Back To Basics | Discussion Combustion Podcast | #284

[00:00:00] We'll have this discussion. Discussion? What discussion? This is a discussion. Combustion. Coming to you from Denver, Colorado, this is Discussion Combustion Podcast with your hosts Kevin Batstone and Arthur Rawe. What show is this? I just got done sitting over here doing another show. It's Discussion Combustion. 284? This one is 284, I do believe. Or do beliefs out.

[00:00:28] 283, 284. Yeah, I think it's 284. Are we good? Yeah, we're recording. Oh, we are? Yeah, we're already recording. Cool. Well, so since the grit movement started, we haven't missed a week on Discussion Combustion. So, but we left it up to the decision of a... Coin. Yes. So we did flip a coin on if we were going to record a solo. You know, I like these though, because we'd only do a handful a year. Yeah. Right? I mean, literally less than a handful a year.

[00:00:55] And our plan when we went to 250 and beyond was we weren't going to do episodes when the guests canceled. Yeah. But, you know, it's 2025 now and we've got to keep this train moving. You know, we've got a big, big DCP momentum happening with all the shows. There's success energy all around the two of us, these projects. And I got to flip a coin today, which was super exciting. And we even played some rock, paper, scissors. Yeah, we did. If I could get those two games in, then honestly, like it's a good day.

[00:01:24] I mean, how often do I get to wear the 2008 DuPont-schemed Jeff Gordon jacket on the air? I mean, you could wear it every week if you wanted to. No, I'm not going to... It's for special occasions. You know, Mash the Gas getting ready to come up this Monday, February 3rd. Yes. So, good idea, you know, opportunity to plug and cross promote those shows. I think that's a good idea. I'll do the same on Happy Friday tomorrow. Yes. And so here we go. 284. Good to see you, my friend. It's good to be back in the studio. I don't usually sit over here for this show. You don't. But you... That seat was really calling you.

[00:01:54] It was calling you. We played a little bit of musical chairs before we jumped on. We did. I would have ran the board happily. I didn't want to give it up. Like, I was kind of like joking. Like, you know, it sounds... The fun seat sounds fun. But then I've realized, like, this is where I've been since 21. Since 2021. Well, for our audio only audience, and thank you for the support over there on Spotify and Apple and all those other great platforms. They don't really see what's going on. So, you know, we appreciate that support as well, of course.

[00:02:23] If you're reading the show notes, so you know the top thing there will say watch here. You know, feel free to drop us a view over there so you can get a little live look at what's going on. And, you know, it's gonna be a big year for us, Art. You already had a lot of changes. This is a good opportunity to kind of dive in because we really haven't peeled back layers of, you know, your wedding. Oh, yeah. And just what's been going on. Because we've been going so hard and just flat out through the holidays, you know, getting through our personal lives with that, getting the podcast schedule rolling. It's the end of January already. We're already one month into 2025. Yeah, it's been crazy.

[00:02:53] And 2025 has started with like a, like you're saying you're a full sender. Yeah. Well, I'm sitting, we're both. I'm two full senders at the table right now. And I full sent this relationship and I've never been more confident in my life about a decision. I've been in many relationships and, you know, I can recognize how healthy and peaceful it has been. So I couldn't be happier with all of that.

[00:03:22] But with great response, you know, great power, power comes great responsibility. So, you know, now I'm stepping into what it means to actually be a stable provider for like a little family. Like we're kind of like a little family now and, and that's exciting. And I've, I've, I've hit new levels of emotion that I haven't experienced before. And it's been so joyous. So really strong energy there as far as like fully committing to something and, and seeing

[00:03:49] it through and like all wedding planning could get really stressful. We were the best team that you could imagine. So like during this whole process of planning it out, doing everything that we needed to do, like I just was reaffirmed and reaffirmed by her action that like I'm making the right decision. So that feels great. But not only that day job, my day job switched up a little bit, moved into a higher responsibility position, which I know you know all about.

[00:04:19] But the reason why I'm, I want to talk about that too, is because there is a success energy happening. There is a wave of change happening right now. And I was feeling it coming to this year that there was this major wave of change happening in that I, it was time for me to like start paddling and surfing what was happening. And then not only that, but MTG, like you have a lot going on and coming out of 24 as well. You had a lot going on too, man. So I know it's a mouthful there. I could, you know, that's why I did the raw talk for a bit.

[00:04:48] I could just go off for like 20 minutes easy, but it's been a really exciting start to the year. I've been a lot going on for sure. I was fortunate to be there at the wedding reception. That was really cool to see everyone get together, you know, and just that timeline of how quickly you, you moved from, from engagement to marriage was, was I would say quicker than probably any that I've ever seen. Yeah. Okay. What was the most difficult part? If, if at all, what was the most challenging part about moving that fast?

