Welcome to Other People's Perspective, a place for you to listen, learn, laugh, and always feel better at the end of every episode, taking something bigger away from it for you and others. And now, here's your host, Freddy Cocek

Welcome back, everybody. This is Other People's Perspective. I'm your host, Freddy Cocek I have with me today, I have a gentleman that I've met through the Apex Entrepreneurs Group, a gentleman by the name of Daine Patton Good morning, Mr. Daine.

Freddy Cocek

Yeah, good morning. Thanks for having me. Excited to chop it up with you.

Daine Patton

Absolutely. Daine is in Nebraska. I know you told me earlier, what city, what town? Yeah, I'm in Lincoln, Nebraska. Lincoln, Nebraska. And Daine is in the, I don't remember the technical name for it. You do animal and wildlife extractions, if you will?

Freddy Cocek

Yeah, we do wildlife control and prevention. So think of pest controls for bugs. We do everything with a backbone. So bats, rats, raccoons, snakes, squirrels, skunks, birds, all of them.

Absolutely. How did you come by that? How did you end up in that field?

Yeah, so that's kind of a, you know, it's a long story, but I'll try to give you the shortened version. When I first got into working in my teens, I did, I worked in family fun centers. So like go-karts, mini golf, arcades, birthday parties, all that kind of stuff. So I worked for a couple of different companies doing that kind of stuff. I really enjoyed that kind of work, but the problem was it was a nights and weekends job. And at the age of 19, I had my first kid and, uh, you know, I was a kid and I had a kid. And I didn't really know what I was doing and working nights and weekends was hard to find care for my son at that time. So I had to find a different job and I wanted to work outside, but I didn't want to do construction. My dad's done that his entire life. I saw, you know, what it's done to his body, the time that he was able to spend with us and all that kind of stuff. So I was looking around and I was like, Oh, this company is hiring for a, for a termite treater. I was like, I like to kill bugs. And I was a kid, so I got into pest control. And, uh, it, you know, that was back in 2007 when I got into pest control and then it's just kind of graduated and evolved since then went from termites to the pest control route to taking care of mice. And then I got really good at, at taking care of mice and bats. So it just kind of moved into wildlife control. And now, however many years ago that was, I've been I've been full time doing wildlife since 2010. So 15, over 15 years now I've been doing it.

That's awesome. That's awesome. You know, I bet that's a, that's, that's definitely a, a, a niche of sorts that a lot of people probably don't, they don't, they don't think steadily about it until, you know, they got a possum in their garage or, you know, they got something that, that they, that they can't, you know, they can't bring themselves to, you know, to deal with it or, you know, to, to remove the, remove the, uh, the, the threat or neutralize the threat.

And so that's, uh, we all love wildlife, but we don't love it when they show up in our homes.

They're such a beautiful creature from a distance.

Yeah, exactly. So I, I found, uh, you know, that, that niche where like, If I can get rid of the animals out of people's homes, and then we seal and close things up to make it stronger and better, so it doesn't happen again in the future. Yeah, it's definitely not an industry somebody wakes up and thinks, I'm going to spend money on getting bats out of my house today. But when you wake up at four in the morning, and there's bat flying around your house, You need somebody to get it taken care of as soon as possible, so.

Yeah, the cost element or the cost factor, that goes away pretty quick when you're worried about this. Especially, I'm sure bats, a lot of people have the preconceived notion from all the stigma around bats about how terrible they are. Oh my God, they're rabid and they're bloodsuckers and everything else.

Oh, yeah, there's definitely a fear factor that comes into our job. But I mean, that's one thing that's that I think sets us apart here in our town, but also in our industry is is is in an industry that, you know, kind of preys on people's fears. We try to educate as much as possible to show people why it is this is happening, what's going on, the weak points in their home that's allowing this to happen and how we can solve that. and make it so it's not going to happen again. And they have a long lasting solution for this problem. So they don't have to wake up in the morning and deal with that again.

Yes, absolutely. And I'm sure that you've probably run across this many times with a lot of clients, or at least for anyone that's less educated on some animal that has found its way into their home or into their property. Like you say, the fear factor, I'm sure, is definitely there. giving a little education and knowledge from someone that is educated and knowledgeable in that field and in that capacity when it comes to these animals, I'm sure that probably helped a lot of people to have a better understanding of what it is that they're dealing with or what they're so worried about. If there's a fear or stigma around whatever creature, by the time it's all said and done and you've alleviated, you've solved a problem and you've helped someone with an issue like that and you've educated them along the way, there's a lot of value in that, I think.

