REAL AF with Andy Frisella - Shawn Stevenson, Sleep, and Success, with Andy Frisella

00:00:00.000 We gon' let the band deal with this.

00:00:02.500 Ha ha.

00:00:03.380 Mm-hmm.

00:00:06.580 M-I-A style.

00:00:08.480 Old school.

00:00:10.080 Uh-huh.

00:00:12.320 Okay.

00:00:13.360 Shut up.

00:00:14.220 Uh-huh.

00:00:15.020 Okay.

00:00:15.900 What's up?

00:00:16.800 Shut up.

00:00:17.300 What's up, guys?

00:00:18.260 You're listening to the MFCEO Project.

00:00:20.260 I'm Andy.

00:00:20.880 I'm your host.

00:00:21.900 And I am the motherfuckin' CEO.

00:00:24.380 Guys, if this is your first time listening,

00:00:27.140 realize this is all about taking responsibility,

00:00:31.600 improving your life, getting your life on track,

00:00:34.640 and treating yourself as the entrepreneur and CEO of yourself.

00:00:39.000 So when we talk about being a motherfuckin' CEO,

00:00:42.420 you don't have to own your own business to do that

00:00:44.900 because you already are in charge of a massive pile of responsibilities called your life.

00:00:52.200 And what we're trying to do here, guys,

00:00:53.820 is get you on track and get you running full speed ahead in the right direction

00:00:58.480 with an attitude and a swagger and a confidence

00:01:02.220 that you're not going to get other places.

00:01:04.400 And that's the point of this podcast.

00:01:05.900 I'm here with my co-host, Vaughn Kohler,

00:01:08.320 a.k.a. Vaughn the Impaler, the pastor of Disaster.

00:01:11.940 What's up, my man?

00:01:12.740 I'm doing my best Seth Godin impersonation.

00:01:15.220 You look like him today.

00:01:16.300 Yeah, yeah.

00:01:16.860 I figured, I thought I was going to get some sort of...

00:01:18.940 Dude, I walked in here,

00:01:19.640 and I felt automatically, like, intellectually intimidated by your face.

00:01:23.620 I'm sure, yeah.

00:01:24.600 For those of you who can't see this, which I'm pretty sure it's everybody,

00:01:27.800 I'm wearing glasses.

00:01:29.180 So it's awesome.

00:01:30.280 I have these chicks come up and say,

00:01:31.460 Are you Seth Godin?

00:01:32.820 Oh, I bet that.

00:01:33.560 Yeah, it happens two or three times a day.

00:01:36.080 But here's the thing, guys.

00:01:37.100 We've got a really cool show today, okay?

00:01:39.020 We get emails and contacts and messages all the time.

00:01:44.400 Hey, I want to start a business.

00:01:45.760 Hey, I want to start a brand.

00:01:47.200 Hey, I want to write a book.

00:01:49.080 Where do I start?

00:01:50.700 And so many people focus in on things that are going to make them money,

00:01:56.680 and that's the equivalent of putting the cart before the horse, okay?

00:02:00.560 If you're struggling for a business idea or something that you want to do,

00:02:06.120 you need to start looking at the problems.

00:02:08.440 You need to start looking at the problems that surround your life.

00:02:11.980 A lot of these times, they're going to be the problems that you deal with on a daily basis.

00:02:16.860 And I find that all successful entrepreneurs and authors understand that problems are opportunities for success.

00:02:24.680 It's not about, you know, I'm going to start a business to sell shit,

00:02:28.460 or I'm going to start a business to make money.

00:02:30.260 Business, and I say this all the time, is about serving others.

00:02:34.100 It's about service first.

00:02:35.320 It's about solving problems, and to solve a problem, you've got to teach yourself how to identify them up front all the time.

00:02:42.940 We're surrounded by problems.

00:02:44.240 I can't tell you how many times a day, and I know you guys are the same way listening,

00:02:49.340 we look at things and we're like, God, that's fucking annoying.

00:02:51.700 This annoys the shit out of me.

00:02:53.380 You know, why can't this be like that?

00:02:55.040 Well, those are the opportunities, guys, and we're going to tell a really cool story.

00:02:59.840 I've got a really awesome guest today.

00:03:01.680 His name is Sean Stevenson.

00:03:03.500 He's the author of Sleep Smarter, which is a tremendous book.

00:03:07.000 I haven't read it yet, but I have heard from literally dozens and dozens of people that I have greatly respect

00:03:12.560 that this is a tremendous book, and it's the pinnacle of the category that he's written in.

00:03:19.960 So I want to welcome Sean.

00:03:21.280 Welcome, brother.

00:03:22.020 Hey, thanks so much for having me, man.

00:03:23.280 Yeah, man, we're excited to hear about this.

00:03:25.200 So my first question is for you on the Sleep Smarter.

00:03:31.420 Yeah.

00:03:32.320 Why sleep?

00:03:34.200 Yeah, yeah.

00:03:35.240 It seems like a very unsexy topic, you know?

00:03:39.280 And what's so interesting, it definitely came out of my own struggles with this initially.

00:03:43.560 And so kind of my story, when I was 20 years old, I was diagnosed with degenerative bone disease

00:03:48.260 and degenerative spinal disease.

00:03:50.080 So I was coming from being a high-level athlete.

00:03:53.680 I ran a 4-5-40 when I was 15, barely, you know, right after my birthday.

00:03:57.800 And things were looking good, but then the letters stopped coming in when I broke my hip

00:04:02.360 just at track practice, all right?

00:04:04.560 And nobody stopped to ask, what's wrong with this kid?

00:04:07.560 How is he breaking his hip just running?

00:04:08.980 This is usually for old ladies.

00:04:10.360 Right, right.

00:04:10.720 And so I went through the normal care, you know, ultrasound, NSAID, stay off the leg.

00:04:17.080 And when you're, like, 15 years old, you have the hormones of the mythical beast, so you get better, you know?

00:04:22.020 But, again, nobody stopped to ask why, what happened.

00:04:25.180 And 20 years old, finally I get this diagnosis.

00:04:27.900 And that just kind of created a downward spiral for me.

00:04:30.580 Gained a bunch of weight, so I got to be super fluff.

00:04:33.560 I stay fluffy instead of, you know, fat.

00:04:35.960 But I was fat.

00:04:36.660 I was fat.

00:04:37.220 Yeah.

00:04:37.680 And definitely just.

00:04:39.700 I like thinking of myself as fluffy, too.

00:04:41.880 Pleasantly fluffy.

00:04:43.080 I'm like teddy bear fluffy.

00:04:45.380 Ask my wife.

00:04:46.040 That's what she says.

00:04:47.060 Yeah, right.

00:04:48.120 So I was definitely struggling with just even getting around.

00:04:52.200 And if people, there's going to be a lot of people hearing this that, like, I've got that same issue, you know, with my back.

00:04:57.400 And so it's the L4, L5, S1, and there's a lot of nerves that go through there.

00:05:02.220 So when people used to have back problems when I was in high school, I used to be like, man up.

00:05:07.720 You know, it's your back.

00:05:09.300 Like, walk it off.

00:05:10.080 But everything is running through there, you know?

00:05:12.760 So that really started to shut down and cause problems also with sleeping, just changing positions would wake me up.

00:05:18.380 So I started to really, man, I was keeping Tylenol PM in business, you know, just popping those pills, taking my prescription medications as well.

00:05:24.720 Take something to cover the symptoms.

00:05:25.920 Yes.

00:05:26.280 Right.

00:05:26.480 So I was thinking that I was getting more sleep, but I'd wake up super groggy every single day, struggling to get through the day.

00:05:32.840 And this whole process was incredibly embarrassing, you know?

00:05:35.800 And so I kind of lost my identity not being an athlete anymore.

00:05:38.460 And now it's just this chubby kid walking around campus, limping around campus and kind of lost.

00:05:43.480 And so ultimately, when things change, and this is really important, especially for being on your show, I was asking all the wrong questions.

00:05:51.740 You know, why me?

00:05:52.680 Why won't somebody help me?

00:05:54.180 What's wrong with me?

00:05:56.040 Would I deserve to get this?

00:05:57.640 Exactly.

00:05:57.920 Why am I not a professional athlete now?

00:05:59.980 Yeah.

00:06:00.340 Dude, I've been exactly through that whole thing.

00:06:02.400 And the crazy thing is, and so I'm a scientist.

00:06:04.780 I'm very analytical.

00:06:05.660 Yeah.

00:06:05.820 So when you ask questions, your brain, you know, your reticular activating system and your reticular cortex is looking for answers to support whatever you ask.

00:06:14.200 Right.

00:06:14.420 So if you ask, you know, why does this happen to me?

00:06:16.680 You start to find things to support how much you suck as a person.

00:06:19.740 Right.

00:06:20.180 You know?

00:06:20.600 And so after that kind of revelation that I was asking the wrong questions, and I kept putting my health and well-being off onto my physicians, even though they meant well, they're not thinking about me when I'm not there.

00:06:30.280 Right.

00:06:30.460 You know?

00:06:30.840 And so I saw five guys, five different doctors, and they all told me the same thing.

00:06:34.620 You know, you have the spine of an 80-year-old person.

00:06:36.720 There's nothing you can do about this.

00:06:38.120 This is incurable.

00:06:38.920 We're sorry.

00:06:40.220 And I had a choice to make.

00:06:41.800 So this is when I was 22.

00:06:43.460 I'm either going to buy into that and just give up on my life, or I'm going to do something about it.

00:06:48.040 Right.

00:06:48.160 And so most people never actually do this really important point.

00:06:51.100 They never really decide.

00:06:53.460 And it's more like wishful thinking.

00:06:55.360 And I did that.

00:06:56.200 It's a hope.

00:06:56.820 I'll try.

00:06:57.580 I hope this gets better.

00:06:58.720 I wish this would work.

00:07:00.140 But when you make a real decision about something, you cut away the possibility of failure.

00:07:03.820 Yeah.

00:07:04.220 I mean, the literal meaning of decide is to cut off.

00:07:07.980 Yeah.

00:07:08.280 It means to cut off all other possibilities.

00:07:11.300 Yeah.

00:07:11.820 You know?

00:07:12.300 And, you know, we could talk about that as a whole entire podcast.

00:07:18.000 Right.

00:07:18.320 Right.

00:07:18.460 Right.

00:07:18.600 People's inability to actually make a commitment on that decision.

00:07:21.300 But yeah.

00:07:21.640 Sorry, man.

00:07:22.300 No.

00:07:22.520 All good.

00:07:23.000 So I made that decision.

00:07:24.300 And like you said, it's the Latin word de meaning from and cut deer, which means to cut.

00:07:28.100 Right.

00:07:28.220 So there was no opportunity or option for failure.

00:07:30.820 It's like the burn the boats thing, you know?

00:07:32.480 And so also being an analytical, this doesn't mean like the clouds parted and a unicorn came

00:07:37.420 out or any magical thing happened.

00:07:39.240 It's a process.

00:07:39.440 I put a plan together.

00:07:40.340 Right.

00:07:40.840 You know?

00:07:41.280 And so that plan entailed three specific things.

00:07:43.760 I was on the university diet.

00:07:45.460 I call it tough food, which is typical university food at that time.

