How to Build an Epic Life Resume with Jesse Itzler

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And the benefits of creatine, as you know, is real. I love using Momentus and their supplement stacks because I care about the quality of what I take. And there's nothing better than their products. If you want to try Momentus Signature Spec Creatine, head to livemomentus.com and use code MYLET for up to 35% off your entire first order. That's livemomentus.com, promo code MYLET for up to 35% off. Livemomentus.com, promo code MYLET. Welcome back to the show, everybody. Today is one of my favorite people, one of my favorite guests we've ever had on the show, just easily. And most of you know who he is. He's had an incredibly successful business career, and that's probably what a lot of people think of when they hear his name. He founded Marquis Jet. He sold that to Berkshire Hathaway's Net Jets. Then he did Zico Coconut Water, sold that to Coca-Cola. He's kind of a legend in the hip-hop game. He's built and sold a bunch of businesses. He's a tremendous communicator, one of my favorite speakers in the world on stage as well. And to be honest with you, really none of that is what I think of when his name comes up. I think of like one of my favorite people, a dude who's living a good life, and just a good man, very smart man, but a very good man. He also married well. He married Sarah Blakely. She's done okay in business herself, and she's a wonderful woman. When I say okay, she's cashed out for over a billion. But what I think of with him is his family and the kind of friend he is. And it is crazy to me that it's been this long since he's been back on the show, and I'm really grateful that he is. Jesse Itzler, bro, welcome back on the program. It's great to have you. Great to be here. When we did this, we were at your house in Laguna. I turned it into a vacation. Jesse That's right. Did you really? Jesse Yeah. I was hoping you'd invite me back to Laguna or Hope Island to do this. I could turn it into a vacation. Jesse Well, you are invited to Hope Island where I'm sitting right now. It's just we're both so busy. I want to say something to you. I mean what I just said when I introduced you. Like our first conversation, we first met, and we've been around each other several times since. It's one of the shows that I left, and I was actually different after. I truly was different after. In fact, I want to play you something that you said to me on the show, and then get your current feedback on it, okay? So I'm just going to show you this. Jesse You know, my parents are getting older. All these things are happening around me. You've heard me mention this before, like my parents live in Florida. Anyone that has parents that are elderly, you know, if you see them a couple of times a year and they're going to live another five years, you don't have five years with them. You have five times the two visits you see a year, you have ten visits with them. Once you start to look at time that way, those visits become insanely valuable. So like when I'm with my mom and dad, oh my God, like the TVs are off, you know, I am where my feet are, and I'm focused on it. And you know, when I'm with you, I'm with you. Like this is a great moment. I want to be here, and it's very difficult to be where your feet are, but that's something that I really try to do. I try to be super present. For you and I, it makes me emotional even playing that clip because it really, it impacted me. And I changed the way that I interacted with my dad because of you, bro. And my dad's since passed away since that, and I know you've lost your mom and your dad since that time. So thank you for what you said to me there, because it made a difference in my family. But I wonder for you, why am I so emotional about it? I wonder for you, when you see that clip now, and having lost both of your parents, what are your reflections or thoughts about it? My math was wrong. I didn't have 10 years. You know, I had a lot less. When we did the interview, I didn't know that. My math was wrong. You don't know when or what's going to happen or what's going to change, you know. Time doesn't tell you what's going to happen. I think one of the biggest mistakes people make is they assume that what they can do today they can do in 10 years from now, and it doesn't work like that. Yeah, I lost both my parents and my sister since our podcast. And you know, every time I used to go to my parents' house, as they got older, I would always wonder if it was like the last time I would see my parents. So I would walk in there and like, I would literally take a snapshot of me saying goodbye to them and being like, is this the last? Because they were getting older. You know, my dad had Alzheimer's. My mom was getting older and like, you know, just starting to go a little bit downhill. And when you go downhill, it can go really, it can go downhill fast. And so I would take like, so I, and that happened for like years. I would go there and I'd be like, is this the last time? Is this the last time? Is this going to be the last time? And as I started showing up, I started operating with like, this is the last, this is like with the energy of this is the last visit. I would, I would literally call it like last visit energy. So I would be like way more, like put my phone down and I would be like, I feel like those last years were really good for me because of how I showed up when I went to visit my parents. They lived in Florida. I was living in Atlanta. And I'm, and I started to like incorporate that into almost everything I do, like even with my children now is like that last minute. And if you can bottle that feeling of like, man, this might be the last this or this, not like in a negative, a sad way, but in a way that like I'm going to channel into being like the best person in this moment, that's been a really good thing for me. So it's been a challenging five years, but I've learned a lot of lessons in those five years. I want to talk about what some of them are. Exactly the same thing happened to me after our conversation. I would say, bro, I don't like to, because when you pick one thing, it minimizes the amazing impact other people have made on my show out of 900 some odd interviews. But for me, that is probably the most impactful moment on the show because I started to do exactly what you just said. And I want everyone just to listen in your talk. Everybody knows you and I, they're listening. We're obviously been both blessed financially, both blessed with amazing families, but these are the things that matter are, are the people in your life, you know? And I started doing that exact same thing, Jesse, where when I would see my dad, what if this was the last visit? Literally put my phone in the car, be fully present. I would even take in his facial features and look at him. You same thing? Yeah. And I'd look at him longer. And I do do that in other areas of my life now, when I give a speech or when my children are around, what if this was the last one? And so thank you for that. I, what, what of one of those lessons, and by the way, time matters. And it's one of the things Jesse's here to talk about today is his big ass calendar, which we're going to get to these all weave together. But if there was like one thing you would say the last five years or so, as you've gone through all of that, you said all these lessons, what would be one that might surprise me that stood out for you? Well, I'll give you like a, just a very direct lesson from that. It's like, you know, um, if the people that showed up, I