We Pick an Inspirational Quote and Explain Why It's Important in Our Life (and why it should be in yours too)

Ethan joins again to discuss quotes that mean something to us.

Getting out of your growth zone, why who you hang out with also dictates who you are, why you must reassess constantly.

Why you should always do it scared.

We discuss Jeff Bridges and The Dude - and Ethan's quote comes from Jeff himself. And Ethan associates with teaching his class and learning not to care what others think, to be yourself, and learn to be goofy and not care.

Cinefile? Or "seen-a-file"? The debate that kicks off the episode.

Episode Transcript:

[00:00:02] spk_1: Hey, my friends, Welcome to another episode of the Life Next Level podcast. I'm here with your host, co host Ethan. I'm jay and uh yeah, we have another episode coming at you Ethan is gonna kick this one off. So what do you got for us, my friend

[00:00:19] spk_0: coming at you live? Uh It's probably recorded, it sounds like

[00:00:24] spk_1: there's like, it sounds like there's like a storm or something coming at you live from

[00:00:27] spk_0: uh we're out in the our location here at my uh uh yeah, no, we wanted to talk about a good quote, something that we felt kind of gave us some inspiration, right? I have one that I'm pretty excited about. I love to, I got to preface it with that. I gotta be honest. I have a new term that I can call myself, but I'm a senior file. I love movies man. I'm like,

[00:00:56] spk_1: is it seen a filers that cinephile

[00:00:58] spk_0: seeing a file? I'm pretty sure. I don't think it's cinephile. I feel like, I feel like it's really cinema,

[00:01:03] spk_1: think cinema and then sent a file,

[00:01:06] spk_0: right? But like, but say it french like and then and then you get seen file, you know, are you

[00:01:15] spk_1: recording from France right

[00:01:17] spk_0: now? Exactly, french fries everywhere. Uh

[00:01:24] spk_1: No, I have to know if it's I always thought it was cinephile, I'm not even going to look it up this episode. They're going to be people that are listening that are like you well, one of us is a dumb ass. Yeah,

[00:01:35] spk_0: I'm gonna root myself in that. I've chosen that no matter how people say it, I say it how I want because it's okay, it's my uh Yeah, yeah, but no, I'm open to correction, whatever it is. I love movies though honestly. And uh I was watching this, I was watching this uh interview with Jeff Bridges, you know the dude uh and dude right, it was cool to talk about one thing that was cool. First of all, he was talking about how the big big Lebowski, all of the, all of the script is very like a lot of people think it's improved at different points, but he was saying that the whole script is like down to the t every like yeah, it's all really scripted, he was saying that they're just genius, genius writers, they know how to really

[00:02:23] spk_1: sorry, that's the Coen brothers honestly,

[00:02:27] spk_0: is it? I'm trying to I kind of forget now, I don't know whoever wrote it. Apparently they're very skilled when it comes to writing scripts.

[00:02:36] spk_1: Yeah, that's impressive. Jeff Bridges like is someone actually a lot of people in that movie probably, but Jeff Bridges for sure someone who can ad lib a pretty good scene I think

[00:02:46] spk_0: totally because john Goodman to Yeah, sure, exactly, so funny, so funny. He's hilarious when he's on SNL too uh Yeah, but but anyway, so so this, so this

[00:03:00] spk_1: so we're getting your quote

[00:03:02] spk_0: right?

[00:03:03] spk_1: So

[00:03:04] spk_0: the interview was super cool because he was talking about just different experiences acting and he was talking about an earlier role that he took on, like when he was more just getting into his acting career, and he was saying how he had been preparing for this role for a while, and then he got to the point where it was like right before they were going to start shooting and and it was maybe even the day of and he went to the director of the film and he was just like, man I you know, I don't think that I can do this, he was just saying that he didn't feel like he identified with the character well, and he was having trouble getting into the character and it was making me really nervous. And he was saying he told that he was telling the director that um he might need to find somebody else for the movie, and the he Jeff Bridges says that the director gave him the best advice that he heard. And I'm paraphrasing paraphrasing slightly, but the director said something to the effect of uh you're the guy uh to Jeff Bridges, so he was like you're the guy, whatever. And so, you know, you can make a gender neutral, you're the you're the whoever, but you're the person who is bringing this role to life. So like however you do, it is going to be what um what people see and and as long as you can as long as you can remember that then, that was like the thing that uh he was like oh okay and that's essentially what acting is. You know I mean you're you're bringing that character to life through how you would picture. They did things. And so it was just cool because he was basically saying that uh that that was some advice that helped him embody a bunch of other roles that he played and it just came down to two bringing himself to that role. And the director helped him to think of that. And I just I love that because I feel like that that gives like a bunch of credence or uh permission to a person to do something, just how you want to do it, you know what I mean?

