Aug 6, 2014
Todays guests is Mr Michael ONeal, the podcasting master behind the hit Itunes show "The Solopreneur Podcast". The top ranked business show, or The Solohour as it is known to its friends, teaching online marketing and entrepreneurship skills.
Michael is a man who quite simply without him, then I wouldn't be on the mic today.
So you know where to send all your complaints too.
He is a born entrepreneur with a fascinating story, of successes, setbacks, leaps of faith, and finding his unique path with the guidance of John Lee Dumas and Pat Flynn.
Growing up in Philadelphia, the thought of being the host of his own podcast show was the last thing on his mind. He was a normal type of kid, obsessed with sport, finding trouble at school, and generally being a kid.
But unfortunately that freedom of thought and energy changed when he was moved from his beloved Philly, and taken down to Florida, and it seems to me this was the start of him looking for his path in life.
He didn’t fit in down in the Sunshine State, so as soon as he could, he got himself back up North, and discovered one of the first dots in his life that links him to where he is today…the internet.
He was fascinated by the worldwide web, so developed skills to be a web designer.
And that was his life for fifteen years, until unfortunately his parents both passed away in a very short time, and he found himself sitting with just $14 dollars in his pocket.
He was over 30, with a decision forced upon him. Would he accept the punches that life had dealt him, or would he start fighting back?
And that descision was made and he took the steps that made him “Know too much” and not want to work for anyone else again?
He was going to become a solopreneur and own his own future.
But how did he know he had the skills to be a success in the online arena?
How did he know where his true passions lie?
And does he regret inspiring guys like me to jump into the pool too?
Well lets find out as we bring onto the 100th show to start joining up dots, the man on the mike, the host of the “Solopreneur Hour podcast”, the one and only Mr Michael O’Neal!
For more on the Solohour Podcast go to:
The Solopreneur Hour Podcast with Michael O'Neal - Job Security...for the Unemployable
By Michael O'Neal Chats with Proudly Unemployable Solopreneurs Like Himself
Description
They say successful people put their pants on the same way we all do. This show is about watching them put their pants on. Nominated As "Best New Show of 2013" by Stitcher Radio, Our range of guests takes us from comedy, to acting, to the NFL, to UFC and MMA, to Top Music Stars, to Millionaires, to Business Experts, to Real Estate moguls, and everything in between. Guests like Nicole Arbour, Adam Carolla, Hines Ward, Sam Jones, Tucker Max, Jonathan Fields, Derek Halpern, Pat Flynn, Amy Porterfield, John Lee Dumas, Chris Ducker, Chris Brogan, Guy Kawasaki, Mike Johnston, Rich Franklin, and many more, these casual conversations contain tons of action-inducing content wrapped up in an entertaining candy shell.
Yes hello. How are we all? Can you believe it. Episode 100. We have been building up to this for well, it seems like a hundred episodes and we are finally here.
We have got a man who who quite simply rose to the top and was going to be the only person who would fit the mantle of being my 100th guest.
And I’ve had people banging down the doors. I had Paul McCartney phone up the other day and say I want to be on the show, I’ve heard it’s a big thing and I said to him, “Paul, unless you can get the other four Beatles to join you, it’s not going to happen” We’ve had David Bowie crying. It’s been pathetic really.
So today’s man has been nailed on to do this today, and I’m absolutely delighted that he’s on the show because quite simply without him I wouldn’t be on the microphone. So you know where to send all your complaints to!
He’s a man with a fascinating story of successes, setbacks leaps and finding his unique voice. Growing up in Philadelphia he was a normal type of kid obsessed with football at school, and generally being a kid. But unfortunately that freedom of thought and energy changed when he was moved from his beloved Philly and taken down to Florida and it seemed to me this to stop him looking for his path in life.
He didn’t fit in down in the sunshine state so soon as he could he got himself back up north and discovered one of the first dots in his life that links him to where he is today the Internet.
He was fascinated by a World Wide Web so develop skills to be a web designer and as he’s known for 15 years until unfortunately his parents both passed away in a very short time and he found himself sitting with just fourteen dollars in his pocket. It was over thirty with a decision forced upon him.
Would you accept the punches that life had dealt him or would he stop fighting back and that decision was made and he took steps that made him know too much and not want to work for anyone else again. He was going to become a solopreneur and own his own future.
But how did he know he had the skills to be a success in the online arena and how did he know where his true passions lie?
And does he regret inspiring guys want me to jump into the pool too. Well let’s find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up thoughts the man on the microphone.
The host of the Solohour podcast, the only Mr. Michael O’Neal.
Well how are you Michael?
Michael O’Neal
Oh here is what I can’t even what is happening. I am so flabbergasted by that intro. OK. Two things.
Number one that was the best intro I’ve ever had. And formerly
Chris Cerrone had that that title of the best in show to a show
I’ve ever had. But it was one of the best I’ve ever heard for
anybody which is why you are so the right person for this job. Well
we’re all thankful you have a microphone in front of you David.
Trust me on that. Second thing is I would pay to hear Zombie
John Lennon if you could figure out a way to get all four Beatles
on the show.
That would be cool.
David Ralph
Well I can do Steve Jobs every day. So I might be able to do them as well.
Michael O’Neal
Ah so dude that was incredible. I am . I am flummoxed. David Ralph I’m so excited to be on David Ralph’s show.
David Ralph – Yeah. Go go and do that because I know you have
been doing an action of me on a few shows and we’ll show you a few
times night.
Yeah you got a little bumper for me on my show. I have these little
things that when people ask you me I have a guest on the show that
I have them do a little like Hi this is David Ralph and then I get
interested in this opener with Mike O’Neill and your voice is so.
What’s the first thing I ever said to you. I said you have the
ultimate voice for radio. Didn’t I say that you did.
Absolutely.
David Ralph
I haven’t got the face for television but I’ve got a voice for Radio
Michael O’Neal
Well as long as you’ve got the radio part worked out and you have taken this thing and you’ve run with it my friend. So I’m honored. I’m honored to be at the 100 episode Mark. Thank you. Thank you.
David Ralph
Absolutely. It is an honor to have you here because it is amazing when you start this thing,because you started your show what was it August 2013.
Michael O’Neal
Eleven month ago.
David Ralph
Yeah,11 months ago and now you are rocking and rolling with the
best of them you surround yourself with, with the Internet movers
and shakers the ziggers and zagers and you know you’re going to be
humbled by this. So maybe you won’t. You are an online celebrity of
note. When I was saying to people is my show a lot of people sort
of touch on the shows of said to me I know who you’re going to
have. And I said no you don’t.
And I go Yes I know who you’re going to have and ego going and
going to no one. And I when Martin O’Neill and I went oh term term
how did I know. Really I know.
Yes yeah I did it because I had pain you know I don’t want to suck
up to you Michael but the early days I didn’t know what the hell I
was doing.
So I just kept on saying your name over and over again or some kind
of benchmark of what I was trying to achieve because you like that
you’d come out the gates really and say look like a rocket ship.
It’s unbelievable. But you’ve only been around so long because it
seems like you’ve been here ever in a day.
Does it seems like that to you?
Michael O’Neal
It is weird. It does feel like it was yesterday that I launched
the show. It feels really really recent to me that it
happened. So but then at the same time I look at the memories that
I’ve had over the last 11 months and all the cool benchmarks and
you know different things that have happened and, but it’s packed
full of stuff right. So I think if there’s any celebrity it’s
sort of a z list celebrity and only at certain
conferences. But yeah it’s been it’s been an incredible
journey.