00:07:49.720 So I had the Papa John's special five bucks for a whole pizza.

00:07:52.980 I'd slammed that down.

00:07:54.140 Whole pizza.

00:07:55.520 I'm not going to say every day, but it was close.

00:07:57.540 Yeah.

00:07:57.680 You know?

00:07:57.980 And of course, McDonald's, if I get up in time for the breakfast, which apparently it's

00:08:01.040 24 hours now, which, man, I mean, I would have had all kinds of diabetes at this point.

00:08:05.960 But, you know, so I was, that's how I was living my life because I didn't know any better.

00:08:10.180 And I asked my very first physician, and it's like, this was sort of like a mystical

00:08:14.720 miracle thing that I asked this question.

00:08:16.280 I don't know if it was like my spirit animal or something, but I asked him, does this have

00:08:19.940 anything to do with what I'm eating?

00:08:21.380 And he looked at me like I was from another planet.

00:08:23.440 And this was, again, this was about 16 years ago.

00:08:25.840 Right.

00:08:26.120 And he told me this has nothing to do with what you're eating.

00:08:28.500 But then he wrote me a prescription to eat some drugs.

00:08:31.640 So it's like, what I'm putting in my mouth doesn't matter, but.

00:08:35.480 But as long as it's this.

00:08:36.760 Yeah.

00:08:37.080 Right.

00:08:37.340 So it's just like, that never sat right with you.

00:08:38.940 As long as it's this shit here that I'm going to make some money on.

00:08:40.700 Exactly.

00:08:41.000 Right.

00:08:41.460 And so I changed the way that I was eating.

00:08:43.720 And at the time, I didn't know what to do.

00:08:45.040 So I just started to, you know, I start to eat better quality of the things that I was

00:08:50.140 already getting from McDonald's.

00:08:51.260 So Whole Foods just opened at that point.

00:08:53.300 And this was brand new in this city, which we tend to get stuff late.

00:08:56.260 So it was just like me and three other.

00:08:57.680 I still feel like we just got it.

00:08:59.340 Exactly.

00:08:59.860 It was just me and like three other random people in the store.

00:09:02.240 Yeah.

00:09:02.520 Just like me and some lady with a tie dye shirt on and then like a professional athlete

00:09:07.860 I bumped into.

00:09:08.600 Yeah.

00:09:08.800 But now it's, of course, exploded.

00:09:10.280 Right.

00:09:10.520 And but, you know, so I was buying like grass fed beef instead of McDonald's, whatever the

00:09:15.440 hell's in there.

00:09:16.660 And, you know, swapping out the fries for vegetables, eating, you know, a lot more whole foods and

00:09:22.920 drinking a lot of water, that kind of basic stuff.

00:09:25.180 And the third, the second part was, and this is a low hanging fruit for especially for a lot

00:09:28.840 of guys, was I started to exercise again.

00:09:30.800 Right.

00:09:31.340 Whereas, you know, my physicians, they were well-meaning, but they were telling me don't

00:09:34.360 do anything.

00:09:35.000 Rest it, rest it.

00:09:35.740 You know, I was resting for two years.

00:09:37.300 Right.

00:09:37.580 You know, and your body will literally start to atrophy.

00:09:39.540 Yeah.

00:09:39.920 And so your body requires movement in order to heal itself.

00:09:42.520 So I really started to pay attention to this and I took my time.

00:09:45.460 I'm not saying if you're dealing with a back problem now to go deadlift 500 tomorrow.

00:09:49.240 No.

00:09:49.560 But do what you can.

00:09:50.500 Maybe take a walk.

00:09:51.400 You know, yeah.

00:09:51.920 So I just started walking.

00:09:53.220 I started to get on the elliptical.

00:09:54.960 I started to lift a few weights after a few weeks.

00:09:56.760 And the third part, and this was really the most important part, which I didn't understand

00:10:01.760 this till years later, was when I changed my habits during the day, my sleep got better

00:10:06.000 and I was able to not use medication just to go to sleep at night.

00:10:09.700 And once my sleep got good, it's just like the floodgates opened and I got healthy so quickly.

00:10:14.600 It's compounding effect.

00:10:15.740 Yes.

00:10:15.980 Right.

00:10:16.240 Because sleep is known as the anabolic state.

00:10:18.480 This is when your body's producing all of the growth hormone, reparative enzymes, all

00:10:22.100 this stuff to actually assimilate the food that you're taking in.

00:10:24.920 If you're spending a lot of money on food, the exercise you're doing, your body heals

00:10:28.280 itself when you're asleep.

00:10:30.320 And so fast forward six weeks after this moment of decision, I lost 28 pounds.

00:10:36.500 The pain I'd been experiencing for two and a half years was gone.

00:10:40.740 And the people at my university, I was still in school at the time, at UMSL.

00:10:43.800 I was going there actually.

00:10:44.580 And my professors, I remember this one time I was walking out of the classroom and he

00:10:49.760 stopped me and he was like, what happened to you?

00:10:52.020 You look so healthy.

00:10:53.860 Like it's a problem.

00:10:55.220 You know, I'm just like, you know, I just been taking care of myself.

00:10:58.780 And so he ended up becoming my client, one of my first clients, not my very first.

00:11:02.600 So I started working with the faculty and the staff there and students and eventually

00:11:06.960 thousands of people.

00:11:08.000 Yeah.

00:11:08.220 And, um, but by the way, I went back and got a scan done of my spine after nine months

00:11:12.440 and I completely reversed the regeneration.

00:11:15.180 I mean, sorry, the degeneration.

00:11:16.980 And, um, through that process, I lost three fourths of an inch in my height and I gained

00:11:20.800 half an inch back.

00:11:22.280 And my doctor, all he could do was say, you know, whatever you're doing, keep doing it.

00:11:25.400 Yeah.

00:11:25.880 And so that was really the birthing of my career.

00:11:27.660 And since then, uh, I initially started off in the space of like doing talks, you know,

00:11:33.860 speaking, right, being on stage, teaching workshops that eventually evolved itself into a podcast,

00:11:39.180 which, um, crazy, but today we're number one in the country in fitness and nutrition.

00:11:44.040 Yeah.

00:11:44.700 Tremendous podcast guys.

00:11:45.880 You guys, if you're not, tell everybody just, you guys should be listening to this podcast.

00:11:50.900 Yeah.

00:11:51.520 So it's called the model health show.

00:11:53.280 And, um, we are just crossing for, uh, four, 4.5 million downloads once a week podcast.

00:11:59.500 These are masterclasses.

00:12:01.020 And so eventually after the whole thing of recovering myself and being a strength conditioning

00:12:05.280 coach, I focused in college on, you know, biology, kinesiology, and I opened up a practice

00:12:11.000 in clinical nutrition.

00:12:12.240 Yeah.

00:12:12.680 And so in my practice, we really focused on chronic illnesses.

00:12:15.800 So we had like a 89% reversal rate for type two diabetes, uh, helping people to get off

00:12:21.600 their high blood pressure medication, stuff like that.

00:12:24.040 And really just helped a lot of people, man.

00:12:26.080 And working with thousands of people gave me a lot of leverage.

00:12:28.140 Once we started the podcast, we came out of the gate.

00:12:30.060 Right.

00:12:31.180 That's the same way we did here.

00:12:32.620 Yeah.

00:12:32.920 Yeah.

00:12:33.160 Yeah.

00:12:33.580 Had a built in audience already.

00:12:35.080 Yeah.

00:12:35.540 But that's nice.

00:12:36.520 So I can see why your podcast is so good.

00:12:38.660 It's popular, dude.

00:12:39.320 Like, like not only is he smart, he's got like this silky butter voice, man.

00:12:43.700 Barry white.

00:12:44.300 You got the freaking voice.

00:12:45.240 Yeah.

00:12:45.880 Yeah.

00:12:46.040 He's butter.

00:12:46.740 So I'm curious.

00:12:47.660 I mean, maybe I'm curious cause this is the first time you've heard his story.

00:12:51.340 Yeah.

00:12:51.640 So treat, treat Sean like game film.

00:12:54.340 Like, what do you notice about his story so far that you're like, yeah, this is look, man,

00:12:58.120 here's, well, first of all, I've been wanting to say something for a minute for you guys.

00:13:02.160 Cause there's like a, there's like a, a, a bunch of lessons that need to be like pointed

00:13:07.120 out for people that maybe aren't connecting the dots here.

00:13:09.740 If you're an entrepreneur guys, like, uh, and I, and when I say entrepreneur, I mean a literal

00:13:14.000 entrepreneur, like you guys actually out there running a business, you are going to have

00:13:18.660 these problems.

00:13:19.240 I promise you, Sean and I were just talking before the show.

00:13:22.160 I have these problems.

00:13:23.160 I've had them for nearly 20 years when it comes to like sleeping because your mind is going

00:13:27.740 to get so wrapped up in the process and there's so much stress involved and it's just

00:13:33.000 such a different thing to be working literally 24 seven.

00:13:39.160 And when I say working, I don't mean just like working like physically.

00:13:42.560 I mean, when you're not working, you're still working in your mind and to get yourself out

00:13:47.440 of that state into a relaxed state, to be able to sleep restfully the right way.

00:13:52.800 I'm not talking about just lay there for six or seven, eight hours.

00:13:56.680 It's a big deal.

00:13:57.780 I struggle with it really hard and that, you know, I'm, I'm going to be, I'm going to be

00:14:02.400 hitting you up on some of this stuff for sure.

00:14:04.060 But, um, you know, the other thing guys is like the biggest lesson is all it's repeating

00:14:09.180 what I said in the beginning, what I hear so far, you know, man, there's a lot of lessons

00:14:15.140 here I could go into, but the main thing here is that when you're looking for ideas to, to

00:14:20.680 mold yourself or to get into business or to build something, you have to start looking

00:14:26.020 and be aware of the problems that surround you.

00:14:29.280 You know, I feel like so many people just, they base ideas off of things that are going

00:14:35.280 to like try to make the money.

00:14:36.280 Right.

00:14:36.720 You know what I mean?

00:14:37.280 And where the reality is, is if you become really good at solving a specific problem,

00:14:42.680 even if it's something that, you know, I mean, sleep, everybody does it automatically.

00:14:47.940 Right.

00:14:48.340 You know what I mean?

00:14:48.860 Like it's not, and I, and I, I don't mean like disrespect, but it doesn't sound like,

00:14:53.260 Oh yeah, that's a major problem, but it is a major problem when you're not getting it.

00:14:57.400 And when there's millions of other people out there that like me, that toss a turn all

00:15:02.060 night and wake up every day, like a fucking zombie, you know what I mean?

00:15:05.680 It takes me three hours to even get moving because I'm so exhausted every day, dude, that

00:15:10.000 will take years off of your life.

00:15:11.680 I tell my wife all the time.

00:15:13.080 I'm like, look, I've got to get this figured out or I'm going to fucking, you know, it's

00:15:16.240 going to be like another seven or eight years for me.

00:15:18.120 That's gonna be it.

00:15:18.840 You know, in the book, I actually talk about, uh, some research from university of California.

00:15:23.480 And I don't know if you guys know about telomeres, do you know about telomeres?