[00:05:03] spk_1: Yeah. So so so if you had do you have an example that that is like that you have done something like that or?

[00:05:14] spk_0: Yeah, I think that we're even talking about this little before it's the perfect again. So when I teach fitness classes uh my a lot of my personality is rooted in just being high energy I think. Not just but that's that's my my that's my M. O. Is being pretty high energy and uh and I think that's why I like working out and I think that's why I like being with other people, you know working out. And so so when I teach class, when I'm when I'm usually I pair it with music that I like and when I am listening to music that I like, I started to dance around and whether it's good dancing or not, that puts me put me in his own, you know, and I'm just ready to have a good time. And so I've been able to identify when I teach a class when I do classes, where I kind of don't get into that vibe and I'm just kind of doing whatever. Uh it's just a totally different class. It feels like a totally different way. I'm always like, that didn't feel good at all and if I was just having fun and if I was like, yeah, but it's usually quantified by if I was dancing around a little bit uh that the class feels great, you know? And I feel like my I have a wealth, just a well of energy uh to to use and so uh but there's a lot of time it took me teaching a lot of classes and allowing myself to not be afraid to be goofy uh get to that point. And so I think that that's where I had to realize that I'm the guy, you know, whatever is going to come out is what, you know? Yeah, they'll come to see you if you be yourself. So

[00:06:56] spk_1: I for one, I just, I just have to back you up and like I remember when we were, when we were messing around with living next level and we're starting to do group classes, man, you were so amped up to do even your first group class? And I was like, wow, I'm like, it scares me a little bit to jump up in front of a group and new classes and you were just like so amped up and you are super high energy. But that's that's that's honestly just, it's just a part of you. That's awesome. Like I just, I think I can't imagine how people wouldn't be uh I just want to be coming back to that class when you're amped up. I don't know if you just, you just have a high amount of energy and it's great.

[00:07:34] spk_0: Yeah, yeah,

[00:07:36] spk_1: sometimes I just look at you and I'm like, man, I wish I had is amount of energy

[00:07:39] spk_0: like

[00:07:40] spk_1: down on the college, like my brain is fried. I can't, I can't.

[00:07:47] spk_0: But but yeah, that's that's that's mine, that's mine. It's, we're our own were the person, you know? Uh Yeah,

[00:07:56] spk_1: no, that's that's perfect because so I have one, it's honestly similar. Probably we're talking about the same episode. It's honestly similar. It's a little bit different though. Um So I was sent to china and essentially I had, so we had this department in this this big uh corporate America business and you know, I, I ran part of this part of this office and they're like, all right, so we need an office in china

[00:08:29] spk_0: like, okay, great,

[00:08:30] spk_1: how do we do it? They're like, well we're going to send you there for like three months? Oh, okay. What do I, what do I do? I had no idea like, so I'm so I'm like, do it. So I already have a team over there. Like do I, am I hiring, what's happening? Like figure it out, you know, what are you going to train them? Like I always say, I think it was actually like, it's like, What was 12 weeks? 10 weeks maybe? I don't remember the exact time frame book. It was, it was pretty epic either way. But, but so I went over there and I just put all these training on the weekends. I put training materials together on my own. Like I had, I had never been out of the country once, but I've never been out of the country by myself. Like I didn't know what the hell and uh yeah, so I just, I just put it together by myself and honestly told them till the day I was, I still talk to some of the people over there that I trained and helped to hire and stuff. Yeah, in fact, and one of them visited me when I was in Thailand yeah, it was really cool. Uh so it was super cool. But, but yeah, and I had the greatest time and they were the most awesome people man. They just wanted to make sure had a good time and um, There were struggles because I, I literally had to teach them from Square zero