I couldn’t be happier with how it’s gone. And I can’t wait to see
what happens in the next 365. You know I’m really excited about
that.
David Ralph
Is there a plan to the next 365 because you seem to me somebody who is very much stimulated by the now and then. Are you somebody who knows what you’re aiming to achieve?
Michael O’Neal
No I’m a notorious non planner. Much to the chagrin of my
girlfriend who is a total planner and if I didn’t have the you know
a calendar app on my phone I would be I would be completely
floating out there now because I I wake up and I look at I go OK
what do I have to do today. And then I see what’s going on for the
day. And sometimes that doesn’t work out for me like in a social
situation because people actually make plans to go out and do
things.
But and I’m not one of them. And all of a sudden it’s Friday I’m
like I probably should have planned to do something. Yes I watch
movies tonight.
But yeah I I’m in an interesting spot right now because I have had
this kind of five year run of as you mentioned in the intro
bringing myself in this very circuitous path from $14 and not
having a clear direction to now.
When someone says What do you do. I say I’m a podcast host. And
that’s a thing like I. That’s what I do.
So I sort of a couple of weeks ago had an occasion to kind of put
the cap on that five year journey and now I’m going to be looking
ahead but I haven’t quite formulated what that ahead looks like
yet.
David Ralph
And how did you do that? How did you put a cap on that. How did you say that is five years, finished boxed up?
Michael O’Neal
Well it was as i say I’m I’m a notorious non-celibrator. I’m a
guy that usually gets to an achievement and then continues to go
without acknowledging it.
And I have what is probably a weird story that you’re asking for
but hey here comes.
So I’ve been a Porsche fan for my whole life.
And you may already know where you’re heading with this but I was a
Porsche fan my whole life and I don’t know why particularly. I was
I had a Volkswagen in high school and I think that maybe planted to
see a little bit and I was a car guy and so you know those Porsche
ads from the 80s with like the big fender flares and the big
wing.
I think I was attracted to that and I eventually in 2003 I bought
my first vintage Porsche so I bought a 1972 11 and it was a piece
of crap.
I bought it in New York. I didn’t know better.
I drove across country midway across the USA and midway across the
country the engine blew up.
So that’s how badly.
Where were you when this happened. I was in the dead heart middle
of Nebraska when it happened in Nebraska I suppose.
You it’s nothing. It is hundreds and millions of acres of wide open
like cornfields and nothing else.
I mean we are I was I have a picture of my car sitting looking like
it’s a panther wading in the grass.
Waiting to you know to prowl and it’s just sitting there with with
like a hundred miles in each direction of grass. There was no
middle of nowhere when it happened and I ended up finding a
Volkswagen place 60 miles away that towed me in. And the guy
dropped the oil pan in the car and just giant chunks of metal came
out and I’m like I’m pretty sure that’s not how it’s supposed to
be.
So I ended up getting a tow truck driving it from Denver where I
was living at the time and picking it up.
Neither here nor there.
So I eventually traded that piece of crap on and got a nicer one.
Not when I bought it but in 2005 and I restored this car it took me
four years and 2000 hours to restore this car back to better than
factory condition when I still have it now.
And as part of the dynamic this one in 1969 9/11 and the 69 through
73 nine elevens are very very sought after. They are the iconic
9/11. So when you would see Steve McQueen and a picture of him in
the 60s you know you know in LA MA or something driving a 9/11 he
was driving one of these sort of 69 to 73 virgins.
And one of the sponsors of Porsche in the 60s was a company called
Hoyer which was tag Hoyer before Tagg was involved in the
mid-80s.
So just Hoyer and it’s a guy named Jack Hoyer and he made these
beautiful tiny pieces chronographs based on race timers.
So you’d have a co-driver with you as a race car and there was a
race in Mexico called the career of PanAmericana and the first
Porsche Carrera was named after this particular race.
So Hoyer as a sponsor of Porsche created a watch based on the
chronographs that they used for the race cars and they called it
the Hoyer Kura.
So this was a very utilitarian type watch you could use it as a
race time or you could just click one of the buttons and it had
this chronograph on it.
It was beautiful automatic beautiful timepiece.
And as I’ve been going through this journey for five years this has
been on my vision board because these are about three grand and
above to get one of these watches.
But that was so superfluous for me because I had no i like zero
money.
And for me to spend three grand on something as excessive as a
watch wasn’t even on my radar.
So about a month and a half ago now I was in this position where I
was like this could be the time. And I scoured the world. I ended
up buying a 1972 Hoyer Carrera from a guy in France and it came to
my house and it was more beautiful in person than I.
I’d never seen one in person is more beautiful than I even thought
it could be.
And I remember at the mid midday I’d gone to this little swimming
pool by my house I belong to this little pool club which is where I
work out and I was swimming in the middle of the day two o’clock in
the afternoon like Tony Soprano in the middle of a work day and
thinking I just did this like this just happened.
This 5 year journey comes stops right now like this is where my new
journey begins.
I’ve gone through this trial by fire. I’ve come out hopefully like
a phoenix.
I’m in a position where I can buy this watch now which is insane to
think about and I’m peaceful and grateful for the life that I’ve
built.
And so that for me was the cap of a five year struggle. I mean a
real struggle to get to where I am today.
David Ralph
Mr. O’Neill is a perfect story. It started and it made me think if I’m ever in a pub quiz and a question about Portia comes up you’re my man that does it to Luli you are obsessed by that and you. The amount that you were quoting then.
Michael O’Neal
Ah. I mean I think. I think it’s kind of a lifetime
obsession for people that become afflicted by it. In fact there’s a
great ad I will send it to you on YouTube and there’s an ad for the
new Porsche about the time the new Porsche Carrera ad and it was
there it’s a little boy. And he’s a little kid in his classroom and
he’s daydreaming and on 9/11 drives by him and you just see him
like looking out the window and his pencil drops and you know then
he he gets in trouble.
And then he runs to the you know was on his BMX bike to the Porsche
dealer after school and and he you know he ends up sitting in this
car and the steering wheel is bigger than he is and you see Mike
raised his head he’s 12 or something and that he goes to the dealer
or the guy goes you have a card and the guy goes yeah here you go
and he goes I’ll see in 20 years.
And then there’s this great voice over that says something like
there’s a there’s a there’s a particular moment that happens with
you know a Porsche fan. There’s that time you want one.
Then there’s the time you get one and for the truly affected
afflicted there’s the 20 years in between.
And it just like it gives you the chills and my buddies sent it. I
sense my body goes man. Pass the Kleenex.
So I guess there is a real passion there for this.
It’s a very visceral feeling that is so different because of the
way they build their cars and because the engines in the rear and
it’s a totally different experience than you have with with any
other vehicle that yeah there becomes a real passion a real
obsession with him.
Did you read that because this shows about joining up dots, but do
you remember as a young kid having the same kind of obsessive
compulsive in both words and things when when you was a little kid
running around the streets of Philly pretending you Rocky did most
will keep you alive without paying him for the
Michael O’Neal
No no no. I was a BMX kid. Now I was I was in a suburb. I was the only gentile I was in a super Jewish town north of Philadelphia. And I was a BMX or I rode my BMX bike. I mean I was from 1984 until I mean I was racing bikes from 84 until 2000.
David Ralph
So Rocky wasn’t on your radar at all?
Michael O’Neal
No not at all. Tony Hawk and Dave you know Dave Voelker and
Matt Hoffman and you know BMX guys Bob horo. They were all on my
radar.