[00:05:14] So I would say the most challenging part about it was, um, that you want to try your very best to accommodate for everybody. That's not getting married. Right. So worrying about everybody else, but yourself. Yeah. That, that was probably the most difficult part. Interesting. And we actually were able to really accommodate, um, and make a wonderful event. Um, I w I would say that was one of the biggest challenges.

[00:05:43] Cause honestly for me, like, and you know, like I would be down just to, you know, go to a private beach somewhere. Like I don't need anybody to be there. Right. You know, but it was a special day for her. That was one challenge that I will admit to is, um, you know, challenging myself to just cause I don't think something is important. Doesn't make it important. Sure. Or it doesn't mean that it's not important. So there was one thing that I did apologize to my fiance at the time that I kind of didn't

[00:06:11] put a stamp of importance on like I should have. I owned up to that. Um, and everything was all good. Like she wasn't even upset, but it's just, it's really important to in a relationship own your mistakes. So then your partner knows that you're trying to be a better person and trying to grow and that you're willing to be accountable. Um, so some of the little, instead of 90 day fiance is two week fiance, like rapid movement, baby. Pretty quick. Yeah.

[00:06:41] Pretty quick. I know like a couple people like, Hey, how's art doing? You know, that maybe we don't keep in close contact with her. I'm like, Oh, he's married now. Like, Oh wow. I didn't even know he was engaged. We need to get engaged. I'm like two weeks ago. They're like, huh? Yeah. They're like, Whoa, that was fast. This man's moving with purpose. Yes. Yes. And you got it in, but you know, right in the nick of time, of course, there were some other outlying factors that went into that decision that we don't have to get into, but my, my only regret now is that I didn't marry my girl a year ago, but I didn't know her. I was going to say you would just be only just met her a year ago.

[00:07:08] But that's, that's my only regret now, now that it's all done thinking back hindsight, I wish I would have just married her sooner. Yeah. But you know what? It wasn't the timing's everything. No, but like, honestly, like that's my, my only regret is I just wish I did it sooner, but it would, that's how the universe works. Obviously. Yeah. Obviously. And I think it's silly to marry somebody if you haven't lived with them for like a year. So at that point it was like, maybe she would, yeah, we were barely living together, but yeah, crazy times.

[00:07:38] I don't want to air out too much of my personal and relationship stuff on here. I get it. You know, but it was so fun and thank you everybody that celebrated the love that I found in my life. And it's, it's such a beautiful thing to actually be in a healthy relationship. And I'll say it here too, a little bit more traditional, you know, she depends on me to, to hold the masculine roles. And since I'm talking about that, I will say that I do the dishes in a masculine way.

[00:08:07] I do the laundry in a masculine way. I take care of business without ever asking if it needs to be taken care of because I know what needs to get done. And by doing that, I've given her a safe place that she could depend on me and she could trust my decision making skills. So then she can let down her pretty hair, relax and focus on what she needs to focus on in her life. I feel like if you really want to be the man in the relationship, then you have to be a

[00:08:33] true provider and, and like make a very comfortable place and, and have her respect your decisions. Like, because you do make good decisions and you don't need to ask all the time what needs to happen because you know what needs to happen. Yeah. I think that's, there's nothing wrong with that. And there's nothing, I don't even, we can say that traditional per se. I just, I think when we, when we go back, you know, I know we've touched on like masculine and feminine energy before and the importance of that, that doesn't necessarily put in like feminine energy means she does the dishes, does all the cooking, does all the cleaning.

[00:09:03] That's why I wanted to mention that. And I think that's a good point to bring up because feminine energy as, as we've learned to understand is, is, you know, opening up to receive love, nurturing, warmth, caring, you know, the, the nest egg, if you will, you know, given that safe place for the masculine energy to lie. The masculine energy of course is breaking down barriers, overcoming obstacles, having confident solutions, never moved from the center, immovable mountain, you know, own it, full send, all those kinds of things.

[00:09:30] People we've learned in our market research, when we have conversations like this with people, they can get very uncomfortable and I'm not, I guess I can kind of understand why, but I think normalizing these conversations are a good thing. You know, Mark Zuckerberg came out a couple of weeks ago and said that we need to bring back more masculine energy into companies and social media presences and things like that. And I don't disagree with that. I don't disagree with that at all. You know, there's a lot going on in the country right now. There's a lot of, you know, polarization and people are very upset and there's a lot of things

[00:09:57] that are shifting around, but I'm okay with a sense of a little bit of more traditionalism making a comeback. Mm hmm. If that makes sense. You know, it can, but in order for it to work the right way, you actually have to have people, men and women that hold themselves accountable and are actually honest about their shortcomings.

[00:10:19] If people are not taking accountability, they're blaming society or whoever for all of their problems. I don't care like what gender or anything like that, what you identify, like who I don't care. But if you're not holding yourself accountable and like actually acknowledging what is happening in your life, then, you know, to have those kind of strong values like is it's far and few between.