Oh yeah, for sure. That's one of the reasons we've been able to grow the way we did. I mean, I started this as a one man operation, you know, me and my truck back in 2015 is when I started my own business. And, uh, it's just kind of grown since then. I have six full-time employees. Um, so, so we're out there, we service all of Nebraska, the entire state. We'll even go into parts of Kansas, Iowa, and Missouri. That's awesome. So we, we have a, we have a big territory, but, uh, you know, No job is too small or too big, we'll take care of it.

Well, nature's everywhere. So I mean, theoretically, heck, y'all, anywhere that there's a wildlife or potential for them to be trying to take up residence or take up shop in somebody's home or business or whatever, I mean, there's opportunity for that everywhere. In y'all's area there, like say in the state of Nebraska, what do you see most commonly for removal?

So yeah, bats are going to be our number one call that we get. I call my name, my company, Bats to Rats Wildlife Control. So bats and mice are our top. Bats to mice didn't sound as well as bats to rats. So we do have rats here. We just don't deal with them as much. our kind of suburban areas or rural areas. We get that a lot of, you know, silo buildings and, you know, feed and stuff like that.

Big farming or a lot of farming and agriculture in the state of Nebraska. So I'm sure there's, you know, if you've got, like you say, you know, corn or grain silos or, you know, silage, stuff like that, you're always going to have field mines.

And then nuisance birds, pigeons, sparrows, starlings. We've got raccoons, squirrels. We don't have any venomous snakes here, so that's no fun.

Next time I'm out and about, I'll grab a few rattlesnakes and ship them up there to you, because South Texas is hot most of the time when it comes to snakes. I didn't realize that bats were real prominent. Of course, there may be a bat population here that I'm not even aware of, but I guess I didn't think of that as being a thing in Nebraska as much.

Yeah, we have a pretty good population of bats, but you have to think about Texas's temperatures. It's pretty much warm all year round down there. Here, we get some cold temperatures, so those brown bats will go into hibernation. When they go into hibernation, we don't have a whole lot of caves around here, pretty flat in Nebraska. So they find our attic spaces and stuff like that inside of our homes, and they nestle up and sleep inside of our homes without us even knowing it until one gets disoriented or finds a way down to the basement instead of a game, and then they use it inside of our house. You start hearing the scratching noises in the wall or something like that.

Oh, wow. Yeah. It's like, sorry, guys, you know, I love you, but, you know, you can't stay here. Y'all got to go. You got to do the best you can to actually go find a cave because my attic or my house space ain't going to work. Yeah. That's that's that's that's interesting. It really is. Oh, yeah. I don't I know I have seen bats in some areas down here, but I guess maybe they're just not as prominent, or maybe this area is not quite as conducive for them, or maybe at least where I'm at.

Yeah, you might just not get them in the homes as much down there. I'm sure they do, but I know like down in In Austin, they have one of the biggest bat populations that's underneath the bridge down there. Really awesome. Yeah.

Well, see, there's a lot of, you know, there's a lot of, uh, there's a lot of caves, a lot of caves and spaces and stuff up in the, like in Texas Hill Country, kind of where, you know, Austin, you know, where Austin is situated and like to the, to the West, you know, to the, to the West of Austin, you know, a lot of that Hill Country area, there's, there's a, I'm sure there's, I didn't realize that there was like a huge bat population under overpass, but that's pretty wild.

Yeah, it's one of the largest in the world.

Oh, wow. I didn't know that. Holy shit. It's yet another reason for me to not really go to Austin. Austin poor Austin man it's like Austin is a you know the capital city of our state and it's it's gotten. it's gotten a bad rap but it's you know it's it's I love Texas, but you know it's unfortunately it's become one of those areas that the you know the the. the demographic has changed and you know there's a lot of you've had a lot of outside influence coming into that area and and it's it's changed a lot of the the you know the the the some I guess the attitude of of what you would generally consider you know as you know what would go on in Texas as a state and I'm sure there's some stigma to it too but it is you know it is a Texas is a great, you know, I love Texas and the central Texas area where Austin and all that stuff, you know, there's a lot of influx of people coming into, you know, the, you know, Western, Western area of Austin Hill country and all that. It's, it's, it's pretty, it's, it's nice. And actually the, uh, talking about talking about the, you know, bats and caves, there was a hunting lease that I was on, um, like this last year up in the hill country area or kind of the foothills of the hill country and there's an old about two miles down the road from where our gate entrance was there's a place that it's now like designated as a state park they call it the they call it old tunnel. And evidently it was a I guess it was done back around the turn of the century or sometime after the turn of the century there's a there's an area in the in the side and one of the one of the hillsides where they had had blasted and dug a tunnel through the hillside. I guess, for train traffic, for a train track or whatever that was installed at that time. And it's no longer used as a train track or anything. Or it's no longer used as a tunnel for train travel. But they've designated that area as a state park. And I think it's become a really noted habitat for bats. It's basically become a bat cave after they quit using it for train travel. and supposedly it has some level of a bat population anyways that comes in and out of that deal. I should have went by there when I was there at the hunting lease, but like I said, it was like two miles down the road, and I was like, oh man, I just passed by a few times and never stopped, but I should have stopped and checked it out. That's a pretty neat deal.