I’ll tell you here’s here’s a little here’s a join up dot that is
current. I rode an entire daywith real wow I just blanked on
his name. That’s embarrassing really.
I’m killing myself right now this is bad radio.
David Ralph
What does he look like?
Michael O’Neal
He’s a big famous director now and he will watch films John Malkovich. Being John Malkovich won a friggin Oscar. We’re ready. Come on. With it and it might seem seamless Spike Jones for crying out loud.
David Ralph
Spike Jones
Michael O’Neal
Yeah Spike Jones the director was a dude I rode with at a place called Rockville BMX and we were just BMX or dudes riding around. And then he he became a photographer for one of the BMX magazines and then started doing filming because he did Beastie Boys first video I forget which one and then started doing independent films then did Being John Malkovich and now he is like an international you know massive director like one of the best most well-reputed directors in the world. And it was kind of cool. I mean so he did adaptation he did Being John Malkovich Where the Wild Things Are You know just just done amazing stuff. So the Academy Awards. And so a pretty pretty bad ass. He did her you know the movie Her most recent Yeah that’s Spike Jones.
David Ralph
So is there any similarity between the young kid in Philly and now, because from what I see across the pond and I listen into the conversations that you have with your internet guys and it does seem from this side of the pond that you’ve got a gang of friends and followers and whatever that basically control the Internet. I had Rick Mulready on the show. And I said “Do you ever feel like slipping something into Pat Flynns drink, so that the next morning you turn on your screen and see if there’s a black hole on the Internet because he’s not functioning at this time because it kind of seems not” But he wouldn’t be pushed in to slipping a Mickey into his drink in any shape or form. But you seem a little bit edgy to most of them.
Michael O’Neal
Yeah.
David Ralph
Is that because you’re from Philly. Is it because he’s a very sort of industrial Con. Its a real city you know. Its like a working class city when you’re there.
Michael O’Neal
Yeah I think the the edginess is something that I’m kind of a
known for. I don’t know if you curse on your show but I’m kind of a
no B.S. kind of guy and I’ve never been one to straddle the fence
very very much. And I think what happened with Irwin what
happens with a lot of these sort of Internet type celebrities is
that they’re so concerned about getting the broadest audience that
they sometimes come off as being a little bit milktoast or a little
bit vanilla.
And I come from a totally different perspective where when you
think about media you think about New York Philadelphia Boston.
These are like the media centers of the world.
It’s where you know you go to Boston College that’s one of the
broadcasting school that’s where Howard Stern went. That’s where
many very famous broadcasters come from those places I went to
Temple University which has an incredible media department.
And when you look at the people that are iconic in history they’re
not people that are vanilla.
There are people that have strong opinions one way or the other and
people either love them or they hate them but they’re definitely
them.
So they definitely have a presence. They definitely have a voice
that’s unique to them.
And I think I always think it took me a little while to settle into
that on my show but it is ultimately as you as I developed the show
and I developed my own voice I realized hey I’m not in the interest
of pleasing everybody. Like that’s not my job.
My job is to talk from my perspective on certain issues and try to
extract really good business advice from people without them or my
audience really seeing what I’m doing.
And one of my favorite quotes to that is and you probably heard me
say before but which just never let him see your work.
You know that’s from Bill Cosby also from my alma mater Temple
University in Philly and that basically means that go through your
process ask your questions you know have questions written down but
you don’t have to be so blatant about it. You can you can ease
through you know great standup comedians do this like Louis C.K.
talks you know he’ll be sputtering and angry and going through all
this process on stage and you think that that’s just how he is. You
laugh at his angry energy but he knows all the beats within that he
knows exactly what he’s doing within that realm and that is that is
him not letting you see him work on him.
David Ralph
When your on the mike then how much is you now being absolutely authentic and how much is it creating a mood creating an atmosphere on the show.
Michael O’Neal
Well it can’t. Can’t you have both?
David Ralph
Oh I don’t know CAN you?
Michael O’Neal
What are you asking? Are you asking how much is sort of pre-written and how much is off the cuff?
David Ralph
Well on this show for example some of the things I say I only say to get a reaction from the guest. You know do I really mean it kind of. Do I think that they will go against it. Yes. So I will say it. How much do you actually say that you believe 100 percent.
Michael O’Neal
Well first of all you do that because you understand this and
you’re a pro. I mean this is a very natural place for you to end
up.
So I think that that I do very similar things to you, as you do
just because yeah sometimes you want to extract some stuff from a
guest that is being difficult.
But yeah I mean I’m pretty authentic dude. I there’s not a lot
there’s people that have met me in real life and go Oh you’re
exactly like you are on the show. Yeah Im exactly like I’m in the
show. I turn it on and I talk so I don’t have this, I’m not
affected in any way.
I just go.
David Ralph
So you’re not like you haven’t got a human graphic equalizer when you press record you just kind of increase certain parts of your personality.
Michael O’Neal
Not really. No. This is pretty much how I am. Yeah I’ll speak like I speak. I’m probably slightly dirtier in real life.
David Ralph
Well you don’t know where the words will land do you!
Michael O’Neal
I probably curse a little more which is fine. I’ve done a few podcasts now where I was allowed to do that and it did make it really nice.
David Ralph
Are you in the same situation as me because I used to listen to your show all the time and it was a staple diet during my transition at that time and now I’m doing this. One of the failures of me is that I don’t get time to listen to other people’s shows. I listen to your one the other day because I just suddenly realized I had a gap but you almost become an island of your own success where before I used to listen to shows and I used to think oh I’ll take a bit of it and I’ll take a bit of it and become like a magpie. And now I don’t know what vibe is out there and I don’t know whether I’m being edgy or whatever. It just seems to be you. Speaking to the mic and I throw it out to the world and hopefully it goes well. It seems to be a fault of mine, and so do you have the same thing?
Michael O’Neal
No I’m exactly the same way. I’d say partially by choice and
partially by by time. So when I when I do have time to consume
podcasts I don’t tend to go business. I tend to go comedy. And
lately I tend to go NFL football. I listen to podcasts related to
that because I want to be able to clock out a little bit when I do
want real inspiration. I’ve been listening to here’s the thing with
Alec Baldwin it’s WNYC. I’ve not heard a better intro or
production or interview style than that show. It’s his in his
intros are nothing short of brilliant. I mean they’re amazing how
he brings a guest on an and then how he interviews and his
questions are very in-depth and he’s such a pro that it makes it
really easy for me to like look at that bar and go OK that’s where
the soul open for hours going.
That’s what I do. I actually honestly David I find now the more
that I get into this show the more I almost can’t stand other
people’s shows like there so few that can capture my attention and
that I feel like are being done well even with really good friends
of mine that do shows I just go and that is almost unlistenable.
You know it’s so. So I just don’t I definitely look far above
the kind of Internet Marketing slash business world for inspiration
on how I want to run mine.
David Ralph
because the only two that I listen to now is yours.
And I went on started. I wanted to listen to every single one. And
but the nerdiest and there the only two reasons.
Yeah great and Nerdist is good for a number of reasons.
David Ralph
Yeah I just like the way it kind of flows and you don’t even know it started and it just kind of teases right.
Michael O’Neal
That’s right. Yeah they just start it. We kind of did that today didn’t we.
David Ralph
Yeah absolutely and that was the good stuff.