[00:09:49] spk_0: you

[00:09:50] spk_1: know how to do because the hard part was was like how do they like I'm I'm managing programmers and like how do I teach someone who's not a programmer in and I'm not even kidding you. Like it took me and our our training program was a year then down to six months and down to three months and I have a treatment. We all had a base and I had to train people in china. They had no idea of our system even in in 10 weeks and I get them up and running and how are they going to associate with us. But anyway

[00:10:27] spk_0: there's like figured out

[00:10:28] spk_1: do your own way, you'll figure it out. And I did because I had to

[00:10:32] spk_0: yeah

[00:10:33] spk_1: but but I did you know I just accepted and I did it. So yeah so I guess that would be my example that

[00:10:38] spk_0: that's what did you feel happy with it too did you?

[00:10:41] spk_1: Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah by the time I left um you know I still train them after once I got back to America I was still train them at nights like twice a week and I would be very involved. But then part of the problem too was I had to interact them with how we did things and we had to partner people up and they couldn't speak on everything so they could take on portions. So it's like what portion do we have? How do we hand it off All this stuff so it was like I trained them and then I had to figure all that out by the time I left there I think like you know they were doing like 40 or 50% of our processing which was pretty

[00:11:15] spk_0: incredible. Yeah.

[00:11:17] spk_1: Yeah it was it was really good. I missed that, I missed a lot of that portion of what I was doing. It was fun. Yeah. Yeah it was really cool. But it also it also at the end of the day like I would I would say it was forced didn't do it. It was like figure it out, just make it work and at the end of the day like I was happy with it and I just was I don't know it was like one of the I'm still proud of that achievement. I still think like I'm not saying most people would have failed everything like I'm sure but but it was uh it definitely gave me the confidence to like I can do a lot of stuff

[00:11:48] spk_0: I was saying that seems like a good a good one for the memory of over just because even you know paying attention to all of the things that are a factor like you know that would be challenging in its own right but then going just to a different country that you haven't been to before and then spending 10 weeks is obviously not a long time, but it's also not the shortest time ever. Somewhere that you've never been to before and so that factoring all of that in and then still feeling successful uh in what you're doing. Yeah, I would totally hold that in my, in my belt. It's like I'm pretty proud of this, you know? So yeah, that's that's awesome man. I like that.

[00:12:31] spk_1: It was, it was a life altering experience band for

[00:12:33] spk_0: sure. Yeah,

[00:12:34] spk_1: it was good and I guess that's just uh just to say to anyone listening, like, you know, I could have easily backed out of it. It was, it was a scary thing to do. There was a lot riding on it. There was a lot of pressure. I was going to a new country for the first time. It was, but like I was excited to do it. I was um at that point I had, you know, I kind of been through a lot of growth personally and I just went for it and just like sink or swim I guess, you know, go for it and if I didn't, I would have regretted it to this day. But yeah,

[00:13:10] spk_0: that's awesome. That's awesome. What about you? Got bounced around in your head there.

[00:13:16] spk_1: I got a quote bouncing around in my head and I'm just, I'm just not going to lie to the audience. I have, I tried to read it right before the podcast and I screwed up my hand right? Like I can't even read my own handwriting man, we're talking about this, but like why is my handwriting so bad that I can't even read it half the

[00:13:31] spk_0: time? What you mean? I just air I'm not writing as much. It's not the good should have

[00:13:37] spk_1: it digitally.