remember when my dad passed away, you called me, this is insane. And you said to me, if you have any speeches you want me to do for you while you're like grieving and going through this, I'll do them like no fee. I was like, what? I don't even know you that well, like you're going to, you want to, that was like the most insane call. And I feel like if people listening, like if you have somebody in your life that's grieving and you don't reach out to them, they're never going to forget that. So you kind of take inventory during those times of like who you, who showed up for you and who didn't. And sometimes you get surprises like you did to me. I, that was an incredible ask. I'll never forget it. And I don't even speak to that much. That was really cool, man. I really appreciate that. I think that, you know, every decade of my life is so different, you know, like when I look, and I bet it's similar to most people's, but like when I look back on my journey in my twenties, I was really, it's a time to like find your way. I was figuring out what I'm good at, what I'm not good at, you know, I wasn't making a lot of money, but I had a ton of freedom during my twenties and just kind of learning and figuring it out. In my thirties, I was building, I had a business, I started to grow a family, you know my career became important as I was building it. But time started to get a little bit more tight in my thirties as I was doing all in that. In my forties, I had my peak responsibility. I had a mortgage, I had a kid, I had a business, you know, my, and, and time, everything was competing for my time in my forties. In my fifties, where I am now, my kids started to get older. My parents were older, I got older, like I started to think about time a lot differently. And as I go into my sixties now, which is where I'm 58 years old, I have more money and I have more freedom, but I'm not necessarily as capable of doing things that I was in my twenties and thirties. It's just like, and like thinking about where you, where you are and where you're going into those, like I was thinking about my parents a lot as I, as they got older, those different chapters of my life have been so damn different, man. Like I'm so different now than I was in my twenties and, um, it's just, it's just, it's just wild. You know? Like what's, what's misogy, misogy. What is that? I've heard you talk about it on social media. What does that mean? It fits into this somehow. I know. Yeah. Like, I mean, I'm a big planner and I'm aggressively thinking about not just, not just this year, but like where I'm going to be, where my kids are going to be in five years. You're an empty nester. You know, you got to start thinking about all that stuff. Um, but a misogy is an old Japanese ritual and the notion around it is you do one big year defining thing every year. Like you should plan and have something on your calendar that at the end of 365 days in 2026 you have something to show for it. And a lot of these sounds so obvious, but a lot of people don't. If I asked you what you did 10 years ago, if I asked you what'd you do in 2015, 2019, eight days ago, most people couldn't tell me, you know? And I can do that. I can look back and say like in, you know, 2015 I wrote living with a seal and 2023 I rode my bike across America. I took a trip to Finland with my 10 friends. Like I have, I've been really good about putting one big year defining thing on my calendar every year. And it matters if you're 30 and you live to be 80 and you do one big thing every year, like, you know, like intentionally like, man, I'm going to launch a podcast. I'm gonna write a book. I'm gonna run a marathon. Stop smoking, whatever, you know, and you live 50, it's 50 year defining things on kind of like your life resume. You know, we have our work resume and that always fills in. We spend so much effort and energy on our work resume, but like, do we really spend a lot of time planning like the other side of it, our life resume. So having that one big like rock in the ground, flag in the ground every year has been a really good North star for me. What would you say to somebody who says, I didn't mean to interrupt you. Sorry for that. Go ahead. Not bad. So, well, I think sometimes people would look at you or I, maybe as they're listening to this and go, that's cool. Two rich guys, you can do whatever the heck you want. Like I'll get around to it, but right now, bro, I'm trying to like, I got to get my truck in the shop and I got to get my kids to soccer practice and uh, we're just trying to pay bills here. I just, you, you know that that is something some people forget. You and I were also at that stage of our life at one point, but what would you say to somebody who says, look, I'm just scraping daily to put my head on a pillow, put food on the table. I'll get around it. What would you say to them? That's a hard one. It, it, it, it is. And everybody, you know, is dealing with stuff like that, but I still think there's 365 days a year. I agree. If you can't find one day, one day every other month, one day or one day a year or, or something, what do you do? Like, what are you really doing at the end of the day? You know, and I think it's, even though it's challenging, it's so important. I actually think by putting something big like that on your calendar or real, let's say you're going to run a marathon. It forces you to say no to the things that aren't as important in your life. I think it actually frees up time because you have to get really better with your system and really more diligent and we only have a limited amount of energy. You know, where do you want to put that energy? You know, um, do you want to put it towards, I'm on friend reduction right now, Ed. So am I. I'm on friend reduction because like I have, you know, a lot of people in my life that were taking energy away from me. I want to be around people that give me energy, you know, and I want to do things that give me energy and make me feel alive. So the, to the people that are, that have that, you know, where they have to take their shop, go to the shop and they're working like, I totally get that. I lived that for over a decade of my life, but I still went to the polar plunge that was free in Coney Island every New Year's. I still signed up for a marathon. I still found time and it made me better, man. It made, it made me better. It made me say no to things. We're taking away energy and The other thing I was gonna say is like, you know a lot of times people postpone things Like I'm gonna postpone that trip for a year. I'm gonna postpone it whatever but really very often They're canceling something without even realizing it because they never do it So like the whole thing of like I'm just gonna postpone it and push it down the road a lot of times that equals You just canceled it. It never happened. So I'm a big believer that it's really important I think it makes you better at work better at home better father mother son daughter, whatever when you Prioritize yourself a little bit because the more you experience the more you have to offer more interesting You are maybe you'll get a bigger promotion Maybe you'll be more interesting at the lunchroom at work because you signed up for that race or did that one thing I think it's I think I should think it's critical that you find a way to do it I do too and I think you're a hundred percent, right? I think delays are usually cancellations So, you know I've been trying to take my health in my morning routine to the next level and I used to do a whole bunch of different Stuff tons of different supplements and then I found all-in-one in a drink with im8 I made is the way to simplify your supplement routine. 