[00:10:49] And maybe that's why people get a little bit uncomfortable when these type of, you know, masculine, feminine energy, there's, there's a lot of misconception with that and judgment. Yeah. And, and it's like, Oh, just cause I'm masculine doesn't make me misogynistic. Correct. You know, or a womanizer. I actually like take the burden off of my girl. And like, I do my best to make her life more peaceful. So it's like people misconceive this thing.

[00:11:18] And I think that's why it's an uncomfortable conversation. Even, even my wife now she's even brought up stuff like this. Oh, like, Oh, that was a very masculine woman. And she will, she's noticed that like people start to get a little uncomfortable if she says stuff like that. So it is interesting that this type of conversation sparks so much on uncomfortability. Yeah. When really we're just breaking down some, some basic psychology and human behavior more than putting people in a box, because I also like to reiterate this, you know, I've

[00:11:48] always supported like women in racing, right? I'm a huge supporter of that. And that can be confusing going off what we're saying here to people, but that means they're not listening to what I'm saying. You know, you can have a female in a masculine world, racing considered masculine. You can have females as CEOs of companies. Nobody's saying that, right? I'm, I'm equal across the board. You know, I'm a feminist. In fact, I root for women to succeed. That's not what we're saying here, you know, because the barriers are still the same. You could have, like, as we talked about an alpha female, right? Or a masculine female, if you will.

[00:12:17] And maybe she has a feminine husband who's, who's straight feminine male, right? That can still work. The point is, you have to have the balance on the scale, right? If you tip the scale too far one way, you don't have the balance. Now all of a sudden it's too heavy on one side. Yeah. Or like you look at it like a battery, like you need the positive and the negative, like the polarization. So yeah, what you're saying is like, you know, if you have two people that want to be the decision makers and they both want to be in control and like this and that kind of

[00:12:45] stuff like, and it's interesting, like the whole being in control thing, because like I always have a plan. I actually always have three plans and I'm ready to make the decision and I'm ready to act on it. So my girl doesn't have to think about where we're going to go to dinner. She doesn't have to be thinking about stuff, but on the, if she wants to go do anything, all she has to say is say it. And then I'll, I'll be open to doing that. So it's like, there's this misconception of like, okay, because I want to be the decision

[00:13:12] maker that I make all the plans and that she has to listen to what I say. That's, that's a misconception, you know, just cause you're the decision maker doesn't mean that you don't listen and value your partner's input. Obviously if you're getting to the level of like marriage or proposal, like you should have a level of respect for this person. And one other thing, just cause I don't want to forget about it is, um, like my girl can go out with her friends, her guy friends and go to shows.

[00:13:41] She can, she's even traveled out of state with guy friends, uh, and went to another state for like a week without me. She can like, she has the complete freedom in the relationship with me to be her own individual. It has to happen. And she, she can go do whatever she wants. Like I will never tell her like, no, I don't want you going. I don't want you drinking. Like if she wants to go to the club, she'd go to the club. And that is something that I feel like women and women.

[00:14:08] And men could work on is having more security within their relationship and like, and like trusting your partner to be themselves. I would agree with that. That and that's, that's like a whole, it's, this could turn this whole podcast could be just about this topic, but you know, I'll sum it up with a very important quote that we're all familiar with. And that is that you must love in such a way that the person you love feels free. Right. Which is exactly what you're saying. Freedom to go do the things they want to do without questions or being asked.

[00:14:35] Now there is times where it's like, well, maybe I wanted to be included in that. Right. I faced that in previous relationships where I wasn't the best at that. I'm like, well, I, you know, I got to go do this for a podcast. I got to go do that for my own personal needs or whatever. And then maybe, you know, my, my partner at the time was like, well, I don't feel included in that. So there's always going to be a time and a place for those kinds of things. And things need to be separate. Things need to be separate, but also things could be done together as well. So I think finding that balance of what you guys do together versus what you guys do separately.

[00:15:03] I mean, those are like, you know, huge keys to success, I think. Yeah. And everyone is so unique that one method doesn't just work for everyone. It's true. However, certain principles apply everywhere. Key bulletin points. You know, so it's, it's interesting how to be successful in a relationship. My greatest advice there is first find how to be successful alone.

[00:15:31] You got to start there and how to have enjoy like where you're loving life all by yourself. Like that, that's where I was when this all started. Like I have like, and I still do. I just have like this love for life. And that's also because I, of my journey and coming out of the darkness. Like I have, I'm looking through that lens, but until, until you actually have that self love, like you shouldn't even be considering being in a relationship.

