SHAWN STEVENSON: All of the choices that we make in our lives when it comes to our exercise, our relationships, our choices with our financial well being and our careers. Everything that we do is based on our stories. The stories that we have about ourselves. That we have about the people around us and that we have about society at large. Our personal story is the container that holds our beliefs, our values, our ideas, our sense of purpose, our actions, our decisions, and our ultimate outcomes. So wouldn't it be incredibly valuable for us to understand our story. To craft a story that's going to lead to the future and the outcomes that we truly want.

So often we're trying to trim the branches. We're trying to Mr. Miyagi this thing instead of addressing the root of where our decisions come from. And at the root, it's really about our story. And today, I have the leading expert in the world on why connecting with your personal story is one of the simplest, and most powerful ways to transform any area of your life. From your relationships to your health to your success and more. And also going to talk about how to uncover the most important parts of your story and how to start writing the story of the future that you want. Starting today. Now, I guess today is a former top draft pick in the NFL. As a matter of fact, when I was a little kid, I played him as a character on a video game called Tecmobowl.

So needless to say. He was doing this thing as far as professional sports for a long, long time, long, long ago. And today he is still one of the fittest, most energetic people that I know. He is a powerful force when he walks into any room and he knows a thing. Or 20 about endurance. Now, of course, he eats well, he exercises, he does the foundational things that keep him at a high level of stamina and of endurance. But in our culture today, we often overlook one of the most time tested nutritional supplements, if you want to call it that, when used healthfully, that is clinically proven to support our endurance. And that time tested beverage is high quality coffee. A double blind, randomized, crossover study cited in the European Journal of Applied Physiology analyzed the impact that the caffeine in coffee had on cycling performance of study participants.

After compiling the data, they found consuming it increased time to exhaustion during exercise by 12 percent and significantly reduced subjective levels of fatigue in the participants. Another study published in aging clinical and experimental research, analyzing physical performance of elderly men found that, "Coffee consumption was independently associated with better physical performance reflected as a faster gait speed in older men". Now we've recently talked about the gait speed test and how it's affirmed as one of the most science backed fitness tests that can determine how long we're going to live. Now this test was on par with a plethora, a wide range of data inputs that can come from our blood work. For example, I'm putting up this fitness test against that was found to be equally as effective and again determining our longevity and this is because our gait speed is more than just the function of our muscles. And our bones is also our nervous system our proprioception the health of our brain our cardiovascular system. So much goes into the ability to walk and have a good gait speed.

And so keeping all of that in mind, we know that coffee can put a nice pep in our step. It's backed by science, but the key here is quality. And there's a clear bell shaped curve of benefits with a small to moderate amount of coffee being beneficial. But as with most things, if we overuse it, we get diminishing returns and it can actually be negative. This is why I'm such a fan of utilizing the benefits of high quality organic coffee, plus the combination of science backed medicinal mushrooms like lion's mane, like chaga, for supporting our immune system, our cognitive function. With lion's mane, for example, it's been affirmed by researchers at the University of Malaya to stimulate Neurogenesis, and also to be neuroprotective, so protecting the brain against damage as well.

So it's an incredible combination to have all in one beverage, a neuro nutritious beverage, organic coffee, and dual extracted lion's mane and chaga. And that's what I had today in the Think blend from Four Sigmatic. Go to foursigmatic.com/model. That's F O U R S I G M A T I C.com/model. And you're going to get 10 percent off plus access to some of their incredible bonuses that include all kinds of goodies like free frothers and deeper discounts. So head over there and check them out. I've been utilizing Four Sigmatic for years, probably about seven years now. I've been utilizing their incredible mushroom blends, their mushroom hot cocos. They're mushroom infused, coffee blends as well. And it's just a big part of my family's life. So really love those guys. Head over there, check them out, foursigmatic.com/model for 10 percent off plus access to additional bonuses. And now let's get to the Apple podcast review of the week.

ITUNES REVIEW: Another five star review titled "awesome podcast" by Ash wellness. I love listening to The Model Health Show. Shawn is very knowledgeable and gives great information and keeps it entertaining. He knows how to deliver information while making it interesting. I have learned a lot from this podcast. I highly recommend it.

SHAWN STEVENSON: That's what it's all about. Thank you so much for leaving that review over on Apple podcast. I truly do appreciate that. And if you've yet to do so, please pop over to Apple podcast or wherever you're listening and rate and review the model health show really does mean a lot. And without further ado, let's get to our special guest and topic of the day.