Michael O’Neal
And we talked for a while before we started recording. You know me I mean it just felt like yeah hit it. Go for it. We’ll start like Nerdist. But yeah no I think that there’s a sense there’s such a glutton of new shows out there and I don’t. but if I’m being opinionated I don’t. There’s a lot of places where people are learning quote on quote how to podcast. And I think they’re feeding them crap information.So often a big problem.
David Ralph
And I know he’s a mate of yours and I wish him all the success
in the world, but the problem is so many people are trying to
duplicate John Lee Dumas and that’s not right. He came first and he
created the structure of his show, and whether you like that format
or whatever that is he’s and he’s made in his own by being him.
And I hear these shows and after about three minutes I think oh my
god it’s the same thing again. Now I will listen to your shows
and I will go all the way through. But people miss a trick don’t
lay up coming back to my all the time is finding your authentic
self playing to your streams.
And and if you do that you create a bigger loyalty. You know if you
are totally yourself people either hate you or like you but the
ones that like you will love you. And that’s where these people are
missing out because they’re not even being authentic to themselves
they’re just kind of a middle ground.
Michael O’Neal
Yeah. And John would tell you and I’ve said this a million times
in front of him and said do you the success of your show or his
show has nothing to do with his format. And it has nothing do with
him as a podcast for that all.
It has everything to do with the fact that he has a financial
background writes great marketing copy and has a schedule and a
rigidity too. He has a military rigidity because he was in the
military to his to his business.
And unless you come with that exact kind of background you will not
have success in that way.
People think that because of the way he does his show because it’s
structured and because he has these set questions and does it seven
days a week that that’s why he’s successful and is completely
irrelevant to that.
So the problem is is like you said so many people listen to that or
they go to podcasters paradise and they learn a certain way to do
things. And I’m almost diametrically opposed to every single thing
that they’re learning.
So it’s like it’s like man I it’s it’s frustrating for me in that
way.
And I shouldn’t say that like I want to rephrase that I’m not time
actually oppose everything they’re learning what I’m what I’m
worried about is that the things that I think make podcasting
successful aren’t emphasized in a lot of training courses.
And like you just said finding your own voice is a number one you
have to be successful.
You have to find your own voice and you have to have a great brand
and it’s not something that people speak about a lot. Like I took a
lot of cliff Ravenscroft stuff. I’ve taken all the stuff.
I’ve seen a number of course is out there a lot of them don’t pay a
lot of attention to that piece and I worry that with this next
phase of podcasting and what’s you know since everyone’s starting a
show they’re going to find it a lot harder to sustain it unless
they’ve found their own voice on their voice.
And and it’s within this brand that they’ve really created. So
we’ll see.
But that’s the jury’s out on that.
David Ralph
Did you really have to love doing this because I’m going to play a speech in my Jim Carrey and I’m actually I’m going to play now and we’re going to talk afterwards. This is Jim Carrey.
Jim Carrey Sound Clip
My father could have been a great comedian but he didn’t believe
that that was possible for him. And so he made a conservative
choice.
Instead he got a safe job as an accountant. And when I was 12
years old. He was let go from that safe job. And our
family had to do whatever we could to survive. I learned many
great lessons from my father. Not the least of which was that
you can fail at what you don’t want. So you might as well take
a chance on doing what you love.
David Ralph
Is that the true message that we should be getting across?
Michael O’Neal
Yes it is unfortunately the connecting of the dots joining of
those two dots which is I found this thing that I love and now I
have to figure out how to get paid for it is difficult.
That’s a difficult journey. And that’s my that was my five year
journey. Right. First not even knowing what it was that I loved. I
had no idea I was going to podcast five years ago but I had an
initial foray into public speaking. I started teaching social media
on stage and I ended up traveling and going to 17 cities teaching
people how to use social media to grow their business and I found
it very like oh this is something I could be good at.
And then that morphed into doing back end production on a podcast
for a year and a half and just starting to understand the
podcasting industry that finally morphed into me starting my own
show and here we are. But it was a five year journey to find that
you know like I had indicators of it and if someone in 2009 it said
hey do you want to get. You want to make six figures and be a
public speaker.
I be like totally that be great. But at the time I had nothing to
speak about.
And now I do.
So it’s kind of a I I do feel like you have to find something that
will and you’ve probably seen this in your life with your show
something that will make you walk into that studio and record an
episode even if you’re exhausted or not in the mood or whatever
because you truly love it and you’re excited about it. Oh
yesterday.
That’s how I am.
Yeah I’ve had times when I’ve recorded 12 shows back to back and
now I’ve.
Why just because I knew I was going to do it seven days a week show
and that was the hardest time I had.
I had no internet for two weeks he just crashed on me and I
suddenly panic but I didn’t have enough to cover. And I was going
away as well.
So yes seven days a week he goes out and I needed the boke. And so
I did it and I started off at six o’clock in the morning and I just
went through through move through and I edited and I did everything
in the gap between when I recorded the next one and he just went
seamlessly.
And when I pressed record yes I was on I was on. Once I was off it
was just like I was you know on drugs or something I was just slump
too much.
But it wasn’t until the very last ones that I realized actually
about that passion that you’re talking about the ability to
actually do it when you’re tired. I’ve gone past by and I was
actually feeling ill. And I remember doing this show and the sweat
was pouring off me and I listened back to and it doesn’t sound like
it but I realized brain actually no you’ve got to look up to
yourself as much as you do actually doing something.
Yeah I’m very committed to that.
DAVID It’s I have I have three sort of pillars if you will that I
do I think make a good soul a partner or a successful soul a
partner. And there’s there’s time freedom there’s financial freedom
and there’s location freedom.
And so the first one is really easy time freedom simple you walk
into your boss’s office tell him to go screw himself and then you
have time freedom. There you go.
Location freedom. You can pretty much just get in a car and go
somewhere that we have that kind of freedom in the U.K. and in the
United States.
Yeah there’s some complications in between. But technically you can
just go do that.
It’s the financial freedom part. That’s the tricky part of the
three.
That is a little harder.
But I find that I’m so unwilling to compromise my time freedom.
I’ve turned down so many more so much more money because it would
compromise my time freedom like I could have a lot more coaching
clients and a lot more people in my my group coaching. It’s called
Solo lab.
But with that I would have to commit another couple of days to
taking care of them and I’d I’m willing to do that at all. Like i
will i love my life the way it is right now and I can be
comfortable financially I can go do fun things. And I don’t have to
compromise that.
And you know hopefully I can continue to grow and continue to you
know make more money maybe have more speaking gigs things like that
but I don’t intend on working any harder.
I just want to you know work smarter maybe try to over deliver a
little more to my audience and that’s what I’m looking for.
Well was sensible and that’s exactly what I want to do as well
because I hate these people and it’s almost like a badge of honor.
But I’ve quit in nine to five job. And then you go yes I’m an
online marketing do I do this I’m a diva and I cook my time and I’m
doing 80 hours a week and I think right. Right. What the hell do
you do that. Why don’t you just do two days hard work and have the
rest of the time of it.
It seems stupid that I say that.
That’s right. And it’s. It does. It is counter intuitive. The
thing is when my parents passed away you mentioned this in the
intro when they did that. My perspective on time completely shifted
and I just I. Life’s too short. So I am very much a person that
says both.
When someone says would you like this or this. I say both.
When I get an opportunity to do something I say yes. Win you know
and I just do it like it’s a thing that I have committed to and not
mentally like I don’t just go yeah this is what I’m going to do
from now on. I just do it now I just say yeah let’s do that. That
sounds fun. Let’s just go for that. I’m going to go on a hike.