[00:15:59] You know, I think that, that point can't be underlined bold and italicized enough because, you know, we've seen the propaganda propaganda propaganda propaganda propaganda. Whoa. Whoa. The propagandizing of, um, you know, these love shows and, you know, put 10 women in a house. Somebody tries to find a wife, all, all these programs and all these dating apps and all this

[00:16:25] shit on social media have completely corrupted people as to what they think they need or want. And they're not looking within. I know we've covered this many times on DCPC, but these solos, we have an opportunity to kind of get really dive into this. And I think it's good to reiterate that point. You know, I read a quote the other day. It was Mr. Bean, one of my favorite Roman Atkinson. Remember the 90s? He's awesome. They're like, until you found that level of happiness when you're alone. Remember Mr. Bean was just always having a good time on his own. Yeah. Just out there getting it right. Even when it was shitty. Even when it was shitty. He was fine. Yeah.

[00:16:54] You know, the little moments to be excited about. Yeah, he was still having fun. And I think that unfortunately, definitely an American problem for sure. And really around the world. Everyone wants love, of course, and companionship. But they rush into these codependent relationships because they don't want to be alone or they're feeling like they're missing out. That they don't have time to grow and learn who they are. Yeah. And be their best selves for the relationship. They're just doing, they're doing a chameleon. They're just trying to be, hey, I'll be whatever you need me to be. And this is why cheating happens down the road. This is why drug and alcohol problems start to surface in the relationship. I'm no expert.

[00:17:24] I've just been sitting around for 36 years and observing my surroundings. Or you get into a relationship because of the financial benefits. That's what I'm saying, codependency. Yeah. Because look, it's hard to get out there alone and to afford everything on your own. That's one of the worst reasons to get together though. It is, but people are doing that. Right. But going back to your original point that I'm agreeing with, that's not finding yourself and being your best self. Right.

[00:17:52] You're just kind of, oh, well, this is an opportunity. Where's the easy button? Where's the easy button? Yeah. Here's this financial opportunity. Maybe not, you know, maybe I'm not really into this person as that much, but they have something that they can give me financial gain for. How is that going to be a successful relationship? It's not. It's not. And here's the thing is like, and I hate to say this, but some, probably the majority of people won't have the level of acceptance and neutrality to actually sit there and admit where they are fucking up.

[00:18:23] I feel like the majority of people aren't going to do that. The heavy majority. And that's so like, it's just like, and they're the ones telling people how to do things. I don't like it. I don't know, man. Well, what do I always say? People will do more to avoid pain than they will to gain pleasure. And that goes for so many things, leaving relationships, changing jobs, moving to different places, taking risks. All that seems scary. Right. So let me just stay here on complacent Boulevard in this 12 year marriage that we both cheating on each other, run happy, whatever.

[00:18:53] Right. People are, well, that's just going to be the easy way. Well, I'll just wait till the kids are out of the house or if I just do this, or once I get to this milestone. Yeah. You know, you've been saying a lot. People always say, thank God it's Friday, just working for the weekend. Well, thank God it's today. Right. I've really been trying to adopt that a little bit because every day is an opportunity. Well, look, the sun came up. The sun came up. Like just, just cause like corporations like made this work week fucking like who, whose rules are you living by?

[00:19:22] It's, it's social conditioning. Like that's, that's where my head's at is I'm like, I'm like, okay, if I'm working and I'm, you know, earning my paycheck or if it's the weekend and I'm staying productive because guess what? It's a new day. It doesn't matter what day it is. It's a new day. It is. When you look at, when you zoom out and look at it from a life perspective, but who's kidding? There's been plenty of Fridays when you and I close the laptops and we go like fuck yeah. It's the weekend. So I get it. I get it. People just like everybody else. Right. We're, we're in the rat race too.

[00:19:48] But if you try, if you try to challenge your thought process on things and try to change how you're looking at stuff, it does. So one, uh, I've been listening to motivational stuff in the mornings when I do my workouts. And so I, I came across one new nugget that I've never heard before. And I kind of put it in the group chat yesterday, four hours being three days. Yeah. I like it. And so this is the point is like when they came up with the 24 hour day, that was like fax machines, like way B that was like caveman shit.

[00:20:15] That was like, you know, they were riding horses and buggies. Like, and if you wanted to send a message, like it might take three weeks to send a message. And that's when they came up with the day, that's our day. But this guy's over here talking about like, nah, I look like with the technology that we have, like, why haven't we changed the way that we view one day? So he's like, when I wake up that first six hours is like my first day from like, you know, 6am to noon.

[00:20:41] And then my, my second day is like, is like noon to 6pm. And then my last day is like six to 10 or whatever. And then he's sleeping. So he, he like changed his thought process to think that there's three days in every single day. So 21 days in a week. Yep. 21 days in a week. And so like how he's thinking about it is if I just go into these six hours and treat it like a whole day, like how much can I actually get done? That's another thing.