Bo Eason began his career in the NFL as a top draft pick for the Houston Oilers, continuing on with the San Francisco 49ers. During his five year career, Bo competed besides and against some of the greatest players of his generation. After a devastating injury ended his career, Bo sought out a new domain to build excellence in. To the surprise of those around him, it was acting and stage performance. In 2001, Bo wrote and starred in his one man play, runt of the Litter, which he performed on Broadway to rave reviews. The New York Times called it, "One of the most powerful plays in the last decade". Bo toured with the play in over 50 cities and it is now being adapted as a major motion picture.

Now in his third act, Bo is a national best selling author and he speaks to and trains some of the most successful people in the world. Athletes, artists, entrepreneurs, and more on how to communicate for maximum impact and success. Let's dive into this conversation with the one and only Bo Eason. My guy, Bo, it's good to see you.

BO EASON: Same. Thanks Shawn. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Most of us spend our lives trying to avoid obstacles. We create our lives around avoiding obstacles, but you say that we need more obstacles in our lives. If we want to create a life of real success, a life that we can truly enjoy. Let's talk about that. 

BO EASON: Yeah, let's talk about, well, just me driving here today. It's like a 20 minute drive for me to come to you, right? The whole time, 20 minutes, I am avoiding obstacles at all costs, right? Because if you don't on the LA freeways here, right, I'm going to run in, run into somebody, I'm avoiding obstacles. But in my working life, right, I know that nothing, there's a great quote. And I can't remember who said it, but it's very old. The world was not created by great men. The world was created by a demanding situation. And then a great man rose or a great woman rose because of that demanding situation. And they wouldn't have been a great man or a great woman had they not have to rise above something.

A demanding situation. So I think our job, which we've completely have gotten away from is to put ourselves in those demanding situations that are obstacle driven so that you can overcome something so that at least you achieve something or you, you have a story of achievement. You know, if you talk about my life as an athlete, the minute that I declared that I wanted to be the best safety in the world, the minute I declared that, because my life was pretty easy up to that point I was nine, right? Easy, easy. 

Yeah, I went fishing, you know, hung out with my family, right? And then I made this crazy ass declaration that I was going to be the best safety in the world. Well, then what do you suppose happened in my life? Every obstacle in the world rose right in front of me and said, Oh, no. You can't do that. You're too little. You're too slow. You're too, you don't come from the right family, whatever. And now I had all these obstacles to overcome. Well, guess what? When you are the best safety, you have to have overcome the most obstacles in your life. That's how you get to be the top safety.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Exactly, you know, and I shared this before and I haven't seen you in, I can't believe this time has flown by. We stayed in touch, but It's been five years. Yeah. But when we first met, we've been at different events together, spoke at the same events a couple of times. But you know, I share with you, I played you on a video game on Techmobowl. All right. Techmobowl. 

BO EASON: They tell me I was really good. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: You were good, man. Yes. 

BO EASON: Yeah. That's what they say. I don't know. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: You know? And so it was just like, man, this guy, this guy is special. And I remember you telling me that one of your goals was to be the fastest person in the world going backwards. 

BO EASON: Yeah. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Right. And now today backwards is on fire. A lot of folks are backwards, walking backwards, training, pulling sleds, moving back quickly. You were way ahead of the curve. 

BO EASON: I was in my kit, my buddies growing up, I used to do it at recess. I would just backpedal and my buddies are running forwards or playing, you know, whatever. And they're like, well, what are you doing? That's crazy. I go, no, no, no. Safeties have to be able to run backwards faster than the fastest man in the world runs forward. So that was my, that's just kind of how I saw the world and started doing it. And you're right. Like I see these exercises, they even tried, trainers try to put me through it. I'm like, Oh, you, Oh, I'm going to be good at this one.

SHAWN STEVENSON: I'm wired up for that already. You know, it's a totally different perspective to think about wanting, dare I say, wanting more obstacles. And I just from what you shared, the obstacles are qualifying us for certain things. And so again, we might even be hardwired to seek out comfort and safety, but that is going to relegate you to a life of average, which today average is not doing too well.

And to be clear for people who've tuned into this, your proposition is to be the best. And you know that that speaks to the spirit of a lot of the people listening as well. And in order to be the best and whatever that might be, the best parent, the best architect, the best fitness trainer. Obstacles truly are the way and again, that perspective of looking for more obstacles that is going to rattle some cages.