Yeah. Great book a ticket. You know and we just do it.
And I found that that has served me really well because when I do
that and I put that as a priority in my life then the the stuff
that I’m not so thrilled about I still end up having to do it.
It still fills in the blanks but my priority is to really extract
the most that I can out of my life and I’ll tell you not a person
that does that well I think as John John Lee Dumas he works
probably a little more like the person you were just mentioning. He
works a lot but he’s also great at saying yes when when something
comes across his desk he goes yeah lets do that. And it’s like on
the schedule. And I think that’s that’s part of I think what that’s
part of success. To me that’s part of what success feels like is
being able to do that.
I remember hearing an interview with Billy Joel and the interviewer
said to him Billy you’ve sold X squillion albums and singles
and you’ve done these tours and you play Madison Square Garden five
straight nights. What has success given you. And he just said
time and that was it. He can wake up each morning and if he
doesn’t want to do something he doesn’t. And that single word
resonated with me hugely especially when I was in my 9 to 5 job and
I realized then that things were not right. And why should I be
doing a nine to five job when there are options I suppose. I
began to know too much. And then once you know too much brain
you realize you can’t ever go back.
Michael O’Neal
Yeah. It’s really really is a one way street. It also but
that carries over as well into my personal life as well. And I
think when the there’s ever such a different confidence now just in
my life in general and I think Billy Joel would sort sort of
anybody that reached a level of success has this this this
underlying confidence about them that is very attractive not only
to you know the opposite sex but it’s what attracts other
successful people to you.
There’s just there’s a subtlety in actions and just how really how
you go through life when you’re confident that is very attractive
to you know both both people both sexes and that is something that
people pick up on pretty easily.
You become a success back humor don’t you.
You know the old Jim rhône thing about you know the average of you
know five people to surrender a lot of people I talked to.
Yeah. I mean a crappy job and all these miserable people all the
time. How can I surround myself. And one of the things I say to
them is you know focus on success because the more success you get
and the more competence as you say they end up a successful people
get sucked into your world and suddenly you created what he was
saying.
It’s not easy to do. But it certainly is a mindset that starts
moving in that direction.
That’s right. And you it’s funny you just asked that question of me
is how do you now you’re on it you’re on an island so you’re you’re
in the UK you’re not.
I’m in San Diego so I get to have a bunch of people around me at
all times. I will say though we don’t get together. I mean you know
we get together as friends but I’m not in a mastermind with any of
these people around me.
We don’t sit there and me out. So you know to answer your question
I’m mean answer answered on my show tomorrow.
But you’ve got to join a group you’ve got to join a group
mastermind of some sort. And there’s really no other way. If you if
you’re not surrounded by those five people that that you feel are
motivating you in a way that that is bettering your life and
hopefully their lives.
You’ve got to separate from those people and find the people that
are doing that and pretty much everyone I know that’s in this you
know business Internet Marketing podcasting world has some sort of
coaching program.
And my best advice is to get people that you really enjoy like how
they speak and like how they deliver and join their group and
that’s it.
And you know once you’re a part of that community you’ll be a lot
more apt to be motivated you know learn the things you want to
learn. It’s part of the reason why I don’t need to listen to
podcasts anymore because I have so many people in my group that are
doing cool things. I get to learn about all the cool new stuff
without having to go listen. They sort of comes to me.
So so do you now feel that you’re ahead of the curve. Because when
when you started the show I remember you saying it’s the Wild West
and now it seems like every man Dogan whatever has made me a
podcast.
So do you think now about you it’s not the Wild West but you
actually ahead of the curve.
It’s good. Get a question.
Yes and no I think it’s still the wild west.
I think that people in this environment aren’t necessarily looking
in the right direction to advance their business where they should
be.
Let me clarify that.
I think inspiration for how someone’s podcast get better gets
better doesn’t happen within the new podcasting community.
It happens with old media.
Then you go look at how you all learn how to interview you go study
Howard Stern if you want to learn how to produce an an excellent
show. You go you know you look at and some an NPR show or something
like that like a where a BBC show something that you know pay close
attention to how people are introducing guests and what they’re how
they do their ads and how they integrate you know clips from this
person’s body of work into their intro or into the show itself.
So I think there is really a professional side to this that will
ultimately come out.
For me personally what I’ve realized over the last couple of months
and this is something that I think you can you can sort of strap on
as a badge of honor as well is that I’m a better interviewer than
most. Just in general I’m more intuitive and I have more range of
knowledge so I can connect those dots. You know I can join those
dots.
And that’s what makes for a compelling and entertaining interview
no matter who you are it’s the people that have the pre-scripted
questions that I think are really going to struggle because that’s
that’s very exhausting to an audience.
So on one side I think I’m still really ahead of the curve in
that.
I come from this and as do you come from this background this
history of paying attention to interviewers and then sort of
bringing this natural ability to the microphone that 99 percent of
people don’t have.
And that’s the building not only to interview someone in a business
sense and extract what they do for a living but actually make an
entertaining hour of programming for someone.
And in my opinion they can get the business data from 80000
podcasts that are on iTunes but it’s really hard to get
entertainment out of it.
And that’s what I’m trying to bring to the table and I think that’s
what you do a really great job bringing to the table as well
because because what I’ve realized you know was a complete nobody
is basically the very first interview I did was no you weren’t
Yes.
Stop it.
Tom Mocha’s was episode your line on the line. Me right now
David.
And he was a huge inspiration to me so I wanted him as guest number
one. And he was talking to a gentleman called John Lee Dumas and so
awful who’s is CHEP never heard of him. And I went over to his show
and the very first show I listened to was episode 3 2 2 which was
yourself and kidding.
That was I didn’t know that. Yeah that was the very first episode.
And the fascinating thing about it was which got me on the show and
this is my sort of join up thought was the fact that everything you
see in life is normally about benchmarking against success. You see
people already Veja and you go I’d like to do that but it worked
for him he’s had this skill he’s got that you know he’s a natural
that’s for sure.
On that show on 0 5 3 2 2 you hadn’t even lunged and he was saying
to you you know when are you going to go and you and I’m going to
go on Wednesday or whatever it was.
And I tuned in and I listened or whatever you do you click on it
you don’t tune into you. But I heard you speak for the very first
time and I found it fascinating because I was seeing but not some
bouts of somebody finding their way. And you was saying Yeah and I
had 17 downloads and it wasn’t that you were looking at success you
were looking at somebody finding their flow finding them. Moving
on.
And that’s right. But that’s what really flavored my show was the
fact that you were doing something that seemed natural and you were
holding your hands up and you going really.
I don’t know if this is going to work but hey if it doesn’t change
we’ll move on later on.
And remember you did this show and it was it was some chap I don’t
remember who was with them on the on the beach somewhere and calls
were whizzing past and your battery ran out half way through. Yes
and yes you still put out and I thought that’s interesting because
what he’s saying back is not that this show has got to be polished
and perfect what he’s saying is is a journey and I’m going to
improve from that and that be the last time that my battery runs
out halfway through.
That’s right and it was definitely the last time that happened.
Yeah.
Yeah it’s a good way to good insight.
I see.
If I were doing it again yeah I would probably do the same thing
again. I was I’ve been always sort of a fan of the let’s just put
it out at that at that time.
I was leaning more on my hopeful interview skills than I was like
ultimate show quality and since I’d already put out a couple of
episodes it wasn’t that bad but I really loved the guys story. So I
was like yeah there was Harry. Harry Smith was the guy’s name and.
And.