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I love their cotton tees I'm wearing one now and I get a ton of compliments when I wear them on the podcast and when I speak so find your Next-fall favorites at quince download the quince app for app exclusive offers or go to quince comm slash ed for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns now available in Canada and the UK to that's quince comm slash ed and The other thing he said there we'll talk about time in a minute because it's a fascinating topic and it leads to your calendar Too and your planner, but before we go there you just said something I want to unpack a little bit because I have to My friend circle is so much considerably smaller than it was 15 years ago to the point where even yesterday I was I Was actually reflecting if if it if I were sad about that literally yesterday in this room I was sitting here alone thinking my gosh Like there's just not as many people that I call as I used to and remember my dad When my dad was in his late 60s, I remember looking at my dad and thinking this is when I'm in my 30s or whatever Remember thinking almost with sadness like what a small life. He's got doesn't have that many friends, you know I even said to him once I said dad like he goes you're my best friend Like how cool is it that my son's my best friend, but I remember thinking yeah, I got a big life, man I got this guy and that person and this and that and almost like Not looking down but almost with some smallness towards my father, right? And he said to me Eddie he goes just so you know as you get older that that circles gonna shrink and you're gonna want To spend time with only the people who bring you love bring you energy stretch you push you make you think You're gonna be surprised. That's exactly what's happened. He was right Why do you think yours is shrunk? And what advice would you give to somebody who? Maybe feels alone that their circles not very big or maybe they got a lot of people around them that are draining them. I Think everyone is wired differently I think from just I can only really speak from my own experiences, you know My life's different than it was 20 10 20 years ago. I have four kids I used to when I was in my 20s 30s and I had marquee jet my first real success, you know business-wise I was working a lot 21 hours a day You know eating dinner at 11 o'clock at night now like literally my wife on this morning said to me She wants to eat at 4 30 in the afternoon. I'm like, that's breakfast. That's that's breakfast for me I can't have a dinner at 4 30 Your system evolves and some of my some people in you know that I've known for a long time like they're still going to the Bars, they're still going to the clubs they're still doing that kind of stuff and you know, like nothing against that or them in any way but like I Am like in carpool line man. Like my life is way different So as you evolve your system of living has to evolve otherwise like You know, so I've just gotten a little bit different, you know, then like we've just kind of drifted away and that's totally fine And you don't think either one's wrong like stage of life There's a stage of life where you're supposed to be eating at 11 o'clock at night. You think for some people? Yeah, and as I've gotten older, I want I want low aggravation. It's like in my 20s I would take really high aggravation for for any kind of reward like I was willing to work and it could be You know going to a hundred nose knocking on doors. I sold chicken shrimp and meat door-to-door I was willing to take a hundred nose for the one person that would buy shrimp for me, you know I was willing to to do all that now. I want as low aggravation as I can for any even a little bit of reward like it doesn't matter and it's the same with people I got I don't want aggravation, you know So I still have a ton of friends I have amazing friends, but I want friends that energize me I don't want friends that are always super heavy and you know questioning what I'm doing, you know, like why are you doing that? Why do you want it? There's an old rule in comedy an improv comedy that when you do improv and you pass the story like, you know It's like a story. There's a group of people and they don't even know it just goes around You always want to start off when you get it from the next person by say yes, and then yes Because it keeps the momentum going. I want to be a yes-end person. Oh, you want to buy a you want to buy your own? Island, there's people would be like that's not like what you want to isolate yourself in Maine and take a ferry and then there's people They're like, yes and that is so amazing Ed that you're willing to go against the norm miles away and Build something that you love. I want to be that person and I want people that are yes-end people in my life So good Jesse, you know, I think one common trait like if there was a through line of what you'd call like Successful people whatever the heck that means that could be someone who's building wealth that could be the best school teacher you meet, right? You or I all the way through life to where it changes where it's not about money or business or etc. It's about Experiences one through line of a live people is what I would call them. Is there Focus on time and Its priority like as an entrepreneur when you and I were young every hour meant called this prospect You're thinking buying the doughnuts at Starbucks that story the scones in all of that like time matters and I'm well No on the internet for a famous clip of that. I can manipulate time or that cavemen live 300 years ago. So Clearly I focus on time this calendar and planner. You got to unpack this a little bit. It really to me comes down to Evaluating and prioritizing time whether you're at that go stage of 21 hours a day or even that stage now of kids carpool lane Experiences climbing a mountain, etc. Just unpack that whole time thing Well, I think that if you want to have like an extraordinary life you don't just stumble into it You have to kind of plan it and you have to think about it and and almost direct it in a way You know like yeah, I mean you like and I think that Most people play life on defense. They let their calendars fill up with other people's requests for time So like zoom calls meetings weddings appointments, you know, we plan our dentist appointments six months down the road we you know, we have all this stuff planned, but like I At the end of the day that like we don't have enough time That's taking all the time away from what we might want to do. I flip that upside down and I literally play life on offense I'm an aggressive planner. I put down all the things that I want to do on my calendar first even like 2027 We're talking right now. I don't know when this airs, but we're in October. I've already built out half my 2027 the races I'm running the trips. I'm going I'm taking my kids on a long ski trip my family trips to Europe like You know the concerts I want to go to the final four trip I'm taking all of that's on my calendar first now. I know Works gonna fill in around it. It always does but now I have a great like I have the most epic 2027 already and all I have to do is follow my script. I don't think anyone's good enough to just wake up and wing it Like, you know, like because like the clock moves and like so many things are filling up We're getting bombarded with requests for time So I think that like taking control of that is really really important like