00:15:27.560 So what's been discovered recently is that we have these end caps on our, on our DNA that

00:15:33.780 keep it from breaking down.

00:15:35.300 And as you get older, the, this, these end caps kind of like the end of your shoe strings,

00:15:40.660 that little plastic casing.

00:15:42.120 Yeah.

00:15:42.360 Have you ever tried to tie your shoe up without those things?

00:15:44.700 It's a bitch.

00:15:45.500 It's horrible.

00:15:46.440 Yeah.

00:15:46.780 But so these things basically keep your DNA from fraying.

00:15:49.420 And as you get older, they start to get clipped down.

00:15:51.240 Um, and so what they discovered was that this is the greatest biological marker that can

00:15:55.280 tell how long you're going to live.

00:15:56.320 Yeah.

00:15:56.940 And Elizabeth Blackburn in 2011, I think when the Pete, the, um, Nobel prize for discovery

00:16:02.420 that there's an enzyme that can add length back onto this basically literally reverse

00:16:06.200 your aging.

00:16:07.180 But in the book, I cite a study from, you know, I mentioned university of California that sleep

00:16:11.960 deprivation is the number one.

00:16:13.360 Well, up there in the top, almost number one, most, uh, the thing that can accelerate your

00:16:20.240 aging the most.

00:16:21.020 Yeah.

00:16:21.420 All right.

00:16:21.700 And so it's really crazy.

00:16:23.000 This idea in our culture is like, I'll sleep when I'm dead.

00:16:25.320 Right.

00:16:25.640 You'll just be dead.

00:16:26.380 Yeah.

00:16:26.620 You know, you're accelerating crazy in that.

00:16:28.480 And I hit on that a lot too.

00:16:29.760 And it got, that's a pet peeve of mine.

00:16:33.180 It's all these dudes on the internet saying, Oh, you never have to fucking sleep.

00:16:36.280 And if you sleep, you're a pussy.

00:16:37.720 No, dude, you're, those guys are wrong and they're lying to you guys.

00:16:41.420 Right.

00:16:41.740 That's like a, that's like a bragging right thing.

00:16:43.780 Yeah.

00:16:44.020 It's not even true.

00:16:45.160 Right.

00:16:45.540 You know?

00:16:46.180 Right.

00:16:47.080 Well, you know, it's so funny that this, and you mentioned earlier too, about addressing

00:16:52.180 a problem because a lot of us think that we're Steve jobs.

00:16:54.920 Right.

00:16:55.180 You know, like I'll make it and they're, they don't even know they like it yet.

00:16:58.020 Right.

00:16:58.300 Right.

00:16:58.840 If you keep that up, you're going to be Stevie, no job.

00:17:00.780 That's right.

00:17:01.320 Yeah.

00:17:01.520 Stevie, no job.

00:17:02.640 Yeah.

00:17:02.960 And it's understanding that you've got to create something that the market is already

00:17:05.940 demanding.

00:17:06.500 That's right.

00:17:06.800 Like you said.

00:17:07.660 And a lot of times it'll come from your own life.

00:17:10.080 Right.

00:17:10.380 Your own experience.

00:17:11.440 You know, it's not like we don't need a toilet seat warmer with cup holders or whatever.

00:17:16.460 Yeah.

00:17:16.740 It's going to be hot.

00:17:17.560 Right.

00:17:17.880 Pay attention to what people actually want.

00:17:19.560 Yeah.

00:17:19.900 The small little problems that annoy you.

00:17:22.460 Yeah.

00:17:22.740 You know what I mean?

00:17:23.340 Yeah.

00:17:23.460 It's, it's not the massive, I mean, there is guys like Steve jobs, right?

00:17:29.380 But like, there's so few and far between.

00:17:31.140 And I feel like that that's like the thing everybody wants to be now.

00:17:35.320 Everybody wants to be this dude who becomes the hero from revolutionizing everything that

00:17:41.520 we do.

00:17:42.080 And good for you.

00:17:42.900 I appreciate that.

00:17:43.800 But you still got to pay the bills.

00:17:45.020 Yeah.

00:17:45.160 So let's look at the small problems first, because maybe you could start there.

00:17:48.160 Yeah.

00:17:48.380 You know?

00:17:49.400 Exactly.

00:17:50.160 You know?

00:17:50.960 Sean, do you think you would be where you are at now if you never had problems with your

00:17:56.340 spine?

00:17:56.780 No.

00:17:57.380 No.

00:17:57.740 It's the greatest thing that's ever happened to me.

00:17:59.500 You know?

00:18:00.080 I love that that happened.

00:18:01.840 And I love that it happened to me so young, so that I can have all of this time to really

00:18:05.860 execute and kind of get past that.

00:18:08.080 But a lot of people, you know, these bad things happen and they throw in the towel.

00:18:11.320 That's right.

00:18:11.680 They don't even know that they're doing it.

00:18:12.980 That's right.

00:18:13.400 You know?

00:18:13.780 And so having this opportunity, you know, I wasn't, I definitely am not going to let

00:18:17.800 it, let it pass.

00:18:19.500 And this was really born out of, so according to research, 60% of all people in America have

00:18:25.280 trouble sleeping every night or every other night.

00:18:27.820 All right.

00:18:28.120 So that's nice.

00:18:30.280 That's way more than half.

00:18:31.220 It's almost one, two thirds of us.

00:18:33.080 That's a lot of people.

00:18:34.220 Right.

00:18:34.400 So for me to create this product, I'm already speaking to, and I haven't met one person yet

00:18:39.040 that's just like, oh, that sounds okay.

00:18:41.400 You know, there's like, I need that.

00:18:42.820 Yeah.

00:18:43.080 You know?

00:18:43.500 And so that's the marketing piece.

00:18:45.200 But then it also, if you really want to be successful in business, it's about providing

00:18:49.440 value.

00:18:50.100 Right.

00:18:50.340 Will it actually work?

00:18:51.560 Right.

00:18:51.660 So you need to test, you know, don't just create something and, you know, throw it out

00:18:55.980 there or even try to pitch it to a publisher.

00:18:57.600 So what I did was, number one, in my clinical practice, I start to ask people about it.

00:19:02.700 So this was about five years ago, after five years in practice.

00:19:06.600 And then I was shocked when I started to ask people about their sleep.

00:19:10.700 I just took it for granted because I slept good.

00:19:12.680 Right.

00:19:13.060 And so people who, you know, I mentioned we had about an 89% reversal rate for type 2 diabetes.

00:19:17.620 What about the 11% of the other people?

00:19:19.640 Right.

00:19:20.100 And so I would start to quiz them and find out, you know, wow, they're sleeping less than

00:19:23.380 four hours a night.

00:19:24.280 They have a husband or wife who's dealing with sleep issues that keeps them up.

00:19:27.820 And so I would start to find out these different stories.

00:19:30.300 And once we got their sleep dialed in, it's like the floodgates would open again and they

00:19:34.120 start to get these results everybody else was getting.

00:19:36.640 And so, which was incredible.

00:19:37.460 So number one, in clinical practice, face-to-face helping a person.

00:19:41.460 And that takes some, that takes balls too, to look a person in the eye and say, I want

00:19:46.100 you to pay me.

00:19:47.000 Yeah.

00:19:47.360 And I'm going to help you.

00:19:48.340 Right.

00:19:48.500 We're going to do this together.

00:19:49.540 You need to trust me and we're going to finish this thing.

00:19:51.860 Yeah.

00:19:52.440 And so developing that skill and then having that translate over online is really powerful.

00:19:56.980 And so with the book, so step one was clinical practice.

00:20:00.280 Step two was I did a post about it, you know, just on your website.

00:20:03.900 You can just do an article and see if it gets any traction.

00:20:06.300 See if anybody shares it.

00:20:07.580 If anybody leaves any comments, I did an article on some sleep tips and it did incredible.

00:20:12.060 Like it was my most popular article I'd ever written.

00:20:14.460 So then having the podcast platform, which is another free method that you can test your

00:20:18.580 idea.

00:20:19.140 Yeah.

00:20:19.660 I did.

00:20:20.260 And so we were about 50, you know, maybe about 40 episodes in and you can look at your metrics.

00:20:25.180 And I saw the three shows I did on sleep were in the top 10 most popular.

00:20:28.600 So it's like, wow, there's another proof that people are interested in this information.

00:20:32.200 So from there I decided, you know, I'm, and I don't know how much Vaughn knows this, but

00:20:38.160 my wife knows, I don't like people telling me what to do.

00:20:40.600 So I didn't want to.

00:20:41.400 That's a sign of a type A builder entrepreneur.

00:20:44.420 That's an MFCEO.

00:20:45.260 That's right.

00:20:45.880 Yeah.

00:20:46.200 I get, I completely understand.

00:20:48.140 So I, I'm in a safe space.

00:20:50.340 Thank you.

00:20:50.740 So I knew that I didn't really want to deal with a publisher telling me what I can and

00:20:55.340 can't do.

00:20:55.860 My platform was strong, but they would have probably had more leverage.

00:20:59.200 And I just wanted to do, write this book.

00:21:00.980 And I knew that I could sell a lot of them, you know, and also help a lot of people.

00:21:04.820 And so that's what I did.

00:21:06.080 But here's the thing, you know, you don't need to wait around for a traditional publisher.

00:21:09.520 The game has changed.

00:21:10.820 All right.

00:21:11.340 They're looking for sure things now.

00:21:13.280 Right.

00:21:13.500 And, but the, and this is because you can literally create a six figure business, just

00:21:20.180 selling books on Amazon today, you know?

00:21:22.400 So what I did was I enlisted and I had friends who had the literary agents for me to talk to.

00:21:28.120 I had the ends, but instead I went this track of, I enlisted everybody to do this the right

00:21:33.220 way.

00:21:33.840 So a person who's worked on New York times bestselling books to edit, edit my book.

00:21:38.800 Right.

00:21:39.060 Um, I made sure that the, you know, the, and this is just some tips for people that can

00:21:43.940 use 99 design, for example, to do your cover or enlist and hire, put out the money so that

00:21:48.820 you can hire somebody who's actually worked on very successful books to do your cover.

00:21:52.320 Um, the layout, same thing we paid and you can go to old desk or elance.com and you can

00:21:58.700 throw up a job and somebody, you can, you know, filter everybody and get somebody who's

00:22:02.400 actually executed and done this stuff.

00:22:03.860 You might have to pay, but you're going to create a product that, you know, number one is

00:22:07.680 selling that icon.

00:22:08.780 Right.

00:22:09.060 And so we were able to sell well over 10,000 copies of the book, uh, pretty quickly.

00:22:13.940 And that really made the major publishers pay attention.

00:22:17.080 So that's when I got with my literary agent and we had a tremendous amount of leverage

00:22:21.360 to the degree that my publisher Rodale, which they've been phenomenal.

00:22:25.280 They're incredible published, the voice and wellness, but we didn't have any issues with

00:22:29.840 them telling me what to do.

00:22:31.560 Right.

00:22:31.680 It was really executing all of us coming together as a team to execute on my vision.

00:22:35.040 Right.

00:22:35.300 Like, dude, you know, what I'm hearing is the tip is, is, is, is the, is, well, when I say

00:22:43.200 typical, I mean, it's just, it's the, it's the typical entrepreneurial success story.