Yeah, they're pretty cool creatures. Yeah, they do have a stigma about them, but bats are very important there. I think next to honeybees, they're one of the top pollinators that we have. Here being an agricultural state, they're very important.

No, I, yeah, I would imagine. So, you know, a lot of people there are just scared of, you know, or anyone, anyone that's scared of them. It's just like, you know, just like the bees, you know, the, the, the pollination thing is, is that that's a huge thing that a vast majority of people don't think about. And whenever people are complaining about insects, you know, mosquitoes and flies, like, Oh my God, they're so terrible. It's like, well, do you realize that if you, if you, you know, kill the bats or reduce the bat population, you're taking away a natural, uh, you know, they're a natural predator to, you know, the, these insects that, that you don't want biting you. It's like, it's the whole, the whole ecosystem, the whole, you know, the whole cycle and the whole circle. It's, it's, uh, it's pretty interesting how all that works, how it all comes together.

Yeah. And that's, that's one of the reasons that drew me to doing the wildlife control and prevention work. You know, in pest control, it's a lot of poisons, toxicants, pesticides. You know, what are we, what are we spraying to kill and all that kind of stuff. And, and I, I found it, you know, the one thing that I didn't like about that is I had a brand new baby, you know, we talked about. So I come home and I have all these chemicals on my boots and on my clothes, and I had to take all that stuff off before I could even touch my son. And I was like, if this is what I have to do at home, what's happening to these homes that I'm applying all these pesticides to. And, and it's just like, there's a better way. If I can figure out how to stop these things from getting into people's homes and not kill them, that's mechanically, you know, alter the house to close up those gaps, cracks, crevices, whether we need to screen or vents or whatever we've got to do. That way they can still be outside. They just can't get into your, to our homes. And then we, we eliminate the need for these pesticides and large portions of the areas. We don't have to use the rodenticides and the poisons for rodents. And so that's kind of the way that I went. And it's like a much more humane, much more sustainable way to take care of the things that we deal with.

Absolutely. That's an awesome way to look at it. You know, you solved multiple problems. You eliminated, you're addressing the problem of, you know, anyone that has an issue or a situation where they got an animal or they got a rodent or they got a bat in their house that they need to get it removed and taking it a step further by also addressing the concern of, instead of just killing this thing with pesticide and chemical and further beyond that, you know, what is, what's all this stuff doing, you know, once it's left behind, because it's not like, you know, exact application on the creature, obviously, you know, there's residual stuff that's going to be left behind or inadvertently, you know, scattered around and, and, you know, what are the implications of that? So that's, that's, uh, you know, to address the problem and take that out of the equation. That's huge. That's a big problem solved right there too. You know, there's so many things. My neighbor, just the other day, my neighbor called me talking about, you know, this is to the point of like the things that you can't see, that you can't visually and physically see, but still affect us. where I live, this neighborhood where I live, there's across the Nueces River, probably about a mile from my house, there's a big tract of land, big piece of land where they're they have like a dredging operation and they're dredging and basically, I guess that area where they're dredging down to was old, like floodplain or river bottom area. And evidently there's sand or aggregate or some sort of a product there that they're dredging up and they sell this product out of this pit. And a lot of it is either sand for construction projects or sand. Some of it, they may be utilizing that sand for the fracking process and oil and gas. They sell gravel and different stuff. Well, my neighbor called me the other day and his concern, which this is something that's been ongoing for a while, There's the circulation of the, you know, stuff, you know, we're like a mile away. But when, when the wind blows either from that direction towards us, or even when the wind is blowing from the opposite direction, just the circulation of all this stuff being in the atmosphere and like the. excuse me, the, the, some of the, some of the dust. And, uh, apparently he had some stuff tested, um, got some samples, starting to see all this stuff on their vehicle, like on their back patio, their, their patio table was covered with this layer of, you know, really fine, you know, dust and sediment and, and had it tested. And, and turns out there's some sort of, uh, some sort of polymer that was, that was mixed in, they were finding it in their swimming pool in the, in the, the, the little skimmer, the Polaris or whatever that cleans a pool, it was like this jellied substance that was in the skimmer and the strainer. And after they tested it, some sort of like some real fine polymer and I guess at that aggregate pit, they spray this polymer spray over the real fine sand to help, so the wind blows it. It helps keep that stuff settled so the wind doesn't blow it. Well, what happens is they spray this stuff or they apply this stuff on this pile of dried sand. But then when they go in with a loader or something and actually start and break all that up, all this stuff is getting up in the atmosphere. And, you know, his, his biggest concern was like, well, if this stuff is in the air and it's, and it's ending up over here, you know, from a mile away and an up on my patio, you know, then it's gotta be in the air that we're breathing. And so his, it was a, it was a valid concern. I said, yeah, I said, I think it's something you ought to check into, but you know, to the point of, of, you know, you taking the steps to. think forward and be like, hey, you know, I need to I need to come up with something where we can eliminate, you know, using chemicals and the stuff that affects people that most of the time, if we if we don't see it, we don't think about it. It's kind of like out of sight, out of mind.