[00:21:08] Like when we were wedding planning and doing all this stuff, like we accomplished so much and so little of time. Like you actually can be a high functioning, correct decision making, decisive motherfucker. Right. If you really want to be. And so like, I don't know, man, I want to adopt this like six hour day shit. Yeah. And like, what kind of, what can I do with these days? And then how does that add up?

[00:21:34] Because if I'm having three days for every one day that that complacent person's having, then imagine like the amount of growth in like a one month. Cause I'm like having three times the amount of productivity, you know, it's just that mentality. So that was a new one that I heard. I like that. And I was like, I was like, that's interesting. I've never had that perspective. That's a good one to start, you know, looking at in the toolbox a little bit and, you know, getting stuff done. You were essentially working on a deadline. Like you had to get X, Y, and Z done before a certain date that you had in mind.

[00:22:02] For me, I work pretty well with deadlines. You know, when I know I have X amount, because I think deadlines teach people number one, how to be, manage their time, how to plan, pre-plan your business to get, get to the finish line. Here's my goal. How am I going to get there? Right. Some people I think probably feel a little bit of pressure by deadlines. I don't know. But I think if you combine what you're saying with the, you know, three days in a single day and the deadline mentality, you can really maximize time management and maintain your day-to-day operations.

[00:22:32] Like my 10-minute rule that I talk about, you know, doing that. Do the 10-minute rule every day so you don't have to spend three hours doing it on Saturday. Now you've freed up one of your days on Saturday. Right? And you've met your deadline of getting whatever needed to be done by Friday. So, yeah, all that makes sense to me. And it's just good stuff to think about. When he was talking about like his day three and the 24-hour day, like basically your normal evening, like that day he's relaxing. That's his one wine day. Yeah. So he's just kind of breaking it down like that.

[00:23:00] And it's crazy because I've had some super productive mornings where I'm like, you know, getting up like early, working out. I got a shower and I got a read in. Like I already banged out some of my major projects for the day. And it's like 7.30 a.m. And like a lot of people are just getting up. So it's like if I could like keep on that kind of trajectory and like it's just it's building like this new level of confidence of it's like, okay, this sucks this day. I really enjoyed waking up early this day.

[00:23:30] Like it's not always fun. Sometimes it is. But like just sticking to it. And like regardless if I don't want to. I don't know, man. It's a twenty twenty five is going to be a breakout year. It certainly is. This is going to be the year. I know it is. There can be so many great things that happen. And you're you're getting up early has been rubbing off on me. I know you've been noticing my morning salutes. I've been getting up not quite when you are, but significantly earlier. I'm like that five forty five range now. Yeah. Which is about an hour before I you're like meditating with that time. Right.

[00:23:58] I do a lot of positive affirmations in the morning, which I guess is meditation. Yeah. It's like it's like a level of I would say. Yeah. Because I really I get into it for a good at least twenty five to thirty five minutes. I'll do affirmations in the morning. Sometimes I do them out loud. Sometimes I do them and you know, my head do some breathing exercises. And I'm basically what I'm doing is I'm pre planning the day and I'm affirming to myself that it's going to be a great day. Yeah. We're going to handle whatever comes our way and any obstacle I will overcome. I'm going to remain alcohol free. All those kind of things. Oh, those are good. Yeah, all those are good. It's a great way to start your day.

[00:24:28] I feel like, you know, you spend that thirty minutes. So that's what I've been doing. You know, maybe get up, make some breakfast and then get out on the road. Yeah. No, I like it, man. And I'm saying goodbye to another older version of Arthur, you know, like I probably was a commitment foe, probably for the right reason. I've been doing some of the reasons in the past, but I'm now full send committed. I have a great new grand opportunity for the day gig. I'm changing like how I wake up in the mornings. It's Arthur 8.0 in this motherfucker right now.

[00:24:58] And then shit in February next month, we celebrate six years of doing discussion combustion. And then I'm also going to celebrate four years off of fucking opiates. So like it's big anniversaries coming up. It's a big year. It's going to be a big year. You're mash the gas has so much momentum behind that. So much pressure on that. You should share some of that. Well, yeah, I mean, we're here. Right. There's been a lot going on in the offseason. Of course, NASCAR sky joining us is huge. That's so exciting. Anyone that doesn't follow her. She's at NASCAR sky.

[00:25:27] She's just incredible. The energy she's going to bring to the show. You know, Jeff Davis and I have been doing this program four years. We're going into year five. We're bringing her on board. The dynamic is going to change a bit. The look of it's changed a little bit. The sound is going to change a bit. But, you know, we're still going to bring great content. It's still going to be in that 30 to 40 minute episode range. And we really just want to keep it as real as we can, but also keep it as dialed to, you know, NASCAR as possible. That's why we're getting, you know, turning some heads and people are interested in our commentary around the sport.

