats because in the US alone, it's a $60 billion a year industry. He wants 1% of the market. and he's like there's not really like a big name in veterinarians so he's going to become this vet uh influencer and then he's going to have his own brand of dog treats because all the dog treats are like a bit chemical and not very good i'm like wow it gave me a brilliant idea for something in my own life and i was like oh wow that's so cool only fans was uh you know i i met some chick who was doing only fans i morally disagree with it i don't like it i don't think it's good for the world i don't think it's good for men at all i don't think it's good for women it's it's really degraded however the business model of it and then chatting to the girl who was doing it and i was like hold on a minute like i got this really bright idea of so i like been around good ideas and uh long-winded way to say you get on my instagram this is all like more and more i'm going to communicate like this because i've been busy doing it for a while and i go and i do the shows i was in paris last week i did this great show but but i'm getting to this point where where What's going to be fulfilling with me, I was saying this, we talked just before we went live and I was like, success, which is linear, meaning I'm the only person that benefits, is tremendously unfulfilling. You get the cars, you get the fancy stuff, you get the watches and you realize it's empty. A car is a terrible friend. A watch is a horrible conversation partner. There's no friendship in a watch. Exactly. And I like that. Still, the thing that makes me happiest in the world is sitting around a dinner table with people that I love and inspired by and having a great meal, a great conversation. It doesn't matter what level of success I'm at. That's what gives me pleasure. Great food with great people, great conversation, great experiences. I want to live. I want to do stuff for the joy of doing it. And the adventure and the association. I think that's what people are going to get from hearing you. Like, look, we on a side note and we'll kind of wrap up here. We had the pleasure of featuring you in Valiant CEO magazine. So for those of you listening, I'm going to put that I'm going to put that link in there. I think what you're going to find is that there's not only like you mentioned the Academy. That's awesome. You know, I'm going to put links in there. People are going to see that. But ultimately in life, you've got to do things that help to inspire you to live a better life, adventure, inspiration, things like this. That's the message that I wanted people to leave here today with you. Because I think that you bring, let's be really clear about this, guys, if you're listening to this, here's an individual that came from nothing, that not only worked the path and knows what you're going through, he had the success, walked away from it, made decisions, grew a business, followed his passion, followed his talent, now giving back, finding legacy. This is the path. This is someone who's down the path that you want to be on. And so this is the message that I want you to be clear of. And so if we leave anybody with a message, it would be this. um you know take action do things live a life if your life is worth living it's worth living it to the top level you could possibly live to so i want to i want to really just um appreciate you i'm grateful steven for your message and for you like this was as much for me as for anybody and so i i really do appreciate you being here brother i i think we're gonna have to spend some more time and do some more things together as well um and and i and i can see some fun stuff but thank you Thank you for being here with us today. Thank you very much for having me. And it's a real pleasure to get to talk in this way. And I agree with everything you just said to your audience. Just we've had enough content for today. That's it. Turn it off. Write a list. Go do something today. Go do something. Just one thing that's going to be challenging, inspiring. Just go do it and enjoy it. And may that guide your next step, your next step and your step after that. That's such a great message to end with. because I know that when you do take that step, you find the path on the path. You find it along the way. You won't know it ahead of time. Just know and accept that, but you also are going to accept the fact you're not happy. So move, move, just move. And I'm going to leave with one more last thought, and that is that I think the power of music, and I think, Stephen, that's why you've had such an effect on millions of people. I think that the power of music can also sometimes motivate and inspire people to do that. So I'd encourage you to check out his YouTube channel. You know, we'll have some other good things that'll come up with this. And once again, guys, just listen to me when I say, it's never too late to start living the life and creating the life that you're meant to live. You just got to take that step. And so that message rings soundly. So hit me up on The Daily Mastermind on Instagram, Facebook. Let me know what you're up to, not just what you're struggling with, but also what you're winning at. We want to celebrate your wins. We want to be part of your journey. We want you to be part of the community. So once again, thank you so much for being here. with me. We'll look forward to talking with you soon.