[00:13:38] spk_0: Yeah. Makes it worse. So

[00:13:41] spk_1: All right. So yes, my quote is from frank clark and he says we find comfort among those who agree with us and growth among those who don't. And I'm a huge quote buff. I don't ever remember them verbatim and I only sometimes remember who said them, but a lot of them stick with me and I write a lot of them down. So I have my note pads and every time I see a quote I like I put it, I save it on my phone around my computer Or am I around? I read it on a note pad, you know, and this one stuck with me because it's if you've ever heard people talk about, I think there's a book about it. I know some famous people have talked about you are the five people you hang around with the with the most and I think that is incredibly true. It is also very, very sad sometimes I've made, you know, I'm still friends with a lot of people that I that I grew up with a lot of people in high school and stuff and uh but you know, at some point I realized as far as like close friends and stuff going some of them are my close friends do, I'm not saying that, but what I'm saying is that I've had, I've had a lot of friends through the years that, you know, we grow in different directions. I'm not who I was when I was in high school, I'm not who I was right after high school, like maybe when I met someone and that's not to say that we can't still be friends, but as far as like the closest people, um you know, I've had to make some hard decisions in that, in that, in that category, that like, hey, like why why are we still hanging out? Like we have nothing in common anymore. You know, we're hanging out because we hung out 10 years ago. it doesn't necessarily make friends and because you know, you and I we meet people every week, right? Like traveling around and going to different stuff. We meet people all the time. And I have, you know, uh have a couple of best friends that I've met in the past four years. And so I think as you grow up and discover yourself, it's important, you know, I'm not saying you have to cut people out of your life, but it's important to realize that that who you hang out with um also defines who you are and what in what you do in life it really can, and so I think like if you people with people that just if I was with the people that I was just comfortable partying with in high school, I would still just be comfortable sitting on the couch and watching netflix all night and I wouldn't be where I am today. Um so I think it's important to realize that and and to realize that the people you hang out with can make you comfortable with with the life you have, or they can also make you grow and so that's that's kind of part of why I love that.

[00:16:18] spk_0: Yeah, 100%. I think that one thing that yeah is really good to pay attention to is just that notion of reassessing stuff or redefining things and um that comes right in line with trying to step out of the comfort zone, you know? And so I think just that um even from the perspective of trying to, when, when, when one feels right, isn't it crazy how right one feels, you know, isn't that wild because I swear there have been so many times when I felt like I was just like yeah, I know exactly this thing and then I get one little piece of changing information that I'm like, oh got to stand at all, you know, like just oh, and so just having that disagreement or whatever, which is just referring to the process of thoughts being compared, you know, which is ultimately so good basically describing it Yeah. Be having the opportunity to uh to challenge what, you know, uh, is so important, you know, because they're just that everybody I grew up in a small town, smallish town. And I know just like, I feel like a ton of people who grew up in whatever myriad different small town who are aware of people and nothing against them at all, but just who probably stayed in that town and who probably seemed pretty similar to how they were when you knew them, which again, is totally whatever a person wants to do. Uh yeah,

[00:18:14] spk_1: I'm in that same boat. I grew up in a small town and there are people in that town that are the exact same as that and that's totally fine for them, but that's not fine for me.

[00:18:21] spk_0: Yeah. Yeah. And and it's just you then I feel like there's also that kind of tribe smaller tribe of people who also, you know, exodus out of the town and show them around. It's always so fun. But just for the, the notion, I guess, of you, I really like the city or an urban environment just because of how many minds are in that one space and with the mind are a lot of different ways of looking at life and that's what everybody is, you know, really like dealing with is just figuring out how to look at life. And so the more examples a person can have of that, the easier it is to dream up other ways or just do Yeah. You know, so I just that's like so important to challenge what, you know.