Yeah, for sure. I mean, that just that story and that's talking about that kind of reminds me of something that I just I made a post the other day. And, you know, what we say no to, we don't understand what we're saying yes to. And that's the same impact in just about anything. How are we impacting, or what are we not impacting? Or maybe what are we impacting without even knowing it? How do we show up? What is it that we're doing? So me talking about the reason that we do this got me thinking about your story. How am I impacting so many other things in the ecosystem, the conservation efforts, all of that kind of stuff? It's really incredible. Once you start taking, you know, uh, 30,000 foot view of the choices that we make every single day and what we're doing, maybe, maybe we're doing something for good right in front of us, but maybe it's for bad, you know, somewhere else it's impacting somebody else. So understanding that is, uh, you know, the self-awareness is something I think that more people need to, to, to understand these days, you know, think thinking,

you know, thinking beyond the end of your nose, you know, trying to take into consideration, you know, the longer term implications of decisions and, you know, in that moment and in that environment, and then also beyond that environment, you know, if I'm deciding to do this or to not do this, Obviously, it's affecting everything in this circle close to me and in this decision-making range. But also, what is it going to affect or how is it going to affect people or things beyond that? Because that happens. It definitely happens. And a lot of people like you say, you said there, the self-awareness thing, if they're not self-aware enough to, to try to think that way or to try to apply that, that thought process, then, um, yeah, it's, it's sometimes it can be a kind of a, kind of a reckless process. If you're not like, well, you know, I don't give a shit about anything else. Just, let's just, just, I just take care of this right now, doing it this way. Whereas if you think it through and maybe approach it in a little different capacity or a little different manner, you may have a better outcome and a better, more positive effect beyond that. It's kind of like the ripple effect, I guess.

Yeah, that's exactly what I was going to say. What our good buddy Fraser Bailey talks about is that ripple effect all the time. We don't be, I mean, his ripple effect is coming through me because of the things that I've learned from him and that I'm able to implement into my life and become that lighthouse and example for others. And same thing with, with everybody that's in the apex room that I learned, you know, from, from, from Ryan and everybody there, that, that ripple effect to the, to my community, kind of like what we were talking about, the things that, that we learn. when we come together, it's our responsibility to help other people out and, and, uh, teach them the things that, that, that we now know that maybe we didn't at some point in time.

So, yeah. And to the, to the point of the, of the ripple effect, I know over, over the last couple of years, you, you yourself personally, I know you you've, uh, you know, anybody that has joined Apex, or even if there was something they were doing with themselves or with their life, you know, prior to Apex, you know, trying to grow themselves, grow and develop themselves personally. I've seen a lot of good transformations. I've seen a lot of interesting transformations on some other people, but I know, you know, I haven't, you and I don't know each other super well. I mean, we, you know, outside of, you know, just being connected through Apex in the last couple of years, I mean, obviously we didn't know each other prior, but, um, you know, what, what I picked up on and seen about you, it seems like you, uh, you've, you've had a hell of a transformation for yourself, you know, personally, and, and, uh, in a lot of capacities over the last, you know, I say the last few years, because I'm sure that you were already in some process of transformation or working on yourself, as we all should be day in and day out, even prior to Apex. But for the time I've known you and been around you, you've had a hell of a physical transformation. I'm sure the mental and psychological benefits of that and everything else has been It's, it's been pretty, uh, I think it's probably a heck of a story.

Yeah, for sure. I mean, that's, that's one of the reasons I found apex is because of, of those, uh, mental and psychological changes, you know, back in 2021. And I stepped on the scale. I was 330 pounds. I was, I was, uh, not, you know, a, you know, what, what, you wouldn't call me a healthy individual. I was healthy in size, I guess, but not actually healthy.