00:22:48.520 People who don't, you didn't know how to do any of this shit.

00:22:51.300 You just went on and did it.

00:22:52.620 You know, we deal with so many people now through the podcast here that like, you guys, you can't

00:22:59.080 overanalyze or overthink or overplan.

00:23:01.520 It's just about going and you go.

00:23:03.840 And as you go, you will figure this shit out.

00:23:06.500 You'll run into people who have done things that you want to do and they'll give you 15

00:23:11.580 minutes, 10 minutes of their time and give you little directions.

00:23:14.340 You just have to pay attention.

00:23:16.260 You know, the amount of value that he just provided any one of you looking to write a

00:23:19.640 book in the last five minutes is invaluable.

00:23:22.920 You know, and that's, you know, that's something that is very, it's not uncommon.

00:23:29.780 It's just people don't pay attention.

00:23:30.840 Yeah.

00:23:31.080 You know what I mean?

00:23:31.700 I love that saying that done is better than perfect.

00:23:34.000 Yeah.

00:23:34.460 You know, because that's one of the things I did.

00:23:36.080 And this wasn't my first book.

00:23:37.320 I also wrote, I wrote another book earlier that didn't do as well because I kept on postponing.

00:23:41.800 But how much did you learn from the first book?

00:23:43.740 Yes.

00:23:44.100 I'm so glad for that failure.

00:23:45.480 Right.

00:23:45.700 You know, like I've really, I've still got boxes of those books.

00:23:49.060 Yeah.

00:23:50.000 And so we're just trying to figure out what to do with them.

00:23:51.820 But, and so many people love the book.

00:23:53.300 Larry, that's one of the first things that really connected him with us, a mutual friend

00:23:57.040 of ours.

00:23:57.940 But that book, it really taught me about the process and what I wasn't good at.

00:24:02.720 Right.

00:24:02.860 But what I made the biggest mistake of doing, I kept trying to, every time I'd review the

00:24:07.400 book again, I'd want to change something.

00:24:08.780 That's right.

00:24:09.280 Instead of just getting the book out there.

00:24:10.960 Right.

00:24:11.120 You know, and it became this really daunting, just prison in my mind.

00:24:15.560 Dude, it's a, it's a, it's, it's like mental torture.

00:24:19.460 Yeah.

00:24:19.780 Mental torture.

00:24:20.460 I wrote a book on credit repair when I was about 19 and I wrote it, rewrote it, rewrote

00:24:25.720 it, rewrote it to the point where I was like reading it and it was like not even making

00:24:30.380 fucking sense.

00:24:31.220 I'm like, this makes no sense.

00:24:32.600 Yeah.

00:24:32.920 It was like mush in my brain.

00:24:34.420 Right.

00:24:34.740 Like I couldn't even read, like I literally could not even read it anymore.

00:24:37.420 Yeah.

00:24:37.800 And, uh, and dude, I never ended up doing anything with it because.

00:24:40.620 Exactly.

00:24:41.080 That's the same, but there's so many people listening that have done that same thing.

00:24:44.160 Right.

00:24:44.460 You know, they've still got that book or they've been working on a book for five years.

00:24:48.200 Just get it done.

00:24:49.240 Dude, you end up telling yourself that story, you know, what ends up happening and what always

00:24:53.500 held me back.

00:24:55.280 And honestly, like Tyler and I went to Miami this weekend and I'll, I'll talk about that

00:24:59.260 here too.

00:25:00.160 Um, you know, you, you get to a point where you start convincing yourself that no one cares

00:25:05.980 what you had to say.

00:25:06.940 Yeah.

00:25:07.220 You know what I'm saying?

00:25:07.760 You're like, Oh, no one really cares what I had to say, dude.

00:25:10.440 Me and Tyler were in Miami this weekend.

00:25:12.560 And you know, I've been kind of like evaluating what I want to do with this and where I want

00:25:18.340 to take it.

00:25:19.240 Dude, we were there for five fucking minutes and we had a dude run out of the elevator

00:25:22.320 and he's like, Holy shit.

00:25:23.840 It's Andy.

00:25:25.340 Dude.

00:25:25.700 And he like freaked the fuck out.

00:25:27.340 More importantly, this was like an 18 year old kid.

00:25:29.920 Yeah.

00:25:30.340 Yeah.

00:25:30.820 Wow.

00:25:31.400 Who had started an app.

00:25:33.240 Lit.

00:25:33.620 Called Lit.

00:25:34.200 That is, uh, that is about, uh, helping college age students figure out which nightclubs

00:25:41.280 are, are lit at, at that night.

00:25:43.900 It's actually really cool.

00:25:44.960 We talked to him for like an hour later in the trip, but dude, I had, it was weird because

00:25:49.580 this was the first time I was out of town where it was like, I was getting recognized

00:25:54.200 like every fucking 30 minutes I was there.

00:25:57.320 You know what I mean?

00:25:58.040 Yeah.

00:25:58.200 And I started realizing the people, the things people were saying, what we, what we're doing

00:26:04.160 matters.

00:26:04.720 Right.

00:26:05.020 You know what I mean?

00:26:05.560 Right.

00:26:05.760 It was cool, man.

00:26:06.580 Like it was very like eyeopening.

00:26:08.220 I needed, I needed the, uh, the reassurance, you know, because I even as successful as our

00:26:13.580 podcast has been and all this stuff that we're doing and my speaking that I've been doing,

00:26:17.820 you know, you still tell yourself that story.

00:26:20.940 You're like, do people really care?

00:26:22.480 You know, were you really putting in all this time and do the answer to that is, yeah, a lot

00:26:26.140 of people do care.

00:26:27.020 Yeah.

00:26:27.240 You know what I mean?

00:26:28.020 And you guys who are listening have a lot to offer other people.

00:26:32.060 You just have to understand and get over yourself first, that it's okay to send that message

00:26:37.980 out there.

00:26:38.520 Yeah.

00:26:39.240 That reminds me.

00:26:40.220 And we just got another email that came through the hopper that I was going to pass on to

00:26:44.580 you.

00:26:45.220 Basically what the kid said, and this is a young kid said I was going to kill myself and I

00:26:50.760 came across this podcast and it kicked me in the butt and got me going.

00:26:53.900 I mean, that's pretty heavy stuff.

00:26:56.820 Yeah, man.

00:26:57.140 I mean, it's humbling.

00:26:59.140 Look, dude, especially, I don't want to get off topic here for a second, but when you like

00:27:04.700 want to build something and be successful and matter and it's that important to you,

00:27:09.600 dude, it can get very depressing because you feel like you're not making progress.

00:27:13.880 You feel like you're never going to be where you want to be.

00:27:15.980 You feel like, you know, you're going to be a failure.

00:27:18.600 People are going to laugh at you.

00:27:19.740 And when things aren't going good, dude, that could beat the shit out of your own brain

00:27:23.400 pretty hard.

00:27:24.640 And, you know, for you guys who are listening and you have those kinds of thoughts, you got

00:27:30.220 to realize, man, you've got to keep going.

00:27:33.320 You've just got to keep going.

00:27:34.480 It's not about, it's not about, and this sounds so care bearish, but it's not about measuring

00:27:42.420 yourself against other people, man.

00:27:44.200 It's about improving on a daily basis.

00:27:46.320 And if you commit yourself to improving on a daily basis, you may not end up where so

00:27:51.060 and so ends up, but you may end up better than that or different than that, that matters

00:27:55.520 in a more impactful way, which is ultimately all that matters in life.

00:27:59.420 It doesn't matter what fucking car you drive.

00:28:01.360 You guys know I like cars and I like cool shit, but I don't really, when it comes down

00:28:05.600 to it, I don't give a fuck about any of that.

00:28:07.280 What I care about is that what we're doing here matters and helps and makes a difference

00:28:12.000 for people because I feel like the information that we're providing on the show just isn't

00:28:16.020 getting told.

00:28:17.220 I feel like everybody who's in a place to speak on motivation or success is using it

00:28:26.120 to monetize or line their own pockets.

00:28:28.600 And for that reason, they tell a story that isn't exactly true and they make it seem like

00:28:32.640 it's easier or faster or more obtainable than what it really is.

00:28:39.800 And I don't think that's right.

00:28:41.240 I don't agree with that.

00:28:42.160 And I don't like getting tossed in with those people, which is why we had the podcast we

00:28:45.960 had last two weeks ago.

00:28:48.440 Right.

00:28:48.780 You know, and I was talking to Emily about this last night and I've been watching on

00:28:53.820 Instagram and seeing the shit that people say and do.

00:28:56.480 And like the messages they're telling these young kids, dude, it's just morally fucking

00:29:01.040 wrong.

00:29:01.680 You know what I mean?

00:29:02.500 It's like, oh dude, you know, sign up for my thing and you're going to, in 12 months,

00:29:07.400 you're going to be this, or they tell them the story, you know, I was living in a basement

00:29:11.200 12 months ago.

00:29:12.080 Now I'm a fucking millionaire, dude, you know, and that's what kids can come to expect.

00:29:19.200 Cause what sounds better?

00:29:20.560 What sounds better?

00:29:21.740 I'm going to be a millionaire driving a fucking Lambo and, and, uh, and 12 months, or you're

00:29:27.060 gonna have to work your ass off 15 years.

00:29:29.400 You know what I mean?

00:29:30.460 That's a hard sale.

00:29:31.540 It's a hard sale.

00:29:32.760 It's hard for me to sell that against that.

00:29:34.920 Right.

00:29:35.300 You know what I mean?

00:29:35.840 But it is the truth.

00:29:36.920 Right.

00:29:37.380 And if you commit yourself to moving forward on a daily basis for 15 years, you're going

00:29:43.400 to be wherever the fuck it is.

00:29:44.420 You want to be that there isn't true.

00:29:47.120 It is what, you know what I'm saying?

00:29:48.600 Yeah.

00:29:48.860 I mean, I think that, you know, one of the worst things we could do is measure our success

00:29:53.620 against somebody else.

00:29:54.560 I agree.

00:29:54.900 You know, and you just said it, just that continuous improvement.

00:29:57.540 That's my thing.

00:29:58.340 Like growth is my number one driving force.

00:30:00.920 Right.

00:30:01.200 If I could just get 1% better every day, just think.

00:30:04.420 And I come, I came from really, really messed up circumstances too.

00:30:08.640 You know, so everybody's got their story, but it's always this excuse.

00:30:11.760 And what you really need to be doing is measuring yourself against yourself.

00:30:14.620 Like you said.

00:30:15.340 Right.

00:30:16.580 Here's the thing, you know, we all have these kind of innate talents and gifts that sometimes

00:30:23.740 they're dormant.

00:30:25.080 Sometimes they haven't been expressed yet, but getting out and taking action is going

00:30:28.720 to help for those things to start to manifest themselves.

00:30:30.780 So we've got to stop being scared.

00:30:32.660 Dude, 100%.

00:30:33.840 Like that's solid gold, what he just said.

00:30:36.320 We've got to stop being scared.

00:30:38.200 You guys who are listening to this, you have to stop stopping yourself.

00:30:43.020 Yeah.

00:30:43.300 Because that's what it is.

00:30:44.260 Yeah.

00:30:44.520 You know?