you would never you would never start a business without a Budget you would never build a house without a blueprint, you know I don't think it's the same way. I look at my year like I want to build it out and have a plan So I'm an aggressive planner That does and that doesn't mean I'm not spontaneous I think it makes me more spontaneous because it actually frees up so that's the way I sort of think about it My wife and I spend a lot every week week or every two weeks We get together and we map out what nights we're having family dinner like and we spend like an hour on it Like well what time who's gonna be here? Can we move this? Can we do that? Because otherwise it's it's just really hard. We have four kids and I'm an entrepreneur my wife's an entrepreneur So I'm a really aggressive planner. I am Yeah, I think if you live your life and you live here you seem to me to live your life with more intention than most And I think that's what this is. Now first off because I want you to promote something How could you help them with this? You have this big-ass planner and yeah So I do I have I have a I I just take this is a big-ass planner that something I created I take it with me everywhere. I Also have a calendar that's the big-ass calendar It's a 365 every single day of the year on one piece of paper and I sell it I created it because I'm visual. I want to see where I'm where I spend my time I want to track towards my goals and I can't do that scrolling My phone's great for appointments reminders that kind of stuff But the big picture seeing exactly like how I mine's actually on my wall. I don't show us. Yeah And I color coordinate things and it's super duper helpful So I I've been doing that for a while people's like, how do you plan? I'm like, this is how I plan and I launched this calendar and it's changed a lot of people's lives the Misogi that you talked about yeah is part of the calendar because Having a calendar is one thing but how you use it and fill it out is another I think a calendar or a planner I like this planner because I travel with it. It goes in my bag and is the best most honest autobiography of your life Like it shows you exactly what you did and what you didn't do So I I I do like I spend a lot of time mapping it out and I teach people like, you know You mentioned the Misogi that's one of the things I do in my planning system. I have a very simple way that I plan I mean, it's I'll show you with you right now But basically I put that one big thing in every year and I that's a critical component of my life I want to have something big to show for every year like You have to have that and then every other month. I just take a little mini event. I can't take one day every eight Every eight weeks or every other every other month I take one if you can't take one day out of eight weeks to do something for yourself You gotta really look at your work-life balance like it's it's probably a little out of whack But if I do a little mini adventure every other month and that could just be like I'm taking my kids fishing instead of watching The Georgia football game. I'm gonna I'm gonna go watch you speak. I'm gonna go take a class whatever If I take one little mini adventure every other month, that's six a year. So now I'm 30 years old I watched the Ed my let's show and like I saw this guy Jesse man. He's older I don't even know what he was talking about But he told me to do like one big thing a year and take six little mini adventures I did everything I did last year the same but I did that and I did it for 30 for from 30 to 80 for 50 years now you have 50 year defining things and 300 mini adventures. You wouldn't have had that's like Incredible. Yeah, it's not really that hard I mean, I know everybody's busy, but you can take one day every eight weeks By the way, you need to otherwise you're gonna burn out and I've been doing that since I'm I didn't even realize I was doing that even in my 20s when I was really grinding I mean I slept on 18 different friends couches from 18 to 22 like I wasn't homeless I wasn't but I was bouncing around figuring out how to make it as an entrepreneur and all these businesses that fail I had a management company that failed the record label that failed I sold carrot and shrimp, you know Chicken shrimp and meat door-to-door Carrot and celery sticks door-to-door failed. I mean the apparel company failed miserably Miserably, but even during those times on my friends couches, you know, like My friends are working on Wall Street split-screen making a quarter million dollars a year having timeshares in the Hamptons I'm sleeping on their couch. I'm making zero maybe like zero scrapping together maybe $15,000, $20,000 a year, but spending 35, you know, like right out of whack. But I'm still running the marathons. I'm going to the plunges. And all of a sudden at the end of the year, I'm looking back and I'm like, holy man, these guys are so stressed out. They have no free time. I had an epic year with nothing. So I've always had that mindset of like, I want epic years. Even if I'm scrapping through it, I want to take advantage. This country affords us amazing lakes, mountains, races. Now you have stuff you can learn on AI, social media, your show, there's so, you know, Gandhi said it best. Live, learn like you'll live forever, live like you'll die tomorrow. And that's sort of how I've been doing it. Like I'm living, like I said, like I don't know if I have 10 years. I don't know, but I don't want to waste this. So I'm an aggressive planner. I do one big thing a year and I take a minimum and I take, I make sure I schedule, you know, five or six little mini adventures every year. And it's worked really well for me. You know, it's made me happier. It gives me, I'm a little word driven. Most of us are reward driven. So if I have something on my calendar or my planner that I can look forward to, it makes it a lot easier to go to work, to get my truck serviced or whatever. Because I know in four more weeks, man, I am going to Puerto Rico for two days. Like that helps me a lot. That is profound what you just said. I find the exact same thing, brother. If there's something cool on my calendar, it makes whatever grind difficulty I'm going through much more tolerable. I mean, I think what he just said there, you guys, is such a profound thing. Those of you that are like, no, I'm in that grind mode. Yeah, and if it's six weeks from now, you're going to Puerto Rico for two days. It just makes it, you're almost sprinting towards the finish line almost. Like Jesse, I got to tell you, like listening to you right now, there's a part of me that I've known you do this. I've heard it from the periphery and I haven't done it very well. And not only you guys, if you don't schedule these things, are they cancellations? But quite frankly, those of you that are busy, I have lots of cool things that I could do in my life that I can't do because I've scheduled things on those days when they come up because I'm not intentional in advance. All kinds of things come up in my life that I'd love to go do. Hey, go play Augusta National. I can't, I've scheduled a speech that day or I've done this. A lot of things I missed because I'm not in control of my schedule. And so a lot of you are missing things. There's another through line with you that I want to have you express, if you don't mind. I'm really, I really think this is so good. You, it seems to me from all the way back from the marquee jet stuff that I do know about those stories, you have this, you've built a muscle through these experiences, like going to Finland with