Robust, robust.

Yes. And, uh, it just, you know, I, I have a, I have a wife, I have three boys, you know, that right now they're, they're range from my oldest is 20 now. And my youngest, he, uh, he's eight. And then I have one that's going to turn 12 here pretty soon. So back in 21, they're all much younger, of course. And. you know, I just look in the mirror and wasn't proud of myself. I wasn't happy with, with the example I was for these boys. Uh, wasn't, wasn't too thrilled with the decisions I was necessarily making, uh, did a lot of drinking back then, uh, a lot of, you know, bad food choices and all that kind of stuff. There's lots of things that were, were suffering in, in my relationships. And just, I, you know, I kept making excuses. kept lying to myself, believe in these lies that I tell myself and just got to a point where I was so fed up and stood in front of the mirror one day, about 45 minutes after I got out of the shower and just kept trying to make an excuse and say, no, that's not true. And just got brutally honest with myself on where I was at that point in my life and decided at that point in time, I was going to make a change. You know, I needed to be better. I needed to get better. I needed to be the person that my boys deserve, the husband that my wife deserved.

And that's... Children and family can be an amazing motivator, you know, for the right people or really should be a great motivator for any person. And when the time is right, when they finally reach that point, like you said, you know, you just took a hard fucking look in the mirror and you're like, OK, you know, I'm you know, you reach the point where, you know, justifying, you know, shitty choices, bad choices, whatever. It was like, no, you know, the bug stops here. Fuck that. You know, it's time to it's time to do better for me, but also, you know, for my kids and for my wife and family. You know, kids are. They'll they'll they'll point you in the right direction.

They're the future. I mean, that's That's why, as a parent, I mean, my responsibility is to make sure that they grow up, you know, clothed, fed, happy, you know, all those things. And if my choices that I was doing to myself are affecting them in a way that that ripple effect that I didn't necessarily see until my four-year-old comes home from daycare and he writes this message after Father's Day that says, my dad is staying patent My dad is seven feet tall, he weighs 400 pounds, and his favorite thing is to chug beers. A four-year-old wrote that. He sees the actual thing that's going on. He's not sugarcoating anything. That's the truth, that's the innocence of children, and it's like, dude. Children and yoga parents, they don't lie. So I, it's like, you know what, I, it took me a while to get my head wrapped around that. I need to make some changes, but once I finally did, I was like, all right, this is what we're going to do. And, you know, it was difficult. It wasn't easy by any means, you know, being in a calorie deficit, hiring coaches to learn about nutrition and learn about, you know, the benefits of exercise, the benefits of small changes, like drinking water. I got a gallon jug with me all the time about. Anytime you see me on a computer, I'm standing at a walking desk walking, because how important steps are movement, practicing gratitude, like these little things that I can do that stack on top of each other every single day. You know, I know if I do these things that the results that I want are going to happen. So

Yeah, it took me a while. The hard work, or what a lot of people perceive as hard work. And it's a concerted effort, definitely. But you and I have, especially being at Apex, you and I have both heard this echoed by many people a jillion times. The results you want are on the other side of the hard work that you're either not willing to do or you're afraid to do. Nothing could be more true than that. You know, the, the, the shit that you want to get to, whether it's, you know, for a goal, you know, a goal, you know, or something for yourself, it's just a, it's, it's a conscious effort that, that people have to commit to. And that's, you know, that's, that's huge, man. I commend you for, for that. You know, a lot of people, it's kind of like the, you know, like the new year's resolution that, Oh, you know, new year, new me, you know, there's people that go to the gym and do it for, you know, the first couple of weeks and yeah, I'm, you know, blah, blah, blah. But then. If they don't stay with it, another comment I made to my son the other day, we were talking about something, I said, the money's in the follow-up. It's like if you don't follow up and stay consistent, then you're not gonna get that payoff you're looking for.

I love that, stay consistent. That's my tagline on all the time because of how important I realized that consistency was. Now, I was consistent with those bad behaviors. Over time, it got me to a place where I didn't want to be, but I was there. And I was like, okay, if I, if I swap the consistency with the good behaviors that start putting good behaviors in and taking the bad behaviors out, you know, that's what happens with those people. The new year, new me is they go into the gym and they try to kill themselves for one month, two months, three months. And it's not a consistent habit that they formed or they haven't got rid of the bad habits. They just added this. And, and they didn't realize that you got to get rid of a bad habit and replace it with a good habit. And so now it's like, now it's just lifestyle. This is just how I live. You know, I drink water.