00:30:44.940 Oh, I'm going to say this and people are going to laugh.

00:30:47.860 Who cares?

00:30:49.080 Say it.

00:30:50.100 And let people laugh.

00:30:51.300 You know, dude, I don't know.

00:30:55.240 I mean, we could beat this drum so hard, you know.

00:30:57.700 There's something else.

00:30:58.420 I got to say this.

00:30:59.100 Yeah.

00:30:59.400 Because this has probably been the biggest leverage that I've had, that everybody actually

00:31:03.980 has this access.

00:31:05.740 The number one thing you can do in your business today, especially when everybody can get in

00:31:10.360 the game, is to be yourself.

00:31:12.460 Just be yourself.

00:31:13.380 It's your biggest competitive advantage.

00:31:14.400 You know?

00:31:14.880 And because people are not buying your book, they're buying you.

00:31:17.880 They're not tuning into your podcast, they're tuning into you.

00:31:20.220 Right.

00:31:20.440 You know, so be full out yourself.

00:31:23.720 Right.

00:31:23.900 You know, all of the quirky stuff, all the stuff you're actually afraid of because you're

00:31:27.360 collecting G.I.

00:31:28.040 Joes, whatever it is, I guarantee you there are thousands of dudes like you who are collecting

00:31:32.140 G.I.

00:31:32.560 Joes.

00:31:32.980 And they're going to be like, that dude's a man.

00:31:34.260 Yeah.

00:31:34.620 Right.

00:31:34.760 Let me buy his e-book.

00:31:35.800 Right.

00:31:36.120 You know?

00:31:36.400 So be yourself because no one else can be you.

00:31:40.180 Right.

00:31:40.300 And that's the thing I'm not afraid of.

00:31:41.700 And so Yvonne actually, before the show, asked me about Ariana Huffington and her books,

00:31:46.320 The Sleep Revolution.

00:31:47.080 And what I felt about it, if I feel it's a competitive thing, not at all.

00:31:51.600 I think it's cooperation, you know, in a way.

00:31:54.040 Like, there is definitely some friendly competition with anything that I do.

00:31:57.500 I want to win.

00:31:58.500 But at the same time, if your message is out there that's in the same domain as mine,

00:32:02.420 I guarantee you there are going to be people who tune into me because my voice speaks to

00:32:05.400 them.

00:32:05.720 Yeah.

00:32:05.920 And not only that, you bring validity to each other.

00:32:07.980 Yeah.

00:32:08.120 It's obviously that big of a problem where, you know, there's competition for that space.

00:32:13.060 Exactly.

00:32:13.600 You know?

00:32:13.840 And what I like, what you just said, too, is another thing that we can hit on.

00:32:17.640 You know?

00:32:17.860 The scarcity mindset.

00:32:19.260 Everybody thinks that there's only enough room for them and nobody else.

00:32:23.980 Wow.

00:32:24.200 Which is why you see in business everybody talking shit on everybody else's products,

00:32:29.780 which, by the way, is the worst fucking thing you could ever do because you never know who

00:32:33.500 you're talking to.

00:32:34.040 You could be talking to that person's cousin, their family, their friend, a person who used

00:32:38.360 that other product and loved it.

00:32:39.660 It changed their life.

00:32:40.700 You have no idea.

00:32:41.880 So then when you talk negatively, you're really just looking like an asshole and calling that

00:32:46.240 person stupid for using that product, whatever it may be.

00:32:48.760 But it's scarcity mindset.

00:32:51.780 And I don't know anybody in the world.

00:32:54.340 I get competition.

00:32:55.340 I do.

00:32:55.720 I want to win.

00:32:56.860 But I also know there's going to be a lot of other guys that win, too.

00:32:59.560 And it's okay to be friends with those guys.

00:33:01.100 Yeah.

00:33:01.500 You know what I mean?

00:33:02.060 That was one of the things that I learned really late in the game, trying to be that.

00:33:07.300 And you've probably done this, too.

00:33:08.440 Trying to change the world, be the lone wolf.

00:33:11.080 I'm the leader.

00:33:11.960 I'm doing everything.

00:33:13.080 Yeah.

00:33:13.340 And you'll die very quickly doing that.

00:33:15.360 You'll drive so crazy.

00:33:16.300 Exactly.

00:33:16.840 Yeah, man.

00:33:17.280 I definitely have learned that lesson the hard way.

00:33:20.640 Yeah.

00:33:20.960 Because I'm a competitive dude, man.

00:33:22.600 And I'm like you.

00:33:23.920 I come from a sports background.

00:33:25.340 I want to win.

00:33:26.140 And I don't want to win.

00:33:26.980 I want to fucking dominate.

00:33:27.940 And sometimes that shit gets me too wrapped up and focused on the wrong things.

00:33:34.000 It's good to have that drive and that want to win, as long as you know that the way to win is not going to be to try to actually destroy your competitor.

00:33:41.460 It's going to be to take care of your customer.

00:33:42.980 You know what I mean?

00:33:43.760 I want to make an observation about your story and then throw it out to you guys to just flesh out what you think about it.

00:33:53.160 But I think that if they made Sean Stevenson, the original motion picture, the two scenes that I think would step out in my mind would be, one, the moment you basically decided, well, no, I'm going to do something about this, about your spine.

00:34:10.060 But even before that, to me, what's the really powerful moment is that you are, I guess at this point, still an undergraduate.

00:34:17.560 You're talking to a doctor who – my wife's a doctor, so I'm not against physicians, okay?

00:34:23.000 You're talking to a doctor who has basically said, well, this is your situation.

00:34:29.580 This is it.

00:34:30.580 This is what – you're basically the life you're going to be consigned to.

00:34:34.060 And he is – or she, whoever it was, he or she is speaking with some serious authority because they're doctors.

00:34:40.640 They know this stuff.

00:34:41.620 Who are you?

00:34:42.540 And yet you made that decision to say, uh-uh, nope.

00:34:48.580 And it seems to me like the people who are really successful in life, they know those key moments to question conventional wisdom.

00:34:56.000 They know those key moments not to accept a no.

00:34:59.620 Thoughts?

00:35:00.060 Oh, yeah, man.

00:35:01.740 So the words he actually used with me was, there's nothing you can do about this.

00:35:05.720 You're just going to have to live with this.

00:35:08.160 And what that is actually, and coming from an authority figure especially, it's called a nocebo effect.

00:35:14.200 So a placebo effect is giving somebody kind of a positive injunction.

00:35:17.300 And so there are fantastic studies that show that, you know, somebody who's taking basically a fake chemotherapy medication, but they're in the study and they believe that it is chemotherapy medication, proceed to have their hair fall out, all right?

00:35:33.820 They have all the symptoms of chemotherapy, and their cancer can start to dissolve.

00:35:37.640 And they're just taking a sugar pill, all right?

00:35:39.760 That's the power of our mind.

00:35:41.680 And, of course, you know, anything that I say, I'm a big fact checker and I provide a lot of studies on my show, but just go to Dr. Google, ask.

00:35:48.560 You know, you're going to find some crazy stuff.

00:35:50.120 But a nocebo effect is giving somebody a negative injunction, like, you know, you have two weeks to live or whatever, and then they proceed to die.

00:35:58.080 When they walked into the hospital just fine, in a way, you know, they might have cancer, but 24 hours, they're wheelchair bound.

00:36:05.120 I've seen this firsthand, you know?

00:36:06.960 And so it's really, it takes a really, I'm not going to say it takes a special person, but it takes a very strong part of you that you have to be, you know, this goes back to that fear, courageous enough to tap into.

00:36:19.420 It took me two and a half years of just buying into it and giving up slowly, but we have to tap into that aggressiveness in our life to say, no, I'm not going to play this game.

00:36:29.260 I'm not going to do what you told me to do.

00:36:31.040 I'm not going to just quit.

00:36:32.380 And by doing so, you start to elicit a whole different view on life, you know, and start, you start to see the opportunities instead of the problems.

00:36:41.720 I, you know, I personally, and this is on subjects, off subject, but I think doctors abuse their power and tremendously in, in the ways they speak to their patients sometimes, you know, and they, they, they feel like, oh, I've gone to school for so long.

00:37:00.180 And I know so much that this is the way it fucking is.

00:37:02.820 And they talk to people in certain terms that, that, you know, I don't think are responsible.

00:37:09.800 You know what I mean?

00:37:11.720 Something like that, what you're talking about.

00:37:13.720 But they're not taught as well, you know, they're not taught humanity skills or communication.

00:37:19.600 They're just taught anatomy and pharmacology.

00:37:23.200 And I've got some amazing physicians in my network, but at the same time, you know, if you take a really smart person,

00:37:30.180 and you teach them the wrong thing, you take a really smart person and you teach them the wrong way to do something, they're going to be world class at doing the wrong thing.

00:37:37.800 Like, they're going to be so good at doing the wrong thing.

00:37:39.860 Yeah.

00:37:40.240 It's scary and everybody's going to believe it.

00:37:42.200 Yeah.

00:37:42.600 You know, and so there's a big transformation happening in our medical system right now.

00:37:46.580 You know, a lot of people don't know this, but it's called iatrogenesis.

00:37:49.580 Iatrogenesis, and that means physician created, is effectively the third leading cause of death in our country today.

00:37:57.380 That's crazy.

00:37:58.100 Yeah.

00:37:58.380 So, again, go to Dr. Google and check it out.

00:38:00.960 And so this is unnecessary surgeries or wrongly prescribed medications, overdoses, you name it.

00:38:08.880 The number one place to die is in a hospital.

00:38:11.020 Yeah.

00:38:11.120 You know, it's just kind of it is what it is, but it doesn't mean that they don't care and they're not trying.

00:38:15.620 It's just if you're not taught the right thing and also how to communicate with people and understanding how powerful it is when somebody is hurt so bad

00:38:22.840 and they're looking to you to save them, you have to say the right things, you know,

00:38:27.340 and so that's something that become more gifted and skilled at, and it's just a matter of teaching and training, but it's so rigorous.

00:38:33.140 I can't stand it.

00:38:34.620 I actually talk about this in the book, which is crazy.

00:38:37.940 So the World Health Organization said that shift work is a class 2A carcinogen.

00:38:42.680 So this means working overnight is a cancer-causing agent, right?

00:38:46.600 And that's effectively ranked with lead and, like, UVA radiation, like, that causes skin cancer.

00:38:54.280 So why is that happening?

00:38:55.680 Well, potentially melatonin, which is a lot of people know about this, and they're even taking supplements.

00:39:00.160 This is potentially your body's number one anti-cancer hormone.

00:39:04.160 And so if you're suppressing your melatonin all night by being up and under fluorescent light bulbs,

00:39:09.680 well, you're setting your body up against something that's pretty powerful in cancer, you know,

00:39:15.000 and not having the proper defenses.

00:39:16.720 So in the book, I cited a study on nurses that found that they have 30% more breast cancer than a normal population,

00:39:22.080 and they're in the health business, the ones who work overnight, you know.

00:39:25.720 And so that just speaks to the fact that the people who are entrusted with taking care of us,

00:39:30.480 we haven't done a good job taking care of them.

00:39:32.400 And the system really beats them down.