BO EASON: That does. And it's totally, you know, the, the human being wants to rest, right? Like the human body wants to relax and wants to get copacetic. And so you're constantly kind of fighting your own nature, right? And you know that you have to hurdle certain things and put yourself in these demanding situations otherwise you can't adapt. So the key to anybody who's great, whether that's Michael Jordan or Tom Brady or whoever it is. The person that can adapt to this demanding situation, the quickest is always the top one, is always the best. So if you put yourself in a demanding situation, obviously you've got to battle against it.

You've got to adapt to this situation. Otherwise you're done. So you adapt, right? And then you're now you're better. Now you put another demanding situation in front of you and you have to adapt to that. And they call that super adaptation. Somebody who does that is an Olympic gold medalist, somebody who continues to do that in their life. The greatest writer on the planet, probably Shakespeare was like that somehow. If you go to, if you've ever walked out, I'll just talk to the audience. If you, anybody listening, watching today has ever walked out of a movie, I know the reason why you walked out of the movie. We've all walked out of a movie and we all had the same reason we walked out.

The director and writer lost the conflict of the movie. So that the hero does not have to adapt anymore. That's why love stories are made where traditional love stories are made where you have to keep the two that you want to be in love on different sides. You can't get them together. You have to keep them apart. They have to be enemies which is why Romeo and Juliet is the greatest love story and every other love story has been copied Romeo and Juliet. Why? Because the two families were in battle, were on different sides of the war. So they could not get together. That's called a great love story. Also Shakespeare's smart enough to put Juliet in a tower so that Romeo could not reach her. So there could not be a kiss until the end. Right? Well, you, every movie that all of us have walked out of kissed in the first five minutes of the movie or the first half hour of the movie.

And now the movie's over because there's, they're like, wait, this is not a love story. It's over once, once it's, once the kiss has happened, there's no conflict. Right. So same with our lives. Our lives are, we've got to keep that conflict up. We've got to keep introducing the, a situation for ourselves that we have to adapt to because those who can adapt the fastest and the best are always the fastest, the highest jumpers, the most prolific. That's just how it goes. But our world does not promote that very much. You know, our, the world just, there's no promotion of that. There's nobody talking about that because everybody now promotes that it should be easy. Shouldn't it? For me to be the next Michael Jordan? Shouldn't that just be easy?

Shouldn't I just be gifted? And that's just not how it goes, you know, but that's what's being promoted or highlighted. Even, since we're talking about sports, even in the sports programming world, you notice. They're even promoting the ease and how this should be simpler and how, you know what I mean? And I think that's, I think that's a crime. I don't like it. I think it's showing the young athletes that, wow, I should just be gifted. I shouldn't have to do all this work. And so I'm constantly putting my kids at the bottom of the next mountain. And they don't like it right, right when they get to the top of the peak.

And guess what me and my wife have to do. We have to pull the carpet out from under them and go, you're at, you're not, you're not actually at the top. You're actually at the bottom of the next mountain and let's see what you got. Because their dreams are big and they're going to have to keep adapting. And the longer they can just get used to, that's your life, this is adaptation. The more I feel safe as a parent that my kids are going to fulfill on their dreams. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yeah. And it's not just because, it's because it's their dreams, and helping them to qualify themselves for bringing their dreams to life. And for that, they're going to need obstacles.

BO EASON: Oh yeah. They're coming anyway. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: That part. That's the thing, even if you try to hide from them, they're coming, but you can choose. You can be proactive and know that this is part of my story. This is a story that I'm writing. I'm the star of, let's talk about the power of your story. 

BO EASON: Yeah. It's to me, the story kind of saved my butt, you know, after I got done playing football. You know, I spent 17, 18, 19, 20 years attempting to be the best safety in the world, right? And took, you know, and had to go through all those obstacles to get there, obviously. Once I got there and then was injured and couldn't do it anymore. I just remember this moment of being wheeled off of the field and it was, I blew my knee and broke my foot and my leg all at the same time. So this was the seventh knee surgery for me, right? And it was in Miami. We were playing the Dolphins in Miami and I heard it snap. The minute I heard it, I said, Damn, I have trained my whole life to be great at one thing. And that one thing is not legal in the civilian world. So if I take what I'm really great at and apply it to the civilian world, I'm going to end up in jail, right?