[00:19:16] spk_1: Yes, that's a that's a great way of looking at it. Um that and I was, but I did not, I did not get to that aspect of it. It's a really good point. I think that having friends that challenge you, it's hugely important. I think about you and I if we hadn't, what would like us starting living next level after we got out of personal, after we got an ASM or I don't know, you like, that changed my projection, like just starting, just starting a business, like from scratch. I had never done it before. You had never done it before. Um and just doing that was just so I opening Yeah. Um and and just to be able to push each other, like, even like right now, you and I are pushing each other, we're always bouncing ideas off of each other like that to me is very important and and to not uh to not have that in a friendship is fine. It's totally fine. But I'm again saying like that the closest people to you or maybe people you just hang out with, it's just important to have that. So yeah, sorry, everyone had a couple of technical difficulties, but we're back. So I'll try to join us together as good as I can, but you might have noticed a little bit of a glitch, but getting on with it. So what I, what I want to talk about that's important about, about the friendship angle is that you have your friends that can bring you down and you have your friends that can bring you up. Uh, we've all heard about even, uh, you know, like an NFL players, for example, that they can't get out of the crowd that they grew up with. So they just have all of the opportunity in the world, but they can't get out of this crowd and the crowd just drag them down, drags a lot of the NFL makes them broke, makes like a once promising career, nothing. Um, and in fact, it's off in the opposite and I'm not saying it's that bad. I have, uh, this would be a very harsh way to say it all, all of my friends that I talk to and engage with, they bring something to my life, but not all of them challenge me in ways that make my life better according to my plan, I'll put it that way. They all make my life better because I don't want to, I don't want to be little. Any of them, like everyone that I talked to him as a friend is great and they're there for a reason, but some of them challenged me, some of them are doing the things that I'm doing and I think that is ultimately very important as far as is who you talk to, uh, you know, uh, who you, who you keep very close to depending on what you want in life and I know it's a little bit harsh, but again, you are the five people that you hang out with the most, it's been studied, it's been done, I'll try, I'll find some links and stuff, but, and it's, it's because people push you and people get you out of your growth zone and they disagree with you um, to your point and then they have different, different angles to look at things and, and then your job is to understand their angle of looking things and tell them yours, and that's you dance around it and that makes, that makes uh, you a growing person, you're learning so much from them and they're learning so much from you and it brings me back to you, kind of, brought up the big city, uh, you know, living in a city and meeting so many people and talking about so much stuff and getting different perspectives on everything. And that was when I was in Thailand, it was amazing because it was, they had a digital nomad meetups there and a lot of digital nomads going to Chiang mai Thailand and that's where I was staying and I would meet up with them once every two weeks or something and they were all, you know, digital nomads, they were all business owners are starting businesses or they had done, they started a business and sold it or they have started businesses, didn't work now, we're starting another and it was so interesting talking to all of them and so I started going weekly and then as much as I could, I would meet up with these guys because they all had so much experience and it's just a very different thing to meet up with a bunch of people like that than just to go to happy hour to talk about old times, you know, and not that there's anything wrong with either, but, but I think it's very important to have those friends that make you grow as well, uh, you know, as the friends about old times, so, and maybe ideally it can be both right. But yeah, they're kind of my perspective on that.

[00:23:53] spk_0: Yeah, absolutely, Yeah. Um Yeah, yeah, I agree. I think it all, you know, a lot of it comes down to, um, yeah, I think just feeling free to two free to assess whether you're feeling like satiated in that creative sense enough, you know, like, I feel like creative and challenge can be, you know, almost used in the same vibe and so yeah, I think that, yeah, being able to even just check in with that, you know, and, and then seeing what doesn't feel like a jet whether it's friends or scenarios, you know, two were like places, whatever. Um, yeah, like it's nice to be able to have the little ways to check in and see if we don't that or feel that, you know?

[00:24:42] spk_1: Yeah, yeah, definitely. Um, by no means, you know, are we saying get rid of a year old? But um, it's just, it's something to think about it. It's interesting. Um, and then to your point, anything to, uh, you know, as far as like here, like getting other perspectives on things, one of the major parts of growing and is listening and understanding other people's perspectives as well and not just having your own, uh, you know, that, that comes down to empathy a lot as well in personal lives. But as far as business goes, like everybody's been through another scenario in business. I don't think that you, you know exactly what's, what's going on or whatever, right? Like they've all been through a different thing and they can all teach you things from, from their mistakes and their failures and their, their successes. They can all teach you something different. Even if you seem to be on the same path. They can teach you something different. So that's all, that's important.

[00:25:35] spk_0: Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

[00:25:40] spk_1: Yeah. Any final thoughts on

[00:25:41] spk_0: this? No, I don't think so, man. Yeah,

[00:25:47] spk_1: yeah, I agree. So. Perfect. Well, um, again, everyone, I hope you're having a great day. This has been a life next level podcast and we'll see you next time see you

[00:25:59] spk_0: to get.