00:39:34.180 Working at the university for so many years, I got to work with so many nurses, so many pre-med students,

00:39:39.540 and also seeing their friends in the before and afters.

00:39:42.860 Like, when they first come into college in the program and then eight years later,

00:39:47.320 it's like you can't even recognize the person a lot of times, you know.

00:39:50.780 They're so messed up, you know.

00:39:52.580 And I also, even today, but in the last couple years of my practice,

00:39:56.000 if I'd ever come in contact with a nurse or even work with a nurse, I'd ask,

00:39:59.220 okay, so of the nurses on your floor or at your hospital or at your office,

00:40:04.000 out of every 10, how many are fit?

00:40:06.180 And usually the answer is one or zero.

00:40:09.280 Right.

00:40:09.460 The one time it was two, right?

00:40:11.820 It's just like what's going on there?

00:40:13.640 We're not taking care of them because it's kind of like this Navy SEAL training that lasts forever.

00:40:19.760 Yeah.

00:40:20.180 You know what I'm saying?

00:40:21.080 Yeah.

00:40:21.300 Can I interject something as a husband of a physician and someone I dated my wife all through,

00:40:28.020 well, I dated and was married to her all through, like, the end of medical school and through the residency.

00:40:32.340 What you're saying really resonates with me because you have a culture that's supposedly about health,

00:40:37.160 but the actual healers and the people who are part of it, there are no checks and balances.

00:40:43.420 Like, she wasn't even given a lunch break, and she would have to work these, like, intensely long hours,

00:40:47.660 no lunch break, completely anti-health, but it's not just physical, it's also mental.

00:40:53.000 And this goes back to something we talk about all the time on this podcast, which is that because the average person in society is not held to their own decisions

00:41:02.800 and called to take personal responsibility, there's a psychological and emotional stress

00:41:32.800 and there's no checks and balances to make sure that they're actually being able to take care of themselves, just minor stuff, basic stuff.

00:41:46.620 And plus, you said, you know, that psychological burden of, like, I'm carrying around everybody else's problems and worries.

00:41:53.560 I don't even have room for myself.

00:41:55.140 Yeah.

00:41:55.380 And so many times it spirals out of control.

00:41:57.180 And actually, in Sleep Smarter, I did another, I mentioned another study, but we really, in the book, we focus on solutions.

00:42:02.480 I'm a solutions guy.

00:42:03.700 But just so people understand, and also when it comes to being an entrepreneur, that we oftentimes mistake working for effectiveness.

00:42:10.880 There's a difference between doing work and actually being effective.

00:42:13.360 And there was a study done on physicians, and they had them to complete a task.

00:42:18.120 Then they sleep deprived them for just 24 hours, which is common.

00:42:21.380 They had them do the same exact thing, and they made 20% more mistakes doing the same exact thing.

00:42:26.940 And it took them 14% longer to do the same exact thing.

00:42:30.240 Wow.

00:42:31.260 Wow.

00:42:31.480 I don't know about you, but I don't want somebody sleep deprived handling my surgery or somebody that I care about.

00:42:37.520 But this is where we start to see those numbers with the iatrogenesis being so high as well.

00:42:42.140 It's because as a society and as an institution, you know, with education, we're not taking care of them.

00:42:48.280 Yeah.

00:42:48.520 And it needs to change.

00:42:50.200 Yeah.

00:42:50.720 Good thoughts.

00:42:51.320 And that's even more the reason why this badge of honor for no sleep is ridiculous.

00:42:56.740 It's like the dumbest shit that I've ever heard.

00:42:58.780 Like, people who brag about this, oh, I've got to work 37 hours on a 24-hour day to be successful.

00:43:05.600 Well, you're either stupid, you know, or you're very inefficient, or both.

00:43:10.620 Because you should be able to do that shit in, like, 10, 12 hours maximum.

00:43:15.940 Right.

00:43:16.740 You know what I mean?

00:43:17.340 I don't know how we're doing on time, but I don't want our time to get away before you have the opportunity to share some of your key points for our listening audience.

00:43:25.160 So I don't know, Andy, what's on your mind.

00:43:26.780 No, that's good.

00:43:27.480 I would like that.

00:43:28.000 You want to do that?

00:43:28.800 All right.

00:43:29.020 So let's kind of wrap everything up unless there's anything burning on either one of your hearts and minds.

00:43:35.160 But give us your favorite, most actionable sleep tips.

00:43:40.900 Okay, okay.

00:43:41.380 Well, first of all, again, just by this being the MFCEO and understanding that if you're going to be effective and you're going to play the long game, you really got to address your own health.

00:43:53.940 You know, and this just comes with the territory.

00:43:56.320 I just talked with Gary Vaynerchuk recently, which was dope to do a wine tasting with him.

00:44:01.260 Yeah.

00:44:01.880 But I asked him, like, what's up?

00:44:04.400 You know, what's going on with your health practices?

00:44:05.860 He's like, people think that I'm still getting my seven hours, you know, like I am grinding.

00:44:09.780 I'm the hustle guy, but he's playing the long game now.

00:44:12.220 And he knows himself, too.

00:44:13.580 So he's like, I'm not going to go and do a push-up, man.

00:44:16.020 So he hired this trainer to basically travel with him all the time, you know.

00:44:19.480 And so it's really interesting to see that a lot of people who are really getting it and understanding it's a whole new territory.

00:44:26.520 And you've got to be able to, when you're up, to dominate.

00:44:28.640 Like the lion, they sleep for like 20 hours, but those four hours they're up, they're killing everything.

00:44:34.460 That's right.

00:44:34.940 And so that's what we really need to shift to doing.

00:44:37.540 And so this is really foundational and important.

00:44:39.560 But number one, I always like to go with the low-hanging fruit.

00:44:42.440 And especially for a lot of guys and a lot of women who are very proactive in their life, they understand the benefits of exercise.

00:44:50.460 But when you exercise, the time of day that you exercise can actually radically improve your sleep quality.

00:44:55.660 And so there was a study done at Appalachian State University, and they had people to exercise at three different times.

00:45:01.660 The first part, they exercised at 7 a.m. in the morning.

00:45:04.620 Okay?

00:45:04.840 That's one phase of the study.

00:45:06.280 Second phase at 1 p.m. in the afternoon.

00:45:09.120 And then the third phase was at 7 p.m. at night.

00:45:11.740 And at the end of the study, they found that the morning exercisers spend up to 75% more time in the deepest, most anabolic stages of sleep.

00:45:19.320 All right?

00:45:19.820 So simply...

00:45:20.460 That is not what I wanted you to say.

00:45:21.980 All right?

00:45:22.520 But we can...

00:45:23.380 I believe it.

00:45:24.000 There's loopholes to all this stuff.

00:45:25.440 So that's number one.

00:45:26.740 Also, they had more efficient sleep cycles, which at no point in my book do I say you need to sleep blank hours, eight hours, whatever it is, because that's really stupid.

00:45:35.740 We're all different.

00:45:36.560 Right.

00:45:36.840 And also our level of training, our level of stress, all that comes into play.

00:45:40.740 What I really am changing in culture is that we need to focus on getting good sleep cycles, which are about 90 minutes each, and lumping those together.

00:45:48.300 So a minimum would be four sleep cycles.

00:45:51.100 That's about six hours of sleep.

00:45:52.620 And there are people who are sleeping smarter, you know, for six hours who are crushing it, and they're getting the results that they want.

00:45:58.820 And by the way, I got to say this, too.

00:46:00.100 This is important.

00:46:01.000 And especially with it being more of a, you know, nutrition-focused organization, this study, there's so many I couldn't put into the book, but this one really blew my mind.

00:46:12.720 University of Chicago did a study, all right?

00:46:14.840 And they put dieters on a very specific, rigorous diet, and they're counting calories, tracking everything, all right?

00:46:21.460 They're getting eight and a half hours of sleep in one phase.

00:46:23.740 The other phase of the study, same exact diet, counting calories, very strict, and they sleep-deprived them, so now they're only getting five and a half hours of sleep.

00:46:31.460 They lost 55% more body fat when they were getting eight and a half hours of sleep.

00:46:36.060 Huge deal.

00:46:36.900 No difference in exercise or diet, just sleep, and not necessarily great sleep, all right?

00:46:42.340 So we really focus on optimizing on sleep cycles, so exercise in the morning helps to essentially reset your cortisol rhythm, which this is why when you wake up, if you're tired, it's because your cortisol is too low.

00:46:52.580 Through evolutionary biology, your cortisol should be elevated between the hours of like 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. to its highest peak and then gradually drop as the day goes on.

00:47:00.620 But at night, you're probably wired, and clinically we call it tired and wired, where cortisol is too high at night.

00:47:05.820 And cortisol and melatonin have an inverse relationship, so if cortisol is high, melatonin is down, all right?

00:47:10.920 And that sucks, so you can physiologically pass out, but if melatonin is not up, your sleep's going to suck, all right?

00:47:17.120 So get into morning exercise, and it can just be five to ten minutes.

00:47:21.320 And I did an experiment.

00:47:22.080 I've been a morning exerciser for over ten years, but I did an experiment for an entire year last year, training in the afternoon, but still doing five to ten minutes in the morning.

00:47:30.280 And it didn't affect my training in the afternoon.

00:47:32.080 Everything went up.

00:47:32.880 All of my numbers, my reaction time I tested, everything improved.

00:47:37.600 So that five to ten minutes in the morning is not going to affect if you're an afternoon trainer.

00:47:42.120 Now, you don't want to exercise too late, though, all right?

00:47:46.080 Even in my son's little book, when it's like a bedtime book, all the little animals do exercise right before bed.

00:47:53.180 You know, it's that old book.

00:47:54.380 Right, right, right.

00:47:55.500 When you exercise at night, obviously cortisol is going to get elevated, so guess what happens?

00:47:59.420 Again, you could pass out from exhaustion, but you're not going to necessarily get high-quality sleep.

00:48:04.400 So I recommend having about a three-hour window, two hours minimum from when you end your training to when you go to bed.

00:48:11.600 All right, so for a lot of people, they're, like, you know, taking jiu-jitsu class and things like that, and they're only in the evening.

00:48:16.140 And they're also trying to get their sleep game up.

00:48:18.080 You might need to find another class or reschedule your day, find another gym, because if your number one focus is health, then, you know, working out late is not going to cut it.

00:48:28.180 I can't do the late-night workouts, dude.

00:48:30.240 Yeah.

00:48:30.540 I mean, it keeps me awake.

00:48:32.640 It's quite simple.

00:48:33.460 Yeah.

00:48:33.940 We know this experientially, unless you just exercise to exhaustion.

00:48:37.560 Right.

00:48:37.780 But then you're going to feel, you know, like the pinata after the party the next day.

00:48:41.300 So that's number one is getting some morning exercise in.

00:48:45.000 It just works, to reset your cortisol rhythm.

00:48:48.600 Another one, and this is a lot of these things that I'm talking about have gotten imbued into popular culture now.

00:48:54.480 And I'm not saying it came from me, but it probably came from me at some point.

00:48:58.380 You know, so you've probably heard this one before, but I'm going to tell you why.

00:49:02.280 You need to sleep in a pitch black room.

00:49:04.340 Get your room as dark as possible.