And I thought yeah let me let me throw that on. And why not. What
happened. You know and somewhere.
This is what’s so cool about this right.
You heard one single episode I did from Johnny Dumas which was like
a random occurrence.
And look how much it’s affected both of us. Yeah. Just that one
thing. So if one little episode you put out catches the right
person it can literally be life changing.
I will say something.
I want your listeners to go to solo our solo our dotcom and I want
you to go back to like three.
I don’t know let’s say pre 70s so anything from episode like I
don’t know one until episode 70 and I want you to click on those
posts and read how great David’s comments are for the episodes.
They are so insightful and brilliant. And you do such a great job
summarizing. I think I even wrote you once and said Do you want to
write my show summaries. Remember that you did and it was just that
the crux of me doing this and I knew I was just going to stall so
cool.
So I am and you still you just did it the other day when you were
that episode you listened to. You do such a great job summarizing.
You’re going to be such a smash successful podcast. David Yeah I
have no doubt whatsoever you are going to I hope you will let us be
on your show someday when you do these live broadcasts in front of
you know a hundred thousand people at the Wembley Stadium.
Did you know when you start this and I’m really going to open up
here so I don’t really have a Chevez. But when you start based you
want it to be so good and you want it to be brought in and you kind
of.
There were job. You look back on them and you go OK yeah that
wasn’t quite where I wanted to be but it was all right.
And then you hit sort milestones and you listened back to some of
these shows I don’t know if you listen to yours and I thought oh
that was a bit closer to what I had in my head my original vision.
And I got to show it E.T. and that’s when I suddenly realize
Michael that was the host of a show and it was my responsibility to
be the host to even I think he was too grateful for people giving
up their time to be on my show.
I it was a complete mind set.
Now I want this to be the biggest show out there. I absolutely do.
And it’s all I can focus in on and it’s in many ways it’s killing
me or my life is totally out of whack.
But all I want is about is the number one thing upset that on any
show because it sounds a bit arrogant really I’m upset. Once we’ve
stopped recording them when somebody asked me about it that is
where I want to be and I want to be join up not as a brand. Exactly
as you say. Right. Because it’s one of those things that you kind
of go join up towards. What does it mean. And I’m very aware of if
you provide quality and content as quality brand in many ways take
care of itself. It’s like we always talk in the early episode the
name that was always mentioned was Pat Flynn.
And you know he’s got that classic smart passive income and you
forget that’s a premium brand but actually he’s only three words
put together and he’s because he’s provided that great content and
quality and value.
But it becomes the kind of the trust word where what he’s trying to
achieve.
That’s right in he that he can live that now.
But I actually want I want to focus on something you said just
before that you will be bigger than him and so will I. And I know I
don’t mean that like he doesn’t have the same aspirations as you
do.
Right.
And I’m saying in terms of podcasts in terms of like Pat wants to
speak I’m not speaking for him here but just knowing what I know
about him.
He he is sort of the crash test dummy of internet marketers.
So he does all these really cool things on the web.
I want my show to become about like I want to. I want to be
interviewing complete legitimate A-listers you know and finding out
about their kind of business and so normal journey. That’s where I
will see the show going.
And because of that if when and if I get to that point.
The show the podcast itself will be bigger than all of the internet
marketing type podcasts.
Does that make sense. Yeah it’ll be way bigger than that. It’ll be
more like Nerdist.
You know Chris Hardwick gets killer guests on his show and that’s
why his podcast is you know number one number two number three on
iTunes overall.
And so it’s it’s one of those things that that I it’s what I aspire
to do as well is to get working within this world like real A-list
category of people because I think that they’ll appreciate talking
about their journey.
And so that’s where I want to head with that.
Also I was very strategic and I changed direction. I realized that
when I started I was just throwing out the net to anyone and anyone
would jump on the show. I would have them round about sort of thing
once again I thought to myself no I can’t do this because when I
was looking at other people’s shows I was thinking Oh I’ve been on
my show I’ve been on my show and it was just the sort of hybrid of
people doing the rounds.
So I went off in a different direction. So if you listen to episode
88 I had Cathy O’Dowd who was the first woman to hit the
summit of Everest from both sides.
I’ve got the first civilian astronaut coming on the show. I’ve
got a chap over a few years ago was worldwide news because he sold
his life on e-bay and he’s just sold his life to Disney and all
that kind of stuff. So I realized I had to change direction to
become more unique to be more interested by the stories more. Yes.
Extract out of them what I wanted to show to the world and that was
my original vision but I couldn’t say Eva until later on in the
journey.
Yeah and that’s really what you’ve done. That’s the whole point.
That’s why you will be successful because you’ve you’ve done this
in a sort of a different way in your life when you look back to
sort of the Philadelphia kid and you riding around on your BMX and
all that kind of stuff.
Well you just sort of wanting to be the classic sports kid was. If
you look back and now we all going to send you back in time soon on
the Sermon on the mike.
No I was a show off though.
I think I think I was you know a performer of some sort and the PA
is I keep is that makes my colonial who he is to play better
racquetball with an audience.
Yes. Every single time.
Yeah I think so. I think there’s that’s there that’s in there. It’s
in the DNA for sure. I don’t use that a lot but it’s in the
DNA.
I work better in a performance environment which is presumably why
I kind of screw myself on the show intentionally.
I don’t I I prepare in a way where I I’ve researched my guest as
you have. You know you know and you certainly listen to the show
but at times you know a little bit about me and you’re able to then
naturally structure questions that that dovetail into my history
and that’s what a good interviewer does.
I don’t write a lot of questions out sometimes intentionally and
that’s because I there’s something about the performance side.
I realize now that I’m I’m doing this the shows this this month
I’ve got over 300000 downloads for the first time and this is a and
I realize so there’s people listening and I have to perform. You
know what I like it.
It makes me it UPS my game. I’m live on the show.
And I think I do that to myself on purpose because because I work
better in that environment a lot maybe underpressure a little.
Well we’re very similar. It’s fascinating. I feel like I’m finding
out the real Marcantonio here. Where is the person behind the that
the presenter. Because I am somebody who has spent my life doing
training courses and presentations and that’s my job.
I’ve never done this kind of thing. It was totally BA and I’m
somebody very much likes to be on their own likes no one near
them.
And then when I suddenly go ping. That’s it. It’s performance time.
And I don’t know if it’s showing off or trying to create a
different persona for myself because that’s kind of not naturally
me.
But I do have the ability to raise my game and present a different
side to myself if you know me deep down you would say to me
different people that the people who know me from seeing where I
allow them to see me they would say yeah you it’s like I’m on the
mike as you are when you normally doing those things because I’m
letting them see what they want to see.
Yeah.
Yeah I mean I think there’s there’s an element of that and again I
want people to understand this is why we and we talked earlier
about sort of what John brought to the table. And I’m you know
people look at my show and say it’s it’s been it’s it’s been pretty
successful in the first 11 months just overall debt is not that’s
not a fluke because I didn’t just start in August of 2013 with kind
of media.
You know I’ve been a professional drummer my whole life.
I’ve performed I’ve been on I’ve been a racer I’ve been you know a
competitive racquetball player for for many many tournaments for
many many years now and before that it was tennis.
So I’ve always been performing in some way or the other.
I I coached for five years on teaching people social media in front
of huge audiences.
I’ve played Red Rocks in front of 10000 people like me being on a
microphone and being natural at it is not something that happened
overnight.
It’s a it’s this is something that you walked in with.
You’ve been training for years before you turned a mike on
yourself.