[00:25:54] And so I think with the three dynamic hosts that we have, it's, it's, it's really going to go well, I think. Yeah. So you're sitting over here, you're waking up earlier, you're, you're doing your, your, your gig, you're, you're staying active socially, and then you're recording discussion, combustion, happy Friday, America mash the gas podcast. Yeah, I'm busy. Like, okay. So it's like a lot of people are like, I don't, I don't need to do all that. What, what would you say?

[00:26:24] What would you say is like the biggest benefit that you've received from seeing this kind of work ethic come out of yourself? Like, have you had a perspective on it? Like, holy shit. Well, that's a good question. You know, you just mentioned six years with discussion combustion for a while. That was my only show, our only show, you know, happy Friday. We didn't come around until 2022. Um, so we spent three years just focusing all our energy on one show mash the gas course launched in 2021. Um, and that was, you know, like a side project at the time. We didn't know what it was yet.

[00:26:53] Just like we didn't know with this show. And so I think I've learned as I've gone with each show and, and just number one, going back to time management, to be able to do three shows a week, upload social media and maintain and write content. You have to be able to manage your time. Yeah. Big time. You know, you know how many times, I mean, just being honest that I just want to come home and not do any of it. Most times. Most. Well, a lot of the time. Okay. Yeah. I don't know about sometimes I'll say sometimes like, Hey, yeah. I don't want to wake up early every morning either. Yeah. So it's kind of something like that.

[00:27:22] And Mondays, you know, with massive gas being Monday nights, that's, that's a quick turnaround coming out of the weekend. That is fast. Mondays are humdingers. You got the race on Sunday, mash the gas Monday night has to drop, pass drop Monday night has to be timestamped. I get Tuesday to recoup. We do this Wednesday, Thursday, boom. So, you know, my lifestyle though is pretty, is a little bit more laid back than most. Right. I don't have kids. I'm not married. Yeah. I can manage my time. But you're just as busy. Like here's the thing too. Like, and I could, I don't know if we, I should even get into all that. Yeah. I don't know if I want to get into all that. What's that?

[00:27:52] Just like how, when you have a family and kids and like dogs and all this stuff, then all of a sudden, like you get like a free pass to live life. And if you're just some single person and I'm talking about more like professional careers, like if you're, you have like a whole family, Oh yeah, I need to go do this for the kids. Oh yeah. No problem. But then if you're just a single person. Oh, you mean like they get passes at work? Yeah. Kind of.

[00:28:20] I don't know if that's always true. So that's, that's why I don't want to get too deep into that. But I feel like, you know, there's like, like there's different expectations, which I don't agree with for people who don't have kids and like people who do have kids. I feel like I don't, I don't know where, I don't know where I'm going with that, but there's like something. I know what you mean. Yeah. It's a slippery slope. And I think I'll say the same thing that I've said to other people in regards to like, Oh, well, why is this person getting that pass?

[00:28:49] Or why do they make more, you know, control we can control. Yeah. Right. I mean, yeah, who cares what people are doing? What other people's lives are is their business until it like directly affects mine. You know, and look, it's easy to, you know, throw mud and go, Oh, look at this and that and the other. I get it. But you know, control, we can control at the end of the day, you know, you got your gig. I got mine. That's what we're in control of. The rest is just noise. That's how I try to look at it as Tom Brady always taught me. Yeah. Ignore the noise and do your job.

[00:29:17] And just, just stay productive. Like, honestly, it's not that hard to outwork people. No, it's not. Like really, if you just like when you want to quit, if you just did one more thing. Right. Like you're probably going to outwork a lot of people. Well, it's kind of like my 10 minute rule, just doing that. Mm-hmm. You know, I don't want to do the 10 minute rule, but it changes your whole evening. Yeah. And then all of a sudden you're like feeling good about like not being lazy and procrastinating your house chores. And there's a time and a place to be lazy, right? It is important.

[00:29:47] When you work as hard as we do, and a lot of you out there, you know, around the world, you need, you need unwind days, you need crash days. Yes. Sleep in, you know, snuggle up with someone you like and care about. All that's important, right? It is. That's part of the R&D or the R&R, I guess. What are they? Rest and recovery. Rest and recovery. R&D is research and development. We'll get into that on Mash the Gas Monday night. Um, you know, so balancing all that, working hard, playing hard, resting hard. Yeah. Within your three days with, there it is. There's your three days. Work hard, play hard, rest hard.

[00:30:17] Yep. Yep. It's, it's wild, man. So I'm finishing day two today. Yeah. We're wrapping up day two. I'm getting ready to start day three. Coming into day three. So who knows where that kind of mentality, it's just like the five second rule that I heard, uh, listen to motivational shit too. Five second rules big. Yeah. Like you start making you take your action immediately, just like the hero of the week tomorrow and happy Friday taking immediate action. You know, it's stuff like that. And it's just so important. We're already 30 minutes into this solo. Is it really?