00:49:05.800 Unless you live in, like, a country setting and there's no street lights or neighbor porch light, moonlight is okay.

00:49:11.660 It's unnatural light.

00:49:13.120 And what we're calling, in our field, quote, light pollution.

00:49:16.480 And so it's crazy, man.

00:49:18.940 And so Harvard University confirmed that just being on your iPad or your iPhone can suppress your melatonin for about three hours.

00:49:27.180 All right?

00:49:27.500 In particular, there's this blue light spectrum.

00:49:29.760 Now, do you guys have iPhones?

00:49:30.940 What do you have, man?

00:49:31.880 Yeah, I've got an iPhone.

00:49:32.580 Have you seen the new update?

00:49:33.920 Uh-uh.

00:49:34.220 So there's a new, on the iOS update, there's this button here.

00:49:37.420 It's called Night Shift.

00:49:38.540 And it literally pulls out the most troublesome spectrum of light from your screen.

00:49:43.100 And if Apple is doing this, it's serious.

00:49:46.380 Right, right.

00:49:47.280 And so the blue light spectrum in particular is what Harvard researchers found is the most oppressive to your melatonin secretion and also disrupt your sleep cycle.

00:49:56.100 They found that all light isn't created equal.

00:49:58.760 So green light, basically blue light is twice as impactful on your melatonin than green light is.

00:50:03.940 Red light is negligible.

00:50:05.700 It doesn't affect your melatonin at all.

00:50:08.860 And if you look at evolutionary biology, what were you exposed to at night if we did have light?

00:50:13.080 It's fire, you know?

00:50:14.660 And so cooling off your screens, there's an app on your laptop there you can get.

00:50:19.980 It's called Flux, F.L-U-X.

00:50:21.940 I have that, yeah.

00:50:22.780 And I've been using it for three years.

00:50:24.680 It's fantastic.

00:50:25.500 It works automatically.

00:50:26.380 It's super easy download.

00:50:27.760 And it pulls the most troublesome spectrum of color from your screen automatically at night and puts it back during the daytime.

00:50:33.140 And you can easily disable it if you want to check out an Instagram post or something that you're designing or whatever.

00:50:39.060 You know, so that and also with your phones, but also have some, see, these glasses for everything else.

00:50:44.840 These blue blocking.

00:50:45.980 You remember those blue blocker commercials?

00:50:47.080 Blue blockers, baby.

00:50:47.900 Yeah, so they, but they cost a little bit, you know?

00:50:50.600 And there's some that are cool, but there's some are like five bucks.

00:50:53.580 But I'm not saying they're as effective, but I wear these.

00:50:55.940 They're called Swannies.

00:50:57.020 They're pretty dope.

00:50:57.700 I wish I would have brought them.

00:50:58.820 But so they literally, if I put them on right now, you just see blue light on the lenses.

00:51:02.520 Because that blue light doesn't go through them.

00:51:05.040 And so that's one of those things also to help to make sure you're increasing your melatonin and all that good stuff.

00:51:10.340 So you wear those just at night?

00:51:12.580 Yeah.

00:51:12.960 Okay.

00:51:13.340 When the lights go out, I mean, when it gets dark, then those go on, basically.

00:51:17.260 Okay.

00:51:17.640 So if I'm, even up, if I am working, which.

00:51:19.960 So like it gets dark at eight o'clock, you put them on?

00:51:22.680 Yeah.

00:51:22.900 Get ready for bed?

00:51:23.560 Yeah.

00:51:23.740 You don't wear them to bed, though?

00:51:24.960 No.

00:51:25.360 Okay, all right.

00:51:25.940 So like Lewis Howes, who was just on the show.

00:51:28.080 He was telling me about the glasses.

00:51:29.420 Yeah.

00:51:29.620 So when he came over, it was after he was here, and he came over, he's hanging out at my house.

00:51:34.500 And, you know, once it got, we were watching the game.

00:51:36.500 Yeah.

00:51:36.640 It was, he's from Ohio, whatever.

00:51:38.760 So we went to see Cleveland play.

00:51:40.480 And so we were watching the game.

00:51:41.720 I just threw those on, and I watched the TV, you know?

00:51:43.940 And so those are little hacks that you can use.

00:51:46.220 But the best thing is, especially for our busy-minded CEOs and entrepreneurs, is to give

00:51:52.220 yourself a screen curfew, period.

00:51:53.880 Like, give yourself some time to unwind and get off your device.

00:51:57.680 A lot of us.

00:51:58.540 How much time do you recommend for that?

00:52:00.660 I recommend 90 minutes.

00:52:02.000 Okay.

00:52:02.520 But even 30, you know, do something.

00:52:05.100 Because we get ready for everything in our life except for bed.

00:52:08.720 We get ready for work.

00:52:10.020 We get ready for a date.

00:52:11.640 We get ready to take our kids to school.

00:52:13.380 But we don't get ready for bed anymore.

00:52:14.880 But when we were kids, like, we had this whole ritual.

00:52:17.180 Right.

00:52:17.500 You know?

00:52:17.860 And humans, we're just big babies.

00:52:19.840 You know?

00:52:20.080 Yeah.

00:52:20.140 We have the same wiring.

00:52:21.100 So we have these neural associations that it's starting to get dark.

00:52:24.000 Well, I'm supposed to be on Instagram.

00:52:25.360 Or it's starting to get dark.

00:52:26.220 I should be watching Daredevil, you know?

00:52:28.120 Right, right.

00:52:28.500 And so especially if you've got these devices in your bedroom, that's one of the worst things

00:52:32.140 you could do.

00:52:33.180 And so there was a study done.

00:52:34.540 It was an Italian study on some couples.

00:52:36.880 They were, like, 50 years and older.

00:52:40.160 But what's so crazy is that 50% of the couples who had a television in their bedroom, I'm

00:52:45.380 sorry, the couples who had a television in their bedroom had 50% less sex.

00:52:49.700 All right?

00:52:50.480 And so some people are hearing this like, that's not true.

00:52:53.180 Just wait.

00:52:54.240 You know?

00:52:54.620 So because, number one, you're interrupting your sleep quality.

00:52:57.300 But also it's a distraction.

00:52:58.880 You know?

00:52:59.080 So you want to create a, I call it a sleep sanctuary.

00:53:01.480 You know, so that neuroassociation, when you go in your bedroom, it's just for two things,

00:53:05.660 sleep or sex.

00:53:06.700 And that's it.

00:53:07.520 I can say that's honestly the best thing I ever did was take the TV out of my bedroom.

00:53:11.140 Yeah.

00:53:11.480 You ever have a lot more sex with yourself?

00:53:13.240 Yeah.

00:53:15.720 That's so awesome.

00:53:16.600 And so many people tell me that same thing.

00:53:18.560 You know?

00:53:18.760 So also the electromagnetic frequencies and all that kind of stuff.

00:53:21.900 And again, I'm very analytical and science-based.

00:53:24.660 So it's not like, ooh, there's, you know, it's...

00:53:26.980 Right.

00:53:27.180 It really does affect you.

00:53:28.680 And I've got the studies to show you that.

00:53:30.540 And so also black...

00:53:31.880 So we want to block out the external light pollution.

00:53:34.400 So getting some blackout curtains.

00:53:36.260 Super easy thing that anybody can do.

00:53:38.580 Throw those bad boys up and you're going to sleep better.

00:53:40.960 I mean, that's the number one thing for me personally that I saw the fastest change when

00:53:45.000 my sleep quality immediately was blacking out my bedroom.

00:53:47.940 Wow.

00:53:48.160 So last thing is with that, within that particular point is get rid of the internal light pollution.

00:53:53.060 So the alarm clock that's staring at you all night, the television, there are grown men.

00:53:59.580 I mean, grown men who are afraid of the dark, you know?

00:54:02.080 And I'm sorry if that's you.

00:54:03.380 It's like, I'm kind of scared right now, actually.

00:54:05.940 But we've got to really evolve out of that.

00:54:08.280 It's really about beating our fear again.

00:54:10.440 Like, trusting life.

00:54:12.600 You were born in that atmosphere, you know?

00:54:15.640 Like, there's this dark light balance in the world.

00:54:17.940 And being afraid of the dark is just uncalled for.

00:54:20.240 Yeah, like, if you're, you know, if you're really afraid, check for the boogeyman.

00:54:24.780 Get underneath, look under the bed, look in the closet.

00:54:27.640 That's making me think of Poltergeist, man.

00:54:29.140 Don't look under that bed.

00:54:30.280 Don't do it.

00:54:31.320 Don't do it.

00:54:32.020 Poltergeist should give you enough reason to not have a TV in your room.

00:54:34.380 Exactly.

00:54:34.960 You know what I'm saying?

00:54:35.940 Sean, what's your, I have to ask, because this is personally relevant, but what's your

00:54:40.180 take on how much a bed really makes a difference?

00:54:43.120 Oh, wow.

00:54:43.740 You know, people are spending, you know, thousands of dollars on the fanciest mattress, but there

00:54:50.320 are people who are sleeping better on the floor than those guys, because we're oftentimes

00:54:55.300 a psychological warfare as well.

00:54:57.460 It's not the bed, you know?

00:54:58.840 So it's what's going on in our minds, like Andy mentioned earlier.

00:55:01.460 So that's something I really focus on in the book as well, is calming down our inner chatter.

00:55:06.440 And so, you know, for a lot of, there's this saying that's like, my bed, it's this wonderful

00:55:11.300 place that I go to remember everything I was supposed to do.

00:55:14.560 It's the truth, man.

00:55:15.700 Yeah.

00:55:16.160 That's the truth for me.

00:55:17.260 Yeah.

00:55:17.740 That, I can tell you right now, the bed and my notepad and my iPhone are keeping me from

00:55:24.720 sleeping.

00:55:25.400 Yeah.

00:55:25.740 You know what I mean?

00:55:26.720 Yeah.

00:55:27.280 And it's just, again, it's starting to change.

00:55:29.740 Here's why it's going to be tough, though.

00:55:32.040 Just be straight up with you.

00:55:33.280 Like, putting that telephone even out of your room, it's hard, because it's just like,

00:55:36.820 when you walk by, it's like, just touch me.

00:55:39.200 Yeah.

00:55:39.340 You know?

00:55:39.560 Just push me.

00:55:40.080 You know you want to.

00:55:40.800 Yeah.

00:55:41.180 But it's because of this dopamine feedback loop.

00:55:44.380 And so, this really interesting compound that we produce called dopamine, it was once

00:55:48.940 thought that it was about satisfaction, but it's really, it's a compound our body produces

00:55:54.000 that drives us to seek, right?

00:55:55.920 To look, to find.

00:55:57.020 If we don't have that, we're not evolving as humans.

00:55:59.240 We needed that to become what we are today.

00:56:01.940 So, what drives us to get better and to look for things is dopamine.

00:56:05.980 So, the problem is the internet's perfect for dopamine, because you can seek forever,

00:56:11.200 like, literally until you die.

00:56:12.720 Right.

00:56:13.180 And you'll never even cross, you know, half a percent of what's on there.

00:56:16.880 But here's the thing, just seeking forever would drive you crazy if you didn't find things.

00:56:21.780 And the internet's perfect for that.

00:56:22.960 So, every time you seek on Instagram, find, seek, find.