the guys or the building marquee jet or whatever it is. You've built a muscle where you will chase things you're unprepared for. And in other words, preparation's a really big deal, but you are constantly putting yourself in situations you may not be prepared for. Like these races you do, these experiences you go do, these businesses, these boardrooms you had to walk in, the through line, whether it was business or fun stuff or life or all of it together, you throw yourself into a place that most people would say maybe you're not ready for. Is that true? Yeah, yeah. I mean, my dad owned the plumbing supply house. We never talked, I never took a business class growing up. We never talked about money or business. I had to rely on intuition and entrepreneurs. Like the first thing I asked myself as an entrepreneur is what makes me or my product uniquely different? And sometimes not having that experience is what makes you different because it makes you, it guarantees you're gonna do things differently than everybody else. Most people follow the same script that like, if you're in financial services, that everyone's been using in financial services for the last 50 years. Innovation and disruption comes when you rip up that playbook and you do things differently. And for me, I never, when I approach things, I started a private jet company. I didn't know anything about airplanes. I had no aviation experience. We had no, my partner and I had no money when we started it. We had no access to airplanes. Like, how would you possibly think about, and I was 28 years old. I was a kiddie pool attendant six years before that. I went from a kiddie pool attendant to a guy that had a company that did over 5 billion in sales in like a six year window. That's nuts. It is crazy, man. But like, when we started the journey for Marquee Jet, if they would have said to me, you have no experience, man, what are you doing? You know, like, and to do this, you're gonna need FAA approval and Department of Transportation approval and you have to build a sales team and raise money. I would have been like, what was the first thing you said I needed? Department of Transportation approval? Ed, there's gotta be a lawyer in New York that specializes in that. Let's get that guy. And okay, we got, we can go through the, we got Department of, what's the, I need FAA approval? There's gotta be someone that specializes in that. You have to break things down into digestible bites. And if you think about the whole, you know, landscape of it, it's overwhelming. So I never really think about like, how am I gonna do it? Because they would, I would stop me in my tracks. It's like, what's the first thing I need to do? And getting started is a strategy. Speed's a strategy. So I always kinda like start the process as soon as I can and then start to chip away at it and figure it out. And it doesn't always work. I've had a lot of egg on my face too. But the fear of like not knowing what the I'm doing is kind of exciting to me because like no one else does either. And if it's easy, you know, like the harder it is, I love it because it weeds out the competition. Like I heard a stat that there's like two, this could, I might be a little off here, but there's like, I don't know if it's a year, but it's like there's 2 million podcasts or something that have been launched in, I don't even know, a year or the last couple of years, 2 million. And of the 2 million, 25%, 500,000 of them quit or stop after one episode. If 25% of the population is gonna quit because they didn't find advertisers or it was too hard or they couldn't build, after one episode, I like my chances. I like my, cause I'm definitely going past that. Now there's 75% left and the stats start to go down, you know, after episode two, three, four. I'm 100 episodes before I even think about quitting. Give me a hundred episodes before the word quit even starts to enter my head. I'm gonna like go out and hold a sign. I have a podcast. I'm gonna knock on people's doors. I'm putting flyers. I'm exhausting every resource before I stop. And that's been my journey, man, you know, from the beginning. And sometimes it works and it really pays off. And sometimes it doesn't, but it doesn't work because I didn't do a hundred episodes because I only did one episode. You know? And you're willing to throw yourself in the deep end of the pool, even though you may not know how to swim yet. And it's, by the way, it's the most alive. It's what he does on these races. It's what he does on these experiences. It's what he did in business. There's a through line there. So when I ended up buying the island, we had to do all of our outdoor decorating and I spent a fortune in the first half of the place. And I'm like, I don't want to do this anymore, but I want the best stuff. And that's where Wayfair came in. My wife wanted to get this new garden bed and Wayfair was the place that offered the perfect solution. Wayfair also helps you create a home that stands up to real life with quality products, great value and trusted reviews. Wayfair verified products are hand vetted by product specialists. These are 10 point quality inspection system. Here's what I can tell you. The stuff has lasted over time. It looks great and I get compliments on it. Shop thousands of products across every style and budget, whether you're trying to refresh your space for fall or transform your space for Halloween. Use filters, custom photos and reviews to find the right fit for your home. More than 20 million verified five star reviews. So transform your space with the pieces that hold up to real life. Join Wayfair rewards today and get 5% back on every purchase. Head to Wayfair.com or shop the Wayfair app for all things home. That's W-A-Y-F-A-I-R.com. ♪ Wayfair, every style, every home. ♪ The other thing that perplexes me about you that's really interesting, is you're like, you, when I think of like, people who've been on the show, I'm like, rank the happiest ones, like happiest. You'd be on that list somewhere, at least from a distance on the peripheral knowing you. You know what I mean? A, you just said, I was gonna ask you, is that true? You just said yes. Yet, you put yourself in situations still where you suffer, where you don't need to. One of the best watches is on all of social media is when you're doing these insane races you're doing and your team's filming you and I'm watching you barely be able to move. There's a few of them I've watched. I'm like, yeah, he's gonna quit on this one. Like, this is the one he's gonna, you know, like, this is the one. In fact, I think it was the last one I was watching. I was like, bro, like, please stop. But you don't. What is it about, I don't know if the suffering's the right word. How do you look at that? Like, you have an abundance of resources, to put it mildly, right? If people watch this, they could go, oh, so what he's basically saying is take vacation every six weeks. That's his key to life. No, no, no, no. You got the wrong guy here. He's constantly doing these hundred mile ultra marathon up the hill, down the hill, can't stop running for a day straight. Just insane. Why do you do that? So a couple of things. First of all, I'm definitely not saying just take a vacation every, I'm saying there's two sides of this. There's the business side and we over index in how much we put into the business side, you know? And then there's like the spiritual side of the business journey. Like, were you philanthropic? Were you kind to your customers? Did you have adventure while you were doing your business and your life? And those two