[00:30:45] You, you and I could easily, we can easily just keep chopping. I love it. As long as we want. This is why I got into this industry for, first of all, these kinds of like these were how you and I used to do it, you know, back in the day, this is where I fell in love with podcasting, but this show has changed so much with the, with the guest dynamic and the, you know, it's important to be at the people's podcast. But you know, being that we had a guest cancellation tonight, look, things happen. It wasn't even a cancellation. It was, it was a ghosting. It was a no show. It was an, it was a no call, no show. Yeah. And you know what?

[00:31:14] You only get one strike. If you ever do that and we invite you one strike policy. Yeah. And since we're on the, on the topic, we'll go ahead and just bash the person a little bit more. I had a 20 minute conference call with this individual earlier this month, planning out the show, going over some of the format, what it was going to be like, what to expect, how it was going to roll. They were over picking this shit. And then, and then went ghost on us. So can't take that too personal. No, it's okay. It's part of this industry. Podcasting is not for everybody. It's not for everybody. It's okay. And, and people get cold feet.

[00:31:41] I just, you know, I have so much respect when someone can call me up and go, Hey, you know, Mr. Badstone, I've done my research. I really don't feel like this is the best fit for me. I really appreciate you taking time and giving this opportunity, but I'm going to respectfully decline the opportunity to be on the program. Well, it's exactly what we were just talking about. People don't want to take accountability and own it. They don't want to just own it and say no. It's unfortunate though. It's unfortunate, but like your life will change when you start telling people no. Yeah. And the respectful way, like you create your own, your own boundaries. People respect that.

[00:32:11] You have to, man, you have to in this life or you're going to get taken advantage of and you're going to end up in scenarios that you don't want to be in. And I'll quote Jade. I am here a guest that we've had on the show twice. She's fantastic. She goes, if it's not a hell. Yeah. Then it's a no. Yeah. I like that. If it's not a hell. Yeah. It's a no. I like don't do shit just to do it. Do it because you want to do it. Yeah. Surround yourself with the people you want to surround yourself with, you know, engage yourself in the business opportunities you want to, you know, sometimes you have to do some business opportunities you don't want to do, but for the most part, controlling what you control. Right. And then everything will flock together like birds of a feather.

[00:32:41] Hey. And if, and if you're radiating that positive energy and you're giving it back to the world selflessly, then it comes back around, man. And this life is actually a beautiful existence and it's beautiful right now. This it's beautiful right now. And that's, let's not get all caught up in, and what's happening and what could be happening. Like actually just get present and like start enjoying living right now.

[00:33:10] Cause nothing else matters other than this moment. I agree. So the, the more you can do that and just, you can, it's freeing. It's just like being honest. Like when you're being honest all the time, you don't have to remember anything that you say. You always say the same shit. And then, and then you're being authentic and real. If you're just living in the present, then you forget about all this. It's like you break all these chains of like, Oh, the past was so difficult or the future is so, um, you know, nerve wracking.

[00:33:39] Like, I don't know what's going to happen. You don't need to know what's happening right now. Yeah. It's going on. That's a good, that's a good point, Art. Yeah. I mean, you know, we always have something on the calendar coming up that we have to plan for, as we just alluded to with your wedding. There's things in life that, you know, you do have to look into the future. We do look into the past when we reminisce. That's always fun. I love reminiscing. Right. But not getting too caught up on all I should have, I could have, if this, you know, poor me. Get rid of that nonsense. Get the positives. Let's focus on where we're at. Let's focus on what's happening right now. I've had to really remind myself of that a lot.

[00:34:08] And that's why I always tell people, I'm just trying to get through today, through tomorrow. Yeah. And then the opportunities will continue to present themselves. It's a balance. I mean, even what you're saying, like, yeah, it is important to reflect and have fun times. So like everything that we're saying here, like, I feel like there is a fine line and there is a balance and everybody has their own balance and it's up to you to be real with yourself. Are you actually enjoying your walk on the tightrope?

[00:34:36] Are you actually enjoying it or not? And if you're not enjoying it, then what are you doing to change your life? And you've taken the bulls by the horn. It's been awesome to see you grow and change. I know I've grown and changed as a man, too, since we've known each other, brother. So we've been through a lot. It's been a hell of a ride. Fucking A, man. I wouldn't change a thing. Yeah. Me neither. There's been some dark times. There's been some amazing times and there's going to be more amazing times. We're stepping into the best years of our lives right now.