It's not a bad choice by any means, man. It's good. Yeah. Talking about the, you know, talking about the people that, that, that go to the gym, like you say, you know, they kill themselves for the first couple of months, two or three months, and then they, they fall off track. I see in society, and not that it's society's fault, but a lot of things, a lot of mechanisms that people live with or function with. I think there's a concept or a misconception about instant gratification. And people have become accustomed in a lot of capacities to, to be more used to, you know, getting fucking instant results. And that works for some things. Yeah. If you want to pick up the phone and do, do, do okay. Order DoorDash. Yeah. And have somebody bringing food to your house in 15 minutes. You know, that's great, but you know, improving yourself on a, on a personal level, uh, making better choices, uh, you know, for your health and your wealth and whatever else that, that, that's not just a click away on, on an app, you know, it's, it's a different thing. And, and it, it takes a, uh, a huge level of consciousness and self-awareness to realize that and, you know, stay, stay committed to it and stay consistent with it.

Well, You know, humans are the only species on the planet that understand what delayed gratification is. And what you're talking about, the society, it seems like more and more people don't want that or don't see the beauty and the results that are going to come from having delayed gratification. You know, what can I get now? What can you do for me now? And all that kind of stuff. And, you know, I started working on myself and that's the one thing that they can't take away from me, right? They can't take away my physique if I put good things in it and I move my body. They can't take away the information I put up in my brain. And that's a byproduct. Once you become healthier body, your brain starts to get healthier. So you just want to start putting better information into it. So that's what attracted me to rooms like Apex, is there's people there that are like-minded talking about ideas that I'm interested in now. Just going to a bar to have small talk isn't necessarily what I care to talk about anymore. I want to talk about personal growth. I want to talk about financial growth. I want to talk about your business. I want to talk about the things that are actually your family, what's actually important in your life, and how maybe my mistakes that I've had could help you collapse that time horizon. We all have greatness inside of us. but it's up to us to do the work to find it. And then, you know, that greatness is a gift that we get to share with everybody else.

Very, very true. You've got to, if you're a person with that mentality and that mindset, you've got to position yourself to be around, you know, like-minded people and people that are, you know, it's great to, you know, it's the personal growth thing, man. It's like it, it, it, I've found for myself, you know, some of it has been, there's some aspects of it that have been a little difficult to kind of, you know, grow, grow away from certain people. You know, if it's people that, that, you know, have been a part of your life for, you know, a long period of time, but not everybody is, is growing at the same pace or, you know, trying to, trying to pursue or follow the same path. And, you know, they say you can't take everybody with you. So, you know, you gotta, you gotta get around the, the, the people and the ideas and, and more, more importantly than the ideas, the action, you know, the action takers, the people that are not just talking about good things, but are also, you know, willing to, you know, commit to doing the work and, and pursuing that stuff actively pursuing. I mean, you know, you can, you know, I've hung around a lot of people that talk about a lot of cool stuff, you know, all day long that all I'm going to do this and do that. And, but then, you know, You you've been around those people too. You you've had them in your life. Everybody has, it's like, you know, there's those, that guy or those people that talk about all that shit. And then, you know, five years later, they're still talking about it, but nothing's been done or 10 years later, or go back to your old hometown. 20 years later, the same people that were talking about stuff 20 years ago are still talking about it and not doing it. It's like, okay. Yeah.

or those people that you did things with. And that's all they talk about is what you did in your past and, you know, what, what you, you, who you used to be or what you used to be. So, so surrounding yourself with the people that have those different conversations, you know, you know, what does it say? Sit, sit at the table with winners. The conversation is different and it's so true. It's, you know, anytime we get together and we have have dinner conversations and stuff like that, like that stuff gives me goosebumps and like just charges me up because Like when I'm here back at home, I'm constantly trying to pour into everybody else with everything that I've learned. And then when I get in those rooms, like I'm, I'm, you know, trying to absorb as much information. I can try to fill my cup back up. And it's that, it's that, you know, that ladder, you know, as we're going up, somebody is above me, has a hand down helping me pull me up the ladder while I'm doing the same thing for somebody here. I'm trying to pull them up the ladder with me.

Yeah, those feel-good conversations are great, but when you're actually able to have those feel-good conversations with people that are actually either action takers themselves, or you can work in conjunction with them to take action, it hits different than just talking about it. All right, I'm gonna do this and do that. And we all had those friends or knew that guy that was like that. But when you actually get around people that you're not just talking about it. You're actually, you know, after, after these discussions and these conversations are had and, and ideas are, are, are put out there and, and put together, uh, they're actually, you know, set in motion and, and people are taking steps to make things come to fruition and make those, make those things happen. But that's, you know, that's, that's where, you know, the, the putting in the work, that's where a lot of people, unfortunately, you know, struggle to, Now that they, it's like, they can't get off the, you know, can't get off the starting block. You know, you can stand in the starting blocks and talk about how you're going to run the race, but you know, when it's actually time to put your foot forward, some people are doing it and some people are just not.