So it’s kind of like Yeah right yeah. You were new to podcasting
but not nuda trying to translate a concept from one person to an
audience like that’s something you’ve been doing for a long
time.
So so that’s I think that it’s a bit of a misnomer within our
industry that yeah anybody can you know podcast or anybody can
start blah blah blah.
That’s kind of cool I get it. Yes technically you can turn on an
app you can go to boss jock on your iPhone and upload it to clips
and you’ve got a podcast but can you do it. Well can you do it so
that when someone switches from morning radio or Howard Stern or
the BBC to your podcast that they don’t notice a huge drop off in
quality or you know sound quality interview quality production
quality that’s that’s what I try to bring the table and I think you
do the same thing.
So is that what you’re saying really and I’m going to play the
words of Steve Jobs because he says it very well as well but no
experience is wasted. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done in your
life you will pull elements and you extract what you need to create
your new path.
Out 100 percent. Absolutely yes. Everything you’ve done up until
this point is does training for you for this next phase.
When I have people on their show and we have these episodes called
Find your swing I want to find out everything that person has done
because it find your swing is like well what do I do. Like what am
I naturally gifted at how can I make money off of something that I
really enjoy that I’m passionate about that’s what finding your
swing is.
And it’s I want to find out like what you did when you were a kid.
Were you an athlete did you or you or you a professional knitter
you like to knit hats. You know like what is it what do you do. And
when people can start accessing those things that they’ve done
their whole lives they’re really gifted and I like to find ways
that we can use those talents in whatever their next business
endeavor is.
We call about connecting our past to build our future and here. And
one of the names as come out is if you really want to know your
passion really want to know what you’re naturally good at. Don’t
think about what you were doing in adult life because very much you
would have been taking a responsibility for a wage or whatever.
Look at what you was doing as a kid when you weren’t being paid for
it.
And if you was a drama when you was a kid and you loved doing it
then try and look at something that would do that. And he says that
exactly the same way as you do it and you’ll find your swing
episodes.
That’s right. And I and I love those. Again that’s another instance
where we totally put ourselves on the spot. I have a co-host. Her
name is Dawn Mars. For those episodes and we never read the
questions first. Like I only you know sometimes I glance at them to
see just a copy and paste them into my Evernote when we’re doing
the show. But we were reading them and answering them live and
which again has another element of pressure that we’ve got to come
up with an answer and these people are literally like I’ve had
people that have taken what we’ve said on the show. They’ve made a
business from it like the next day they’ve gone and done it.
So it’s it can be a little daunting. And I was going to ask you
earlier you know your show’s growing now and this this will be big
your show will have a huge audience at some point and I’ve asked
this with other people that are in the space.
Have you yet felt this sense of responsibility that comes with that
the fact that you’re speaking into a microphone and someone’s
actually listening to what you’re saying.
Yeah. With power comes great responsibility. And it’s funny the
very first show I released I got two e-mails and they were from
people I’d never met and they were saying thank you so much for
putting the show out there and I thought oh my God.
And from that moment of being very aware of what I’m saying or
being very aware of I don’t know where my words are landing. And of
also having a conversation with my wife this afternoon saying if
this really takes on.
Just as I want it to really take on I’m a little bit scared but I
haven’t got the value to provide the audience but I won’t and I
don’t know why that is because you know success is everything you
want. But I suddenly felt a pressure because I can see the
downloads increasing increasing increasing. I can see the work
coming towards me and I’m doing this seven days old on my own.
There’s not one person that helps me and I’m also balancing other
responsibilities as well. So this isn’t my only so restrained I
suddenly freaked this afternoon for the exact reason that you said
oh my god this is power this is responsibility. I’ve got to be
careful with it.
Yeah. Have you also found it. I agree. I felt that in some I
haven’t had yet. Hey buddy come back to me I’m like you ruin my
life but I’ll show it. That’s going to have to happen right.
Someone will listen to something you’ve said or I’ve said and
they’re going to do it and it’s not going to work for them and we
won’t have the details but they’re going to say I listened to you
when you were in my life. That’s going to happen.
There’s no way it that doesn’t happen. When you’re when you grow
this thing to where it can go there’s no way that doesn’t
happen.
Well think shows a slightly different note because you teach nuts
and bolts. I think with my show I talk about hope and I told you
why leap of both.
Yeah I really think I teach nuts and bolts because that’s that’s I
feel like there’s a lot of shows that do that specifically.
And I I feel like I teach more of the journey and then the nuts and
bolts sort of fall from there.
Well I think that’s the same thing. I think what you do you you
talk about the journey you get the cogs working in your own brain
and brain when you throw out the nuts and bolts which you probably
don’t think have got value as such.
You’re already using those cokes and you’re thinking yeah I can use
that yeah I can tell you that that’s exactly what happened with
me.
You know I couldn’t see how to do this because I’ve never done
this. But just by you having conversations with people you take the
element and you take the element and you take that element and what
do you do. He’s been up to you as an individual to put it
together.
Yeah I actually find myself pretty.
I can be very socially awkward at the beginning and I sometimes
I’ve actually accessed my I’ve switched into interview mode when
I’m meeting someone in real life.
I just watch on Mike I like my mentally switch on a podcast
microphone in front of me and I found it so much easier to have
conversations with people that way.
So that’s kind of interesting to me is bizarre.
I’m getting ready to play Steve Jobs now because I’m fascinated to
see your spin on this.
And this is the fulcrum of the whole show so this is a job.
Don’t be free to do that of course it was impossible to connect the
dots looking forward. When I was in college but it was very very
clear looking backwards. Ten years later again you can’t connect
the dots looking forward. You can only connect them looking
backwards.
So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your
future.
You have to trust in something your gut destiny life karma whatever
because believing that the dots will connect down the road will
give you the confidence to follow your heart even when it leads you
off the well-worn path.
And that will make all the difference.
When I’m going to ask a different question because I think you’ve
answered it already but you will say yes you believe in it. But why
do you think so many people don’t believe in that.
I think that’s a lot. Most people get hung up on the how of
something for example I think that we we pick a point be right we
pick a point B that’s there’s the dot so I’ve got this I want to I
want to do I want to have this show.
And to get this show together I need this this this this this this
this and we get stuck in the details of the this this this this
this instead of. All right I’m going to sort of flow through this.
All I want to do is get to that thing. I’m not sure how I’m going
to get there yet but I’m going to I don’t really know. And by the
time you get there and you look back and go wow that is not the
path that all that I was going to take.
My favorite metaphor.
Or maybe it’s an analogy I forget but for this is if you and I were
sitting at a cafe and I there was you know a three story building
across the street and I said David there’s a hundred thousand
pounds sitting in a bag on the roof of that building across the
street. You have 15 minutes to get it.
How fast would you be out the door to go get that money.
I’d be on the right run the window right but you wouldn’t know how
you were going to get it.
You had no idea how to get to the roof of that building. You just
knew you were getting to the roof.
You don’t know if you’re going to you know helicopter down you know
if you’re going to call the fire department to take you up there or
you know scale like Spiderman but you’re getting to the roof of
that building somehow.
And I think what successful entrepreneurs do is they just keep
their eye on that that you know that bag the bag that’s on the
roof.
They’re not quite as concerned about the how part. And we very much
get concerned about the how part.
And the second piece of that is when someone gives you an
opportunity I just said this a little earlier when someone gives
you an opportunity.
Our instinctive reaction is to say no because of this this and this
versus just instinctive to say yes and I’m going to figure out how
to work out this this and this and that is a huge mental shift even
though it’s very subtle.