[00:35:05] No, I'm already in the best years. You're in it. We're right. It's an upward trajectory, you know, like Bitcoin is going to do here in 2025 and beyond. We're going to ride that thing like a damn rocket ship. Okay? There's going to be some hiccups, of course, just like you would see on a stock chart. That's life. That's life. And we can handle any obstacle that comes our way. So what do you think is the challenge of the week for the viewers and listeners? I would say the challenge of the week is for you to do the difficult thing that you keep putting off.

[00:35:34] And that's a big challenge. And like that could be as simple as like, you know, you've been putting off cleaning your bathroom or you've been putting off calling your dad or like you've been putting off whatever. Yeah. Like just whatever that one thing that keeps irking you, it like keeps coming up. Like you can't get rid of it. Just fucking attack that. I'm trying to think that what that even is for me. I feel like I'm pretty caught up on everything. I'm sure there's something I'm putting off. You got to attack it. I'll get back to you.

[00:36:03] I mean, look for me, it's like keeping Arthur 8.0 going. Like that's not going to be easy for me. I'm like in some changes right now where I fundamentally want to kind of change how I handle life. And like, especially finances. Like I know that's a weakness area and also diet. Like I can really improve in both of those areas. I'm doing okay, but I know I could be doing a lot better. And I've been kind of running from it, not learning at all.

[00:36:31] So like there's some areas that I can improve for sure. That's controlling what you can control. Right. That's not being an overweight person that's suing lift for something. You know, that's not someone that's bitch moaning and complaining about President Trump about something. A lot of that we can't control. Right. What can we control? Like that's the stuff we've got to be focusing on. Yeah. You know, control what we can control. I understand that there's things that happen with law and order that can affect people's lives. But there's always an opportunity around every corner whether it's good or bad. Yeah. And that's, I just try to look at that everything is an opportunity.

[00:36:59] It's not always going to be a good opportunity, but it's an opportunity. Opportunity for growth. Opportunity for growth. Opportunity to learn, you know, learn something. Right. Choose to do something. Do something. Yeah. You got to full send something. You can't half send nothing. I don't know what the hell that means, but I've said it for like the last two weeks now. It's fun. And it's all about having fun, man. You can't take, life is serious. You can't take it all seriously all the time. No, you can't. You know, you got to have some fun with this shit and like, you know, be light with yourself.

[00:37:28] You got to give yourself a break. You got to enjoy it, man. Just be stupid sometimes. It goes by so quick. It goes by so quick. So to just sit around and do nothing. Like you're wasting time, man. Yeah. You're missing out on the opportunities out there. Yeah. Every day that you're sitting around doing nothing. I had three days of productivity. Think about that. Boom. It's a big statement. Boom. You just lapping motherfuckers. Come on, let's get it. Everyone's capable of owning it full send it at any moment. I'm going to be a fantastic year. It really already has been.

[00:37:57] We're one month in and look at all the great things that we've already cataloged in moments, memories and experiences that have occurred. So I'm very fortunate to be here, to have the friends I have, to have the opportunities I have, to talk to the amazing people I get to talk to, the employment that I have. You know, that's part of my morning affirmations is just realizing what I currently have. Being grateful because I have it pretty damn good, my friend. Yeah. I'm very blessed. I'm very fortunate. And I won't forget that. Yeah. So important to be grateful. I'm grateful for this show, our friendship, of course.

[00:38:27] I'm not going to go down my list, but I'm definitely grateful for everybody tuning in and everyone that supports Kevin and I over here and tunes into mash the gas and all the support. It's been so momentous. Like even just if like I'll post stuff on Instagram, I had a guy who's like, man, I needed to hear this today. You know, that kind of stuff means a lot.

[00:38:48] So like if you are feeling the motivation to share your mess with the world and share your message with the world, then you can probably help somebody too. And nothing feels greater than being authentic while also helping people, man. So like that's how I'll close out one 284. 284. 284. Solo slammer. It's a good feeling, man. You know? Another one in the books. I'm glad we were able to do it. The coin said yes. Yes.

[00:39:18] That's something fun you could do. You know, you could flip a coin on a decision you want to make, you know? Yep. Heads is go. Heads is always go. Tails is no. Unless you're flipping on like, are we getting pizza or wings? Yeah. You know, then you allocate one there. Best two out of three. Best two out of three. Best three. The coin flip can add so much fun. Simple things, guys. It's so fun. On a Friday night, if you're just like looking to spice things up and surprise someone, be like, we're going to flip a coin on what we're doing tonight. And they're going to be like, what? Uh-huh. Uh-huh. But you have to trust the coin. You got to go with what the coin says. Yeah. If you like flip the coin and then do the opposite, like- What was the point?

[00:39:48] Yeah. What was the point? Yeah. Where do you draw the line in the scene? Yeah. You got to walk the walk if you're going to talk the talk. You got a full send on it every fucking day. Yeah. And good luck with that. Good luck. Everybody out there, thank you so much for tuning in. Be good to yourselves. You deserve it.