And I think that's, what's so important for, for mediums like this and for your podcast and the people that you bring on is because you bring on people that are lighthouses, right. So we're a lighthouse for those people that are talking about it, but they don't have the confidence to believe in themselves yet. And you are in a room with people that are doing the work every single day, and now you have this platform that you give to people to talk about it and have these conversations. So if somebody is in that spot, maybe they're in my spot, maybe they're 300 plus pounds, and they're listening to this, and they just don't know where to start. And it's like, okay, well, I just heard this guy did it, He didn't do anything crazy. He started walking. He started drinking water. He started, you know, instead of going to the gas station, started prepping his meals at home. You know, I didn't do all of this overnight.

No, absolutely not.

Every, every single couple of weeks I'd add something else. Once I got comfortable with what, what the new habit that I installed, then I'd get comfortable with it, add another new habit. And just over time, 18 months, it took me to lose 116 pounds.

So, you know, it's actually, you did it, you, you committed to it and you stayed consistent and you made it happen and that's fucking awesome. Congratulations.

And so that, you know, that, that was about the beginning of 2023. It was when, when I finally hit that, that goal of, of the 116 pounds I wanted to lose. And that was, I've kept it off the last couple of years. And you know, everybody, almost everybody's lost weight before, but the, the, the real trick is, is can you keep the weight off that you've lost? So many people, yo-yo diets and all that kind of stuff. And, and it's okay. How do you change your habits? And now you live a lifestyle of, of healthiness. And that's, I didn't, I didn't know how bad I felt until I understood and I started to feel how good I could actually feel better.

You're like, Holy crap. I was really living like that. Wow.

And now instead of. sitting in lawn chairs, drinking beers, watching my kids play sports. Now we're out playing basketball together. We're out throwing the football. We're going on walks, nature walks, we're on hikes, going on bike rides. We're like, I can physically do the things that they can do. And it just this last couple of nights ago, I was playing basketball. My 20 year old was like, dude, I didn't even know you could move like that. Like, let's go, let's go.

It's a, it's a, it's a good feeling to, to be able to, to interact with your, with your kids and, and, and that capacity, you know, my, well, my boys are, my oldest is he's 23 and my younger, that's still in high school. Uh, he's 15. He'll be the both July birthday. So I had a little be 16 and Freddie will be 24. And, uh, yeah, to be able to, to be able to kind of keep up the pace with, with what they're doing, you know, especially Halen, you know, Halen was, uh, they just finished soccer season here in the last couple of weeks, but how, you know, Hey, let's go practice. You know, we go up to the field and, and, you know, run a couple of drills or, you know, practice, kick the ball around and do stuff. And, and it, it, uh, I just turned 45 last month. And, you know, it feels, feels good to, you know, I'm not, I'm not even in, in as good of shape or in the form that I ultimately want to be, but I'm working at it. And it's, it, it feels good, you know, to, to be in the, in, in the position and in the function to your kid, your kids or your legacy, man, you, you, you should, any parent, a mom or dad, you know, that they, you should, you should, uh, you should want to be able to, to, to share those moments and opportunities with your kids and interact with them like that. Uh, I think anyways, so, yeah.

Oh, oh, for sure. Uh, you know, that makes me think of a couple of things, you know, so many people say that I would die for my kids. You know, you, you hear people talk about, oh, I die or I kill for my kids, whatever, like, but would you actually live your life for them? And that's. That's something that, that yeah, like when, when, when somebody asks, you know, would you actually live your life? Would you eat healthy? Would you take care of your body? Would you, would you show up for others? Be positive. Stop worrying about the negativity that's happening in the world that you can't control and actually focus on the things that you can control every single day to provide a better life for yourself and for them. Like that's living. and don't get so caught up in the goal that you forget to live the life that you're living right now. Enjoy the journey, enjoy the pursuit, because I will tell you, anybody that is successful, once they hit that goal, you don't really get like this huge gratifying like, oh, I'm here, I've arrived, that you just realize that there's another level.

Yeah, it's not like, you know, they don't come out with confetti and pom poms. Yeah, congratulations. It's like, Be proud of yourself and be conscious and be aware that you reach the goal, but realize that it's like climbing a fucking ladder. There's another rung and another rung. Yeah.