Because this was in the eighties. In those days, the safeties would, you know, you were there to destroy people and intimidate them and everything was legal. Like you could hit them and knock their teeth out and people would clap. Or you put somebody out of the game, you, you get paid more, you know, it wasn't like today where you get penalized for that stuff. So I always remember that getting back to story saving my life as I was being wheeled off of the field. I'm thinking of my future life because I was only 27. I got to get another job. I mean, you know. What am I going to do? Everything I know is illegal in the world. And then in the very next moment, I thought, you know what?

If I could somehow train this body to express itself on a stage or in front of a camera or just out in the world, the same way that I express myself as an athlete on a field, I think I can make a living, but I don't know how to do that without hurting people. So, I had surgery, I moved to New York City, and I got in every performance class there was. Now, I didn't know New York City, I'd been there to play the Jets or the Giants, but I'd never lived there. And when I moved there, I said, I'm just going to train and get this thing able to communicate. The stuff that I was actually communicating in football. In football, it was very violent. It was done physically with my body and it took speed and it took strength and it took a little bit of craziness and I said, how can I translate this?

And so that's what I did. I translate all that T and T that I felt inside my body that made me a good safety to the stage. And I worked with teacher after teacher after, you know, performance and writing and all that stuff to be able to learn to do it. And eventually, you know, it took some years. I was able to do it safely. And, you know, me, me stay safe and the audience stay safe at the same time. Sometimes I'm sure the audience felt a little bit, you know, afraid, or I felt a little bit afraid, but I was able to work through it. And sure enough, you know, that saved my butt. So I really promote story because what it did for me, it gave me since the age of, you know, 27. And then, you know, I wrote a play and that play opened in New York city right after 9/11.

You know, months after it, we were rehearsing during 9/11 that saved me because I swear, I think I would have hurt myself or other people unless I went into the military or something like that. You know, that would have been okay. So story really saved my butt. I learned how to share myself. Not only verbally, but physically, and since that day, since I learned to tell my own story, share it, I have just never had to wait for the phone to ring again. It employed me the same way football employed me, because it got to use what I already had, which was a lot of TNT inside this body that was kind of dormant. And then as soon as I learned to use it, Oh, it's valuable to the world, whether that's in athletics or whether that's in a performance, any kind of performance.

SHAWN STEVENSON: So powerful. And just a little sidebar, I've seen, obviously seen you speak multiple times, top three experiences of seeing speakers. And I've been around the great ones. You're, you're one of those guys, it is a visceral experience watching you perform. It's not just you doing a talk or motivating. It's like it's a performance and that is so unique. It's like you found this lane and you became the best at it. And I've been saying this for years and I really hope if somebody hasn't heard this before or got this before, this is so important, such an important revelation as a human being. 

The number one driving force of our psyche as a human being is to stay congruent with the ideas we carry about who we are, it's to stay congruent with our story. We do things based on who we believe we are and we don't do certain things based on who we believe we are. And so it is within our story. that unlocks all of the actions and the activities and the ideas and the beliefs and the results that we're looking for. But so often we're trying to change the results. We're trying to change something out here, but it's really about changing our story. 

BO EASON: Yeah. Yeah. It is powerful. I train people to do this because I see business people who are successful, but they don't ever share themselves. They don't ever, they think it's wrong for them to share what cloth they're cut from. They think that their audience or their would be clients aren't interested in that. They think it's bragging. I say, no, the people need to trust you. They're going to follow you. Like you're the leader, you know, like if you're a financial advisor, you're the leader of their finances. Right? So they got to be able to trust you. So you got, they got to know your story. They got to know what cloth you're cut from because as soon as they know, they, they trust and they fall in love with you. And that's what the business world is really missing. And I've brought this to the speaking world just because speakers, a lot of times will not tell their story either, which I think it's really important for the audience to know their story, because here's what happens when you do tell your story, especially if it's really personal.

The more personal your story is, the more effect you have on your audience. People think that's not true. People think the opposite is true. The guy who trained me, Larry Moss, who's the best performance coach I ever met. He's an acting teacher, you know, but he If you see somebody win an Academy Award for performance, they're always thanking him, right? They just they thank him because they know who to go to because he's the guy well, he trained me and every day of rehearsal every day for years on end. He would come in and say Bo the more personal, the more universal, the more personal, the more universal, because we tend to want to get away from our story, which makes it not personal.