things have to coexist in a way that makes you feel great, in my opinion. It's really important how those two sides coexist. And taking a little time for yourself, six days out of 365 days a year, feels doable. And it's gonna have a tremendous impact on this side. That's what I'm saying. It's also gonna help you build relationships, learn about yourself and build grit if you do things that are hard. Back to the happy part, I'm gonna break this, that your whole question down in a couple of parts. I am super happy. And part of that, you know, I don't even know, man. I've been always enthusiastic. Enthusiasm is a superpower. It's infectious and contagious. And I think it's really important. And I've been really enthusiastic my whole life. But I'm not a glass half full. You know, you're always, are you a glass half full? Are you a glass half empty? I am so happy I have a glass. Like, I can't believe I even have a glass. That's like my approach to it. And some people have a, oh, they walk around like their glass is cracked. I have a frigging glass. And there's an old saying, if you have health, you have hope. And if you have hope, you have everything. And I feel like I'm always hopeful. I'm always enthusiastic. And I'm glad that I have a glass. So I think that's really important. But, you know, and I care a lot. I care a lot about my friends, my people in my life, my products, my customers. And that's a superpower. And the best way I show that is through enthusiasm. So enthusiasm is really important to me. As far as- Suffering. Suffering. Suffering is like learning. You know, I learn a lot about myself through these experiences. You don't really learn just coasting through life like this. And by the way, I want ups and downs. And I want a life that's like, I want the scars. I want it all. I want it all. And you get that by putting yourself in situations that are challenging. You learn a lot about yourself. And the grit that comes from, you know, like I'm an endurance athlete. I've never won anything in my life. I'm back of the pack everything. I'm back of the pack sales. Back of the pack running. Back of the- I don't care about any of that. What I care about is like getting grittier. You know, getting, being able to overcome disappointment and obstacles and challenges. Because that's what everybody here is going to face on their journey as an entrepreneur, as their journey as a parent, as a journey as a husband or wife or partner. You know, it's like, there's a lot of challenges that come and how you deal with that. So let me just give you like a couple of examples of this. So like, you know, like I've done a hundred mile runs and they're hard and they're long. And, you know, you get to a point where you want to quit. Let's say mile 60. You're like, God, I have 40 more miles. I have blisters and I'm freezing and all this stuff. And most people do, because it's easy to quit. But if you can keep going, usually there's a window where you start to feel better. Things change. You put yourself in a situation where you start to think positively. There's a light at the end of the tunnel as you get closer. Like, and you can push, you can push through it. And I think that's the difference for many people. They think they're going to stay in this period of suffering using a race as an example forever, but things do get better, usually. And when you go through races like this and you go through this and then you come home and you have a toddler and the toddler's crying, they're having a tantrum. I'm so well-equipped to deal with a tantrum. You're like, I just, you're like, you think you're going to cry for 20 minutes? It's not going to phase me, buddy. I'm going to stay here totally calm until you get out of this. It gives you these skills you don't even know you had because you've been through that. So I think it's important to give yourself some challenges, some disappointments, some push through it. Grit, we're all born with a level of grit, I believe. Maybe you're an eight-head, maybe I'm a six, I don't know. But when you do things that are really challenging, take that grit level up, it never goes back down. You don't like, you know, it doesn't, and they say grit's the biggest indicator of future success. So like, if we all- raise grittier kids, there's a much better chance they'd be successful. So, you know, putting a little thing, some things like that on your calendar, I think, can go a really long way. Now, I don't put my kids and say, hey, you gotta do this, but they see me doing it. I'm a show-don't-tell person. Caught, not caught. Don't tell them. Yeah, they're catching a ton. Yeah, they catch it. They know, like, we run, I'm running, I don't look at the weather. I'm running no matter what. Like, what do I compare? I'm going anyway. So they see that kind of attitude, and I think that's really important, to show them, don't tell them. Do you know when you're doing a really good podcast, because you're doing one, right? Just so you know. I'm just getting warm. It took me like 20 to warm up, but now I feel like I'm hitting my zone. Oh, you were warm from the beginning. So I'm gonna tell everybody something about you, and then I'd like you to answer it. And I don't know if you remember this or not. So Jesse was like a guy that a lot of different business influencers knew. I didn't. But I remember Lewis Howes going, you gotta meet Jesse Itzler and so-and-so. You guys would love each other. You gotta meet one another. Then we met and I loved him. But he was like a guy like around the industry, but not in it, okay? And I remember you came to watch me speak a couple different times, or at least once that I recall. And I remember you going, hey, I wanna do something in this space, but I don't wanna do it like everybody else. Like, I want it to be fun. I want it to have an experience element to it. And I remember going, yeah, that'd be cute. Good idea. You know, I remember thinking that. And then you did. And so you've built like, and just talk about this running man, and you can speak specifically to that. But like, if I'm trying to figure this guy out, like that's what I'm trying to do with you. Like the experience is a major part of the life journey for you. Like the emotions, the feeling, the senses, the seeing, the being with people, the getting through the race. Talk about how you've approached this space and why even overall, like experiences matter so deeply to you. And it seems like that's your life lens, like the experience of life, more than like the day-to-day of doing it, if that makes sense. Well, I mean, for starters, that's what makes me feel the most alive. So I gravitate towards, and I think most of us do like, or at least maybe that's a good lens to look through how we're going through the rest of our lives. Is like, what makes us feel the most alive? Who makes us feel the most alive? And we wanna spend as much time with those people and doing those things. Like I made a promise to myself when I turned 50, it was my birthday promise to myself. That I'm gonna put more on my plate of what I love to do with the people I love to do them with. And I've done that. Every year I take a trip with my 10 closest friends. You know, we've been doing that for the last several years. You know, I'm really, I am intentional about that. Like create, like I have a, my calendar has a lot of experiential stuff. Yeah, it does. Cause like, how many things do you, like, man, I've been alive for probably, I don't even know, man, 20,000 days, 75% of my life is probably done, you know? And like, how many of that do I really remember? You