Great. We hit it. I lost all the weight. Now what? Well, there's a whole nother level to it. Now what can this body do? What can I maintain? How can I push it? All of those things. And that comes to business too. How big of a business are you going to grow? Great, but there's gonna come time where you're gonna exit the business at some point, whether you're gonna sell it, whether you're gonna die, whether you're gonna go bankrupt, what's gonna happen to that business after you leave? Are the people gonna be taken care of? Do you hit that revenue goal that you wanted to hit? Then what? Well, there's levels to everything and understanding that and being grateful like that's, That was been a huge key to me, 888 days straight, I've practiced gratitude. I know that because of the G code and that's completely changed my life. Um, instituting that too.

Yeah. It's even, even on the days when you wake up and you think it, you know, if you're inclined to feel like or inclined to think that, you know, it sucks or something sucks, you know, Hey, at least you woke up and you know, the, daily daily gratitude and appreciation for, you know, where we're at, what we've achieved, how we've achieved it, you know, it's it's it's huge and it's it's. I hate that there's a lot of people out there that are living or exist that don't follow that as they could, but you keep doing what you're doing and you set your goals, you hit your goals, and then you put that out there for other people to hear and to understand, hey, it's doable, it's achievable. If you live with If you, you know, to your, to your point earlier about being self-aware, you know, just, just pay attention to what you're doing and how you're doing it. And if you have the ability to, to, you know, try and pass that, uh, pass that good experience on to other people, like you say, you know, collapse their timeline or their timescale on, on what they're doing and how they're pursuing it. That's, that's, uh, that's good, man. Yeah. Gratitude, gratitude does. It does great things. It works wonders if you just use it and just live by it.

Oh, for sure. And the one thing you said when you said, I hate that there's people that don't see that. Well, I've been able to rewire my mind. I don't even think that way. That excites me that there's people that don't see that, because that gives us so much more opportunity to impact others. If they don't see it, because I was that person, right? So I'm always trying to be the person that I needed 10 years ago. And I know that I can do that for somebody else. So if they can't see it, if they were in my spot, they can see that I've been able to do these things. And like I said, I'm nobody special, but I've done the work. And I continue to do the work. And I know that the work is never going to stop. And once you are able to get that into your mind, and I remember as a kid, And we have these conversations with my kids. You think, you know, once you become adult, like everything is gonna be great and there's no rules or, you know, all of that stuff as a kid. And my kids think the same thing, but it's like, no, like there's people that live like that, but what do they have? You know, what can they say they've accomplished? You know, what, you know, like it's, that's not actually a way to live. Like lots of adults need a handbook and there's not a handbook out there.

This is true. This is true.

So we just, we just wake up with a smile on our face that we get another day. Who do we get an impact and help? And, and, you know, if that's just you, great, you're helping yourself.

And really you're the first person that you need help because we've all got to start with ourselves, you know, to that, that, that mantra of about how you, you can't pour from an empty cup, you know, or you, the oxygen mask, put yours on first. Yeah, no, very true. Man, I've enjoyed it. I appreciate your time, Daine. I, uh, I feel like I got, I got, um, I'm actually, when we get off of here, I'm going to go to the gym, uh, for a little bit, but I feel like I got a little bit of a workout just watching you just kind of like by proxy.

So you want to guess how many steps I got so far? It's 11 Oh four.

Um, I don't have a clue yet.

Uh, over 10,000 already.

10,140.

Okay. Well, I guess I, my, my seven or eight was low. I was going to, I was going to shoot for like, you know, 10 to 12. So I guess that would have been better.

Yeah. 10,000 steps is just about a month, five miles for me. So when was the last time you listened to a podcast and walked almost five miles?

Um, never, I've driven a lot of miles listening to them, but I haven't, you know, I hadn't, I hadn't walked five miles and listened to one. So maybe, maybe, maybe ride a bike a few miles listening to one. Yeah.

So no, that's what it's all about. Stacking great habits. It was a honor for me to be on here with you. I enjoy the joy of the conversation. You know, I always make jokes, but I enjoy listening to your voice too. So, yeah.

Yeah, maybe I need to patent this thing or trademark it or something before somebody else gets a hold of it or do something to preserve it before it falls apart.

I don't think AI can compete with your voice challenge.

That's probably the best compliment that I have gotten from anybody in a long time. Man, I'll own that. I'll wear that right here like a badge of honor. There you go, brother. I will see you next week. Yes, sir. I'll see you next week. I appreciate your time, and have a good day, and have a good weekend coming up, and we'll see you next week. All right. Thanks. Take care of yourself, man. If I can figure out my tech here. Here we go. All right. Have a good day, brother.

See ya.

Thank you.