This is what politicians do, which is why they're kind of ineffective or don't garner trust. This is what news broadcasters do. They keep away from it being personal. They keep it like theoretical over here as if their molecules aren't attached to that story. Well, I've been trained that the most effective leaders, their stories are them. There's a congruency. There's no fine line between Bo's story and Bo. They are one in the same. There's no fine line. There's no distinction between Shawn's story and Shawn. That's congruency, right? And most people try to keep those two things compartmentalized and that's ineffective. That's it. You can't get trust doing that.

Not in this day and age. So when I train people, I'm constantly saying that and they'll, I'll get feedback like, no, Bo, they don't really need to know my personal story. I go, no, you know what? If I'm hiring you as my financial advisor, guess what I want to know about your life. I want to know the time that you were worried about finances or your. Your grandpa was bankrupt or you were, you know, suffered money stuff. And I want to know what happened to you and what you did about it. And then they'll go, Oh, every great financial advisor, just say no shots. Funniest thing you'll ever and same thing for athletes. Everybody who's made a lot of money or is great.

Advice of money had some money problems in their life, had bankruptcies in their life. And now it's emotional and now it's a quest and now it's a dream, you know? And those people, those are the people I hire. Same thing with every elite athlete, you know? Michael Jordan gets cut from high school basketball team, not once, but twice, right? How could Tom Brady, you know, those two are probably the greatest competitors of all time. Tom Brady, no one wants out of high school. No one wants out of college. How could that be true? That's his personal story. That's Jordan's, Michael Jordan's personal story. We become the opposite of that story, right?

So when I got, I got cut from little league, right? I was like nine or 10 and it was, it was the most pain I ever felt in my life. I cried. The coach called me on the phone, told me I wasn't good enough to play. I'm a kid, but it was the most pain I ever had. I hung up the phone and I just said to myself, not to anybody else. I said to myself, that I'm never going to face that pain again. That's never happening again. Well, what do you think Jordan said when his coach cut him? What do you think Brady said when no one wants him? Those are personal stories that nobody wants to tell that part. You know, financial advisors don't want to talk about a bankruptcy because they think their clients aren't going to give them all their money to manage.

Well, I say, I tell them, no, no, the opposite is true. The opposite is true because you're emotional about this shit. You're not like, you're not like some silver spoon kid that had an easy time. I don't want that person managing my money. They don't know how to manage my money. I wanted somebody who's, you know, going to be awake at 3 in the morning going, how are Bo's kids going to go to college, you know, and fighting for something. That's why story, it saved me because it gave me a job, gave me an occupation where I get to write, I get to do this, write what we're doing right now. And I'm not, and you guys, I never thought of myself as like a great writer or a speller or intelligent or any of those things. But I have learned to put my kind of my guts on the line.

And that turns out to be good expression, right? Instead of being perfect. Like I say, I butcher the English language. So what people don't care. People care about the cuffs and the collars matching. And that's why I say, man, because most people, when they come out and speak, they want to leave their personality off the stage. They want to leave their pain or the argument that they just had with their spouse off of the stage. Well, I've been trained to bring that on stage with you. Bring your life on stage with you so that the cuffs and collars match. Now people trust. Now people follow you. Because we just don't trust antiseptic people because we know they are perfect people.

There's, there's no, really no such thing. So, but politicians or news broadcasters or people making a podcast try to be perfect and it ends up being inauthentic because no one's perfect. So you're, you're starting from the wrong premise to begin with. So those of us who are willing to just be in front of people and live our lives out kind of in front of them, warts and all, they get rewarded the most because that takes the most courage.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Absolutely. Got a quick break coming up. We'll be right back. 

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SHAWN STEVENSON: You know, I can attest to, because when you're saying some people are scared to share their story, or hesitant. Me today is just like, why would you do that? Like it's, it's authentic. It's like, you know, but I think back to that person that I was when I was struggling with my health and I was able to turn things around and I was embarrassed to share my story that I wasn't healthy. All right. I was teaching a nutrition class and I guess the week prior I told part of the story of some of the stuff that I went through and having a so called incurable disease diagnosis and resolving that. And now, you know, I'm, because I want to be seen as this person. I'm this fit, healthy person in front of you.