know, like we get eight decades. Let's say you live to be 80. You get eight decades. I'm going into my sixth. Decade one, zero to 10, 10 to 20, 20 to 30, 30 to 40, 40 to 50. Now I'm on 60. And 70 to 80 is a different decade, man. You know what I mean? It's a different decade. I'm 12 years from 70. So when I look back on all the stuff, like the things that like are bright memories in my mind are the experiences. The day-to-day stuff, I do not really remember. I don't even know what I did four days ago. I swear to God, I don't know where I was six days ago. I could not tell you where I was six days ago. But I could tell you every minute of my trip, my sauna tour in Finland with my friends. So those things, if those are the things that light me up and I remember the most, why wouldn't I wanna double down on those? So that's sort of what I've been doing, especially, and like easier in your, again, like I said at the beginning of the podcast, in your 60s, you're probably gonna have more money and freedom than you did in your 20s, 30s, and 40s. You just might not be as capable of doing the things or as well that you were in your 20s and 30s. Like I have a torn meniscus now. So I can't even, I haven't run in like five or six months at all. I ran every single day for 35 years. And now like, I can't, like I didn't imagine. I'm like, I'm gonna be running this race called Badwater when I'm 97. I'm gonna be doing, like, that's what was in my head. But like, you don't know. That's what I'm saying. Postponing could be canceling. I wish I would have ran that race five years ago. Because now I don't know if I'll ever be able to do it. So it's like, those are the things why I, I double down on that stuff. And I aggressively plan it on my big ass calendar. The big ass calendar. And you guys can also check out the running man that he does every year. That sucker, I think, sells out too. But I gotta tell you, you did it to me again on this six decade thing. Now I'm rethinking about that for the next month that I'm heading into my sixth decade. I'll tell you an interesting thing. So on an airplane last week, and I knew you and I were doing this interview. This guy sits down next to me, super fit dude. I could tell he was older though. But like, one of those guys, you're like, this dude looks incredible, right? So we start talking. And he said something so profound to me. He ended up telling me, he goes, not only, I go, bro, you look incredible. You know, and he was 73, right? And he goes, yeah, my brother looked just like me at 73. I mean, we're both fit. We both do a little peptide thing. You know, we work out all the time, we eat right. And he said to me, he goes, you know, 73 is the new 53, right? And I go, yeah, that's really true. You hear those sayings. But listen to what he says afterwards. And this is so profound. He goes, but you know what? 80 is still 80. He goes, my brother turned 80. And he goes, it just all catches up at 80. 80 is still 80. 80 is still 80. And it really, basically what he was saying was, it's true, you can rewind this time thing in your health for a while. But at one point, you are 80 and 80 is 80. My brother just, it's different at 80. Now, whether or not that's true over time or not, but the point that he was making was like, yeah, but at some point you really can't do the things you could have done when you were younger. Do them now, is basically what he was saying to me. 80 is still 80. Isn't that interesting? Let me ask you a question. And so I ask this to almost everybody that I come across that I'm friends with or whatever, that have kids, because I have four kids. I have a 17-year-old, two 12s, and a 10. And I ask them, what would you have done differently now that your kids are in college? You're an empty nester and your kids, would you have traveled more? Would you have, is there anything you would have done differently with your children? If you could go all the way, would you have homeschooled them? Would you have given them a part of a language? Absolutely, yes. And mine is, I would have been more present when I was there than I was. I was there, but sometimes I wasn't. So I would have been fully present when I was there. And we would have traveled more as a family and had more experiences. Because we had a decent life and I was working, our home's nice, we'd go to it. But I mean, just intentionally leaving and creating something that they would never forget the rest of their life with their mom and their dad. I wish we'd done more of it. We did some, but I wish I had done more and I wish I would have soaked it in more when those moments, because as an empty nester, as you know, I keep telling people this and they think it's just the most obvious thing, but they are gone when they're gone. And now they visit me. And I didn't know how cool it was that they were in the backseat of that car and I got to drive them to school. Because it was just another day of driving them to school and we were late and they didn't, their homework wasn't done. And I wish I would have said, hey dude, slow down and look back there at them. They're not gonna be sitting there forever. Soak it all in. What a privilege it is to have them sitting this close to me every day. To take it all in. So yeah, I would have changed that. What about you? You're doing it. Are you on task? Well, I'm trying not to miss the things that can't be repeated. That's like a big, I always wanted to do more as much as I can. And I still believe in that. I wanna squeeze everything out of life. But I also, now I'm just making sure I try not to miss the things that can't be repeated. And not just with my kids, but in all areas of my life. But I ask that question a lot. And one of the things I get a lot is they would, from people that can afford to do it, is they would have traveled more with their children. That's a common theme. What you just said is a common theme. Family dinners is a common theme. So I'm trying to take those regrets that people have and incorporate that stuff so I don't have the same regrets. Like, I was lucky, man. When I was 30, about, and we started Marquis Jet, my partner and I, we flew the, so Marquis Jet was a private jet company. It was a private jet car. Basically, you bought 25 hours of flight time. You're prepaid, let's just say 100 grand. Your plane's available on eight-hour notice anywhere in the country, and it's a debit card. So if you flew from Laguna to Vegas, a one-hour flight, you have 24 hours left. And we sold a lot of that. And we had a great, thriving business at a young age. So it was amazing. You know, I went from a couch to now we're making a lot of money year over year flying the kudzu of pop culture CEOs and entrepreneurs. But the gift wasn't that. The gift was, at 30, I got to ask, because I would show up, they were my customers, I got to spend time and ask them questions. I didn't know shit. I would be like, where do you travel? What do you do with your money? Where do you vacation? What time do you get up? How many newspapers do you read? I would like bombard these thought leaders. And I became a compilation of that in my 30s. I got the best habits, the best routines, and the best mindsets from the best people. And I got to like trial and error all that in my 30s. And I'm still doing it now, asking guys like you. People out there now, you don't have to start a jet company to get access to that. You have podcasts like yours. You ask the most interesting people the most interesting questions. And people from all over the world can listen to that at their leisure. It's insane the amount of information. You can