It’s just yes and no.
But if you’ll find that people in your world that are really
successful or really look like they’re just having a great
time.
They’re the ones that say yes first and then figure out how it’s
going to work after and most of the people that are stuck and they
don’t get from that one dot to the next dot.
Those are the ones that say no because you know I I can’t live in
San Diego because I have kids in school or because I can’t afford
the move or because whatever we can come up with 15 different ways.
But in reality all that stuff can be worked out.
So I think that’s how I would respond to that and I hope that helps
someone.
So what scares you this is probably my final question before I send
you on the mike and you can have a one on one with your younger
self. As you all know and you’ve got these rocking and rolling show
everything’s going well you’ve just bought these the watch you’ve
finished off the last five years and everything’s good and you’ve
got a lovely new girlfriend.
What scares you. Well when you look at what you need to
achieve.
What scares me.
I have to say I look at the bank being intimidated or being
excited. I sort of treat the same way.
So I don’t get super excited about everything and I don’t get
scared about everything.
I gosh I mean I don’t I I can honestly say I don’t have that for
the same reason when someone said you know when I was so literally
I was scraping up change so I could take in an airport shuttle for
a ticket that was paid for by somebody else to go speak in front of
3000 people and that in which I was going to make $5000 or whatever
that weekend. A few years ago I I literally had to scrape $8 up so
I could take the shuttle like in change so I could take the shuttle
to get to the airport that I had.
I had $18 in my bank account at the time.
And so it wasn’t enough to get the cash out of the machine. So I
wasn’t worried about it.
I’ve never been worried about stuff like that and I didn’t even
know what success was going to look like for me.
But I had a feeling that I was destined for it.
And that’s the only way I can say is that it was it was very innate
and I didn’t know where it was going to come from but I was very
patient about it. Now I was also very patient about about you know
I knew I was going to meet a great woman at some point and I was
able to reach you know like you said read about a year ago but but
recently.
So I think that I have that that vibe that that it’s the same
reason I don’t plan a lot. I just don’t.
I’m living very much in the moment as I go day by day.
And for better or for worse I don’t plan as much as I probably
could or should.
But right now I’m not really you know scared about anything. I mean
I could say you know the show doesn’t grow at all. But even if it
doesn’t I’m live in a great life right now.
So I guess I’m not even that scared of that.
OK last question before we send you back this time.
Is it easier to move forward when you’ve hit rock bottom and you
really did hit rock bottom.
Yes it is. It’s easier for me to keep perspective on it.
I just last weekend went to I went to Napa Valley with my
girlfriend’s family and it was a very first class trip like from
private private jet from San Diego to Napa Valley which I’ve never
done before my life and everything was super exclusive super like
Michelin star first class and I was like man I don’t want to be
here like this.
No I don’t mean like I didn’t want to be at the weekend. I just I
don’t want to live in that universe of that sort of high end
world.
And that’s it.
I I remember looking longingly at a train that goes through Napa
Valley and it stops at all these different wineries and I’m kind of
like Man I wish I would’ve just taken the train and gotten kind of
drunk at the third winery and kept going and that would’ve been a
really fun day. Instead it was like this you know 12 people serving
our table kind of thing and it just wasn’t me.
But my my Philly boy sort of like Kragen pragmatist personality
carried me through that whole weekend thinking yeah I would be fine
with stopping at a fast food place now and going to another winery.
We don’t have to go to a hundred dollar plate dinner you know.
And so I think if anything it’s given me perspective and there’s
one more piece of perspective that in my very very lowest time and
it was very low.
And I thank you for not like making me go through that again like
40000 other shows have but I had a I remember the current hurricane
Katrina had hit the southern United States and it just decimated
New Orleans.
And this was literally at my lowest time. And I remember looking on
the news and seeing like a little 9 year old little black kid who
everybody in his family died.
Right. And he lost everything like lost every piece of memory he
ever had including all of his family members.
And he’s this kid who doesn’t have much of an education.
He’s a minority.
He doesn’t have a lot of opportunity that are coming coming to him
and I remember thinking all right no matter what happens I’m a
white male with a skill set in United States and that’s not and
that’s not to be racially insensitive I’m looking. That was a
practical. OK.
So no matter what my situation is I can’t complain like I’m
starting with these four advantages that a lot of people all over
the world don’t have. I will be given opportunities that a lot of
people don’t have and that really kept me grounded like that there
was this you know that some people had to struggle to get to what I
had innately by birth that I had nothing to do with.
So that really kept me grounded and it still keeps me grounded to
this day is that I always realize that there’s people out there
that do not have the same opportunities that I knew the answer.
Mike are we going to put you on the Sermon on the mike now. This is
when we send you back in time lost a young Marty McFly to have a
one on one with yourself and if you could go back in time.
What age would you choose and what advice would you say. So I’m
going to play the music and when he gets out you’re up. This is the
Sermon on the mike.
Here.
We go with the speed of this.
This man.
Who.
I think that first of all very handsome very very talented man
couldn’t congratulate now.
If you could work on harnessing that Philly attitude a little bit
just over the next few years if you could take the edge off of
that. Not everybody is out to get you and focus on building some
relationships that you will sustain forever without having that
kind of you know screw you Gene.
Not Eugene. I don’t know anybody named Eugene. I’m not trying to
signal that that will serve you in the future.
Yeah.
So to some or to to to bring that and I know that was very short
but to bring that in I feel like over the last few years I’ve been
able to take this.
There was a bit of filea attitude like where if someone slighted me
in any way that was it they were erased like done.
And there was no real going back. It was partially like it was a
Scorpio in me that that that’s sort of like had that stinger.
And I you know it’s it’s the it’s the patience I have now which is
maybe a little bit of it’s I wouldn’t say less judgment because I
think judgment makes for good comedy.
But but it’s just maybe being a little more empathetic to people’s
situations and realizing that that people aren’t always in control
of their actions and sometimes they’re going through a learning
process as well. And to just instantly give them the guillotine and
out of one’s life is not the most productive way to go through
things. I don’t do that anymore but I did it for a number of years
and I think it was just a reaction to losing my parents and it
being so so much.
OK Wolf I’m going to lose this anyway I might as well just cut it
right off.
And I think that didn’t that didn’t serve me for a long time.
So I’d fix that.
Michael how can our listeners connect with you sir. Well you know
this. Oh I know you say you say in an American Xon is better I
would say the same thing if you were speaking in a British accent.
By the way you going to come on my show some time. I would love to
come on your show it oh no great. And Howard Jones I want him to
go.
Has he been on your show yet. No he isn’t knocking me back. He said
he would and not me but I’ve called a few of them that sign up for
it. And then you just come down and that’s a drag.
Anyway the show is called the Solar Perner hour.
The Web site because no one can spell pre-New or is solo our
dotcom.
And if you’d like some coaching give a coaching program yet.
I’ve only been focused on building you audience.
That’s good. Well so if anybody needs coaching including you my
friend I can’t believe you’re not in solo lab. I want solo lab
dotcom and we’d love to have you in our really cool community.
Mancow thank you so much for spending time with us tonight joining
up those dots on the 100th episode and it’s quite the world’s
longest episode of ever done as well. Please come listen. Is. Yeah
we were about seven minutes past what we normally do. So come back
again when you have more dots to join up because I do believe that
by joining up the dots and connecting up pasts is the best way to
build a future.
Mr. Michael O’Neill thank you so much. And thank you.
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