Do what I say, right? I got the keys. But a person brought some friends to the next class and she was, she came up to me. She was like, are you going to tell that story again? And I was just like, what? You won't, I was like, I literally was just like, I don't really want to share that story again. It just kind of came from nowhere. But in that moment, I was just like, okay, I will. And I got it. Like I got a part of it, not the whole thing, that it was connective tissue, you know? And it was saying, I've been where you are in proximity and it's okay. And there's a path forward. And so people were able to connect with me. And that has been imbued into this, what we're doing today, and it becomes a part of who you are when you are tuned into to that it's there, whether you are intentionally like sharing this story, which I want to talk about, but it just becomes a part of your fabric and people connect with you more.

And so I want to ask you about this because whether somebody is, you know, wanting to be more intentional about. Their story, like being able to identify their story and also people wanting to change their story, write a different chapter right now, whether it's like with their health and fitness, right? Or whether this is like creating another, you know, some more success in their relationships or just in their life in general. What are some of the things that we need to start thinking about? 

BO EASON: Yeah. Well, the, the initial stories that I would usually ask somebody to do would be a defining moment story. So those usually come from pain. Almost a hundred percent of them come from pain. So if I did a little exercise with the audience, I'd say, okay, everybody, I'll give you five seconds to think about your greatest moment you've ever had in your life. The most success you've ever had in your life. Think of that moment. Give them five seconds. Everybody gets it. That's it. Got it. Okay. Forget about that. That's not a good story. It's not a good story because no one wants to know that you're on the top of Mount Everest. They want to know what was the initial thought and doubts and fears going into this commitment to climb Mount Everest. So I'll give them another five seconds to the audience.

Okay. Audience. Your biggest pain you've ever had in your life, the most pain you've ever suffered in your life. I'll give you five seconds to think about that. Your lowest moment where there were no answers for you. What is it? Five seconds? That's a defining moment story. That is the story you should always lead with. That defines you for the rest of your life. Mine was, I want to be the best safety in the world. First time I try out for a sport, coach calls, says, you're no good. Can't be in little league. Can't play. And so what do I do? I define myself. I go, you know what? That's never happening again. It hurts so much. I didn't let it happen again.

Well, guess who they're hiring, right? You know, if those people, when it's emotional, when the pain is emotional, you become the best in the world at what you do. In a defined, that's the defining moment story. Now, if you're talking about Shawn, I think you're talking about this. Like, so say now, okay, I'm married and you know, I come from a family that's all always been divorced and never works out in marriage. And I want to change that story. Right. You can write, but you have to write that story, like, no, no, we have to end this legacy, and then we have to start a new story like the Eason's always stay married. That's our story. And that we do that. I do that all the time with my kids. Right? Like we'll go, okay, let's, since all of the kids that you guys are growing up with are complaining about hard work and feel a lot of pressure and feel anxiety and stuff like that.

Well, let's make up some Eason rules and Eason laws and we'll live by these laws. And these are our new story. And so, every morning before we go to school, and we've been doing this since they were little kids, we put our hands in, right? Since they were little, we put our hands in before they go to school. And we say this, while other kids complain, Eason's train, go, go to school and bam, they go. They still remember that, you know, they're, I have one in college and one going to college and that's a story. That's a law. That's kind of a rule in the house. Like while other kids get to complain, that's an option they have.

We don't, we have to train. So we, we don't get to complain, we train, thats it. And that is a mini little story that we live out. Now, same thing with marriage. You know, like when I met Don, I just remember the preacher man in the church saying, you know, this lasts until death do you part? And I was like, man, that's, that's wild. That's okay. So that means that I'm not dating anybody anymore, right? Like that's over. Right. There's a story, a guy taught me who helped me get to get married. And, this is how he presented how to change your story. He goes, Bo, do you know who has the most power in prison? And I'm like, I don't know. I never been in prison. I don't know the, the guards, the, the warden. And he's like, nope. He goes, here's who has the most power in prison, the lifers. The people who are never leaving that prison have the most power in prison because guess what? They're resolved. They're even leaving and they know it. And he goes, when they hear that cell door close, guess what?

Guess what? A lifer does. They decorate the cell. Because they know they're never leaving that cell. So they decorated how they want it to be. So they hear the lifers, hear that cell door close. It slams. They're resolved. They know it's they're never leaving. It's crazy, right? This thought they're never leaving that cell. So they decorate the cell. Because they know they're never leaving well, people who are part timers, like say you're in for 12 years or 20 years, you know, you're leaving. In fact, you're counting down the days until you get out of prison. So they don't decorate and they have no power in the prison. They got no voice in the prison.