become Jason Bourne listening to your podcast. You spend one year downloading your podcast, wire to wire, you're gonna be Jason Bourne. Thank you, that's... By the way, since he just said that, before we get out, I have one last question for him. You guys need to interact with Jesse. You should get the big, I'm going to do it. By the way, Max, my producer, is also my son. He's here. Jesse sent me the calendar and the planner. I'm going to do it. I give you my word. I'm going to do it. I need this. And I'll give you a planning session. I'll sit with you for half an hour. I'll map out your whole year in 30 minutes. Okay, we're doing it. I'm serious. I need this. Everybody does. And then also, if you just go to his social and look, you can find out about Running Man and his coaching programs and everything that Jesse does. He's really, he's like the Dos Equis guy of personal development. He's like most interesting Renaissance man in the world. And I regret what you said. I wish we were talking more, bro. I really do. I wish we did connect more often. We're just, we need to make it an intention. We'll put that on the calendar. I'm going to run the Hope Island Marathon by myself. I'm walking lots. I can't run anymore. I'll walk it. I'll be at the lemonade stand giving you your bananas and water when you come by. Last question, and it's kind of serious, I guess. I was thinking about both of us with our kids. So you kind of led into it. And you got four babies and four total. You know how we talk about our dads, you and I, right? Like we know our dads. Your dad was a plumber. My dad was a banker. And everyone knows that my dad was in recovery from drugs and alcohol. And sometimes it's easy to forget. Your kids are figuring you out, too. Someday, your children will be telling stories of their dad and mom, Jesse and Sarah. They're going to tell stories of you. And as much as I hate to say it out loud because it makes me emotional, but I could play back that clip that I played for you in the beginning, and your children only have so many more summers with you. And so many more meetings with you. And so I just wonder for you, do you ever think about that in reverse now with your children looking at you and how many more summers do they get with dad? How many more Christmases do they get? How many more trips are they going to have? And if you do think about that, what of your life example do you want these precious babies of yours to be taking with you and maybe be telling their grandchildren about you someday? I think about it a lot. I think about it a lot. The only way, and I think it's important to think about it because it helps you have a strategy and a plan of how you want to maximize that time. Like I said earlier in the podcast, everybody has, you know, it's important to have a system that works for you. And my system has evolved a lot. And once I could afford to do this, like I shut down at four o'clock when my kids come home. So I get a lot of one-on-one advice from my kids. I have a one-on-one time and alone time. Sarah takes a one-on-one trip with all the kids every year. We have a whole plan around, like I'm saying, like we really think about this stuff, man. Like you can't wing it. It's really important to me, but I'm also aware that everything can change like that. I'm not foolish in thinking that like I am Superman. I am forever. I'm gonna, you know, like 80. I was thinking when you said that about the guy that says 80 is still 80, like would I sign up for 80 right now? Like if someone said right now- You get to go to 80. You could write a check and you get 80, you're guaranteed 80, but at 80, it's over. Would I sign up for that? Maybe. Maybe. Maybe. And like back in the day, like when I sign up, like when you're 20, would you sign up for 50? No. When you're 60, would you sign up for 80 with all this going on in the world and this and that? I might do it, man. I might do it. I might do it. That would be 22 more years for me. I might do it. Me too. Because like, I would rather know I had 22 than know that like my life, anything could happen. And like, you know, yeah. I can't even watch, like, Sam and I were watching a movie about like, we wanted to watch a show and get into a show together. And we watched a show and it was about- but it was about a kid that died and the detective was like the, I watched eight minutes of it, I'm like, I can't handle this, I can't watch this. Like I can't even go, and that's a fake show on TV. I'm crying at the, they didn't even start the movie yet and they're running the preview and I'm like, I'm crying, I can't watch this because it takes me to like my own. So, I think about it a lot and I try to maximize it. I do the best job I can to spend quality time with my kids. I have one rule, I'm never too tired for my kids. So if my kids wanna have a baseball catch and I just did a speech in Vegas and I flew home and I took the red eye, but they, yes, yes. Because those are things I can't do in 10 years or they might not wanna do in 10 or maybe less. So, I'm really aware of that. Awareness is important. Yeah, great. You, you're just unique, bro, you're very special. And I know you hear that from everybody, but I've done 900, 1,000 shows, this one's gonna stand out for me too. I was watching last night, go watch it by the way, there's a ESPN thing on Tyson now. And I was crying too, he ends up talking about Custom Otto, his trainer, really quick. And Custom Otto dying. And he can't get, he loses air. He can't get the words out, you know. And I just, I'm sitting there alone, actually last night was a rare night, I'm on the island alone. I'm in bed watching this, crying, just like you just said, at the thought of, you know, someday my children will have that moment where they tell someone that I'm gone. And it's flipped now. And for what it's worth, man, when I watch you, your kids are, we said caught, not taught, your kids are catching how to live a really extraordinary life. Actually, just really, dude, how to just live life, not exist. I feel like you live your life, and it's a good example for me. And I'm gonna take you up on that planning session. I promise, I'm definitely. Hey, $49, $49, you can see your whole year. I'm glad you brought that up. I don't have a salesperson on my team. My team is like so small, we don't have a sales rep. I don't like pushing things, but the calendar really is, especially at this time of year, for 49. And by the way, even if you had a calendar or a planner, like whether it was ours or not, at the end of the year, if you went through your phone and you scrolled and you just said, okay, like what does every business do at the end of the year? They do an audit of the year. You're like, well, we could, if you just took everything out of your phone and then filled in your calendar at the end of the year, you didn't use it as a planning tool, but you use it as like a review session, you'll see a lot of gaps and you'll be amazed at what you maybe have done and you forgot about, or wow, man, I can't believe how many business trips, how many days I was away from home, or I can't believe how little I spent for myself. And that can help you make adjustments for 2027. Today helped me a lot, helped everybody a lot. You're just incredible, bro. So he's got a bunch of things that he also can offer you as well. So follow Jesse on social. Thank you, brother. Today was exceeded my expectations and they were very, very high. So thank you. You're Jason morning people, Ed. You're Jason morning people. I love. All right, everybody. God bless you. Max out. This is The Ed Mylon Show.