00:56:26.160 And every time you find something, get a little opioid hit.

00:56:29.020 All right?

00:56:29.120 So, it's like a slow drip of morphine in your body.

00:56:31.780 All right?

00:56:32.160 So, that keeps you going just every time you scroll, Facebook, whatever it is.

00:56:35.980 So, we are physiologically addicted.

00:56:37.720 It's just, it is what it is.

00:56:39.860 And once you become, awareness trumps everything, you know?

00:56:42.860 So, once you become aware of it, you can start to catch yourself.

00:56:45.280 But tell me you haven't had this happen where it's just like, I'll just check my Instagram

00:56:48.500 for a minute.

00:56:49.700 I'll just check Twitter for a minute.

00:56:50.960 And it's like 30 minutes later.

00:56:52.400 Oh, yeah.

00:56:53.140 You know?

00:56:53.880 Because it's that internet black hole sucks you in.

00:56:56.740 That's why I do it during cardio.

00:56:59.700 And so, it's just understanding that that's really what's going on, why it's so difficult.

00:57:03.160 But if you are aware of it, and then you can start to just implant, here's the thing about

00:57:07.820 breaking addiction.

00:57:09.420 It has to be something of equal or greater value in your life.

00:57:12.620 So, I guarantee you, if it's your wife and she's like, baby, I need some attention, you

00:57:18.800 know, and she's got on something amazing, whatever, you know, Victoria, whatever.

00:57:23.320 All right?

00:57:23.760 And so, you're going to put your phone down because that's of greater value to you.

00:57:28.160 You know?

00:57:28.340 So, if you can implant something that fills you up equally or more than Facebook, you're

00:57:33.380 going to start to win.

00:57:34.180 But it has to be consistent.

00:57:35.380 So, it could be, you know, time with your family, you know, hanging out with your kids,

00:57:39.400 playing a game, you know, hanging out with your wife, you know, reading a good book or

00:57:43.860 whatever the case may be for you.

00:57:45.120 It's an individual.

00:57:46.520 You got to find that thing out.

00:57:47.720 Don't just try gold cold turkey.

00:57:51.860 It's so funny, man, because I had this happen before where I was just like, all right, I'm

00:57:55.500 not doing it for 90 minutes.

00:57:56.660 And you start to, like, get a little twitchy, you know?

00:57:59.440 It's like, it's the mental association of, it's just like being on a diet.

00:58:03.420 I'm going to cut out pizza.

00:58:04.420 And all your brain sees is pizza.

00:58:05.880 Yeah.

00:58:06.240 That's why you want it so bad.

00:58:07.420 Yeah.

00:58:07.620 You get those pizza jitters or internet jitters.

00:58:09.980 Sean, I have to pull the former pastor card because what I heard when you just said that,

00:58:15.360 one of the things we used to talk about in the ministry all the time when people who

00:58:18.020 had their lives were a wreck was it's not enough just to run away from vice.

00:58:23.260 You have to run toward virtue or it's, it's not enough to run away from something bad.

00:58:27.600 You have to run towards something good.

00:58:29.180 I love that.

00:58:29.820 So that's powerful.

00:58:30.680 That's what I heard you saying.

00:58:31.960 I want to hear that again.

00:58:33.000 Like I didn't need to write that down.

00:58:34.600 Yeah.

00:58:34.980 But you know, it's just back to the point with the bed.

00:58:36.920 But I do recommend certain things with your mattress you're sleeping on.

00:58:41.100 So one of them is, so a lot of us don't really realize this.

00:58:45.480 I don't know if you guys have ever had this happen, but you might have a mattress delivered

00:58:48.280 and it smells funny in your room for a little bit.

00:58:51.300 And they'll tell you like, you know, let the room air out.

00:58:53.380 It'll go away in a few days.

00:58:54.880 What the hell is that smell?

00:58:56.320 All right.

00:58:56.740 So these are flame retardants, toxic compounds, things to protect you in a way, but it's

00:59:03.760 clinically proven that they're off gassing and they're slowly poisoning you.

00:59:07.920 All right.

00:59:08.220 And there was one study and I kind of, this was the one thing I had a conversation with

00:59:12.000 my publisher about talking about in the book, but I couldn't do this without, with being

00:59:16.180 in good conscience and not tell people about this.

00:59:18.020 But SIDS cases, you know, so sudden infant death syndrome being elevated by sleeping on

00:59:23.380 mattresses that are not properly wrapped to keep those chemicals from basically poisoning

00:59:28.020 the baby, you know?

00:59:29.160 And so the research is in the book.

00:59:30.560 So you want to be aware of that.

00:59:32.500 It's not, you know, we're a much bigger organism when we're, when we're older, so it doesn't

00:59:37.300 impact us as much.

00:59:38.280 Right.

00:59:38.580 But why even cause a problem for yourself, you know?

00:59:41.460 And so that's one of the things is being aware where your mattress is actually coming from.

00:59:45.620 It doesn't matter if it's a super pillow top, double stuffed Oreo, whatever, bad mattress.

00:59:50.480 It's like, is it poisoning me?

00:59:52.860 And also you want to look for something that is called mattress resiliency.

00:59:56.040 And a lot of people haven't heard that term in popular culture yet, but with your mattress,

01:00:00.640 the first place to start to lose this resiliency is where your hips are.

01:00:04.080 And as soon as your hips start to sink into that mattress, your spine begins to get out

01:00:07.980 of alignment.

01:00:08.760 And so even after all these back problems that I had and recovering and living for many years

01:00:14.020 it's good, all of a sudden I start to have some issues and I was getting scared because

01:00:18.700 it's like, I still had that little inkling of fear in the back of my mind that what if

01:00:22.420 this happens again?

01:00:23.600 And come to find out it was actually due to my mattress that was causing something called

01:00:27.360 SI dysfunction.

01:00:28.700 So it was my SI joint was just getting off because my hips were out of alignment.

01:00:32.480 I changed my mattress and the problem went away because another thing is like, you shouldn't

01:00:37.300 wake up feeling like you just got beat up just from going to sleep.

01:00:41.280 Right.

01:00:41.920 You know, so for a lot of us, we're waking up, our bodies are so out of sorts because

01:00:45.360 of our mattress.

01:00:46.260 Right.

01:00:46.580 So the mattress matters, but not as much as the other things.

01:00:49.480 Right.

01:00:49.920 So Andy, you have to realize that I have heard about this stuff for the last six to nine

01:00:53.780 months because my wife has been drinking deeply of the fountain of Sean's knowledge.

01:00:59.220 And so we, part of the reason we haven't gotten a mattress yet is because she's like, nope,

01:01:03.320 that one off gassing, all this kind of stuff.

01:01:05.960 So, so here's another problem we need to find, you need to work with some sort of mattress

01:01:10.180 company to design the sleep smarter mattress.

01:01:13.300 You know, that's what, that's what needs to happen.

01:01:15.040 I've got to be on that.

01:01:15.800 I've got some, yeah.

01:01:16.580 That's what I'm saying.

01:01:17.780 Like, dude, I'm sitting here hearing all these opportunities and I'm like, dude, he's already

01:01:21.720 on this.

01:01:22.320 Yeah.

01:01:22.640 Yeah.

01:01:23.060 Guys, we would be remiss if we did not tell you very strongly, go check out Sean's website.

01:01:28.100 Again, it's, um, the model health show.com or just model health.

01:01:32.400 Okay.

01:01:32.560 So model health show.com.

01:01:34.620 Sean is at Sean Stevenson and there's some derivatives of the name Sean.

01:01:38.400 So it's S H A W N.

01:01:40.560 It's at Sean model.

01:01:41.980 Oh, Oh, at Sean model is your Instagram account.

01:01:44.520 Yeah.

01:01:44.920 Okay.

01:01:45.320 At Sean model S H A W N M O D E L on Instagram and on Twitter.

01:01:50.940 Yeah.

01:01:51.380 And, uh, I'm late to the game with social media, but my podcast, that's where people really

01:01:55.960 know me from.

01:01:56.640 You should definitely check that out.

01:01:57.680 So it's just where you listen to this podcast, obviously on iTunes and a stitcher, or you could

01:02:02.980 check it out at the website itself, the model health show.com.

01:02:05.900 And we also got videos there of the, of the show.

01:02:08.560 So you'd be in the studio with us, which I'm going to, after this, I'm going to encourage

01:02:11.540 these guys to get on the video marketing.

01:02:14.000 So you guys are going to see a lot more video from them too.

01:02:16.380 Right.

01:02:16.720 Right.

01:02:16.980 So if we, if we did not say this straight out about Lewis's book last week, we should

01:02:22.620 have, and I want to say it about this, this book this week, guys, buy the book.

01:02:26.920 All right.

01:02:27.760 I mean, go to Amazon, look up Sean Stevens, uh, Stevenson sleep smarter and buy the book.

01:02:33.220 Okay.

01:02:33.980 There's Sean's another one of these guys that's putting out amazing content, providing amazing

01:02:38.720 value and barely monetizing on a regular basis.

01:02:42.880 Go buy his book, dude.

01:02:46.020 Thanks for coming on the show, man.

01:02:47.260 It's been awesome.

01:02:48.120 Like I'm just kind of, I haven't said much cause I'm just kind of soaking it in.

01:02:51.040 Cause this is a real problem for me.

01:02:52.700 And I want to at least leave you guys with the strong recommendation that you take this

01:03:01.840 seriously now and develop these good habits now, because I'm a 60 year old, 36 year old

01:03:08.320 because of the life that I've lived for the last 17, 18 years.

01:03:11.520 And I've got a lot of work to do on myself.

01:03:14.860 I wish I would have had this stuff when I was, you know, 19, 20, 25, just getting going

01:03:20.460 because dude, as an entrepreneur or someone who there's just a tremendous amount of anxiety

01:03:25.480 that you live with and, and the habits can two or three bad habits that, you know, come

01:03:34.320 from being in that environment all of your life.

01:03:37.560 And when I saw all of your life, I mean 24 hours a day as an entrepreneur can really

01:03:41.840 fuck you up.

01:03:43.220 And it's something that you guys need to take serious.

01:03:45.680 I know this hasn't been our typical, you know, um, our typical direction of a topic,

01:03:52.960 but I think it's an extremely, extremely important one, dude.

01:03:57.360 I appreciate you coming on and spreading, spreading the gospel.

01:04:00.060 It's my pleasure.

01:04:00.780 Thanks for having me, man.

01:04:02.160 All right, guys, we're gonna catch up with you next time.

01:04:04.360 In the meantime, don't be a bitch.

01:04:06.480 We're gonna let the band deal with this.

01:04:09.020 Ha ha.

01:04:09.880 Mm-hmm.

01:04:13.080 M-I-A style.

01:04:15.060 Old school.

01:04:16.580 Uh-huh.

01:04:18.880 Okay.

01:04:19.860 Shut up.

01:04:20.720 Uh-huh.

01:04:21.500 Okay.

01:04:22.420 What's up?

01:04:23.340 Shut up.

01:04:24.060 Uh-huh.

01:04:24.900 Okay.

REAL AF with Andy Frisella - May 03, 2016

Shawn Stevenson, Sleep, and Success, with Andy Frisella - MFCEO63

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