They, they eat what they're told to eat. They, nothing. The lifers run the prison. The warden goes home. The guards go home. The lifers own the prison. It is theirs. They make the rules. They, if they don't like the food, they make those rules. Let's improve the food or whatever. He said, if you can treat your life, he was coaching me. He goes, you're going to treat your life like a lifer. Think about in that, that in marriage, even though when I talk about this in front of my wife. She's like, so you're comparing marriage to prison. I go, no, I'm comparing the resolve of a marriage to prison, a lifer. So as I was getting married and this, by the way, Shawn, we're just telling a story of what we want in our families, in our lives.

If I treat my marriage like a lifer, like resolute, like I'm not leaving. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. I can't go anywhere. I bet you that marriage is good. That marriage is powerful, creative, lot of kids, you know, because you know, you know, you ain't leaving. Very powerful. So those are just stories, right, that we tell and we can change in our family. We can go, no, the Easton's aren't like this. We're like this. So my son. Me and my brother and my dad are the only Eason boys left and then my son, right? So he's an Eason. And so I tell my sons who want has this big dream of being, you know, a Super Bowl quarterback, right?

So that's an impossible dream, right? Seemingly impossible. Although my brother was quarterback in the Super Bowl, right? And I played in the NFL. So my brother has the same dream. Son has the same dream as my brother. So I just made up a rule and I said, do you know what Eason, if your name is Eason and you're a boy, you're in the NFL, cause that's been my experience. That's just how it goes. That's the rule. You're going to make it because that's the law. That's the rules. And now he's 18. So by now he's like on. He's so resolute he no matter what happens to him, whether he has an injury or a coach hates him or cuts him or whatever happens, he knows it's still on. Isn't that weird? Like he's resolved because we made a law and a rule around it. No different than the lifer in prison. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Right. That affects your choices. Obviously, you know, every not just your choices, your choices come from. Your thoughts and beliefs. And so I love the analogy with the lifer with the marriage and I get, I get the, the, I could be rubbed the wrong way, but truly when you are resolute that this is what it is, you make your decisions based on that. You find a way versus finding a way out. 

BO EASON: Right. Oh yeah. And you know, like when you're married, if you have options. That's a bad thing in a marriage. That marriage is not going to last if you have options. Oh, so can I still date her because she's really cute over there even though I'm married here. No, no That's not an option anymore, but people think it is people. Oh, well, maybe that is an option Maybe that God till death do us part thing that maybe that was kind of you know, just a suggestion It wasn't really a law or rule or anything, right? There was no resolute thing attached to it. I like doing that because that's a, that's a great story. And it's one that your kids and your, the people you work with, like your team, they will live into that story.

That you're putting out there and here's one thing I love about story is story sets a different standard all the time, like stories always raise the standard. If you notice, like if you go to a movie, it never lowers your standard. The hero never lowers your standard. They're always more heroic than us. Like you see Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible. Okay, so the name of the movie is Mission Impossible. What does that mean? So I want to pay money to go see something that it's impossible to achieve. That's why everyone goes in. That's why it's a great title of a movie. And they put the, the, a great guy as the lead because every movie this dude makes, it is impossible for him to win.

And the first frame of every movie this dude makes, because he's smart, is him dangling from a cliff nose bloody, family kidnapped and killed. And, and then, and so he's hanging from a wire and that's how they start every Tom Cruise movie, some variation of that. And then so us audience members go and we go, okay, let's see you get out of this Tom Cruise. They already killed your family. You're bleeding. You're hanging from something. You're in a jet going down, all kinds of nonsense is happening. You're going to die. And we can't wait to see them overcome these things. So you see how story always draws attention because of the courage that it takes to overcome a demanding situation.

And the more demanding. The more we reward it, the more demanding the situation, the more we reward that situation. That's why the Superbowl quarterback is so gets all the accolades and is the greatest thing since sliced bread. If they win and the worst thing ever, if you lose, that's how we see it. That's what's being promoted to us. And they're about, the winner and the loser are usually about one little inch apart, you know, the question of winning and losing. But the drama of it, we just throw all of our love and accolades on the person who overcame all those obstacles. And then the one that didn't, we're like, maybe next year. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: So true. So true. So what I want to encourage people to do. Which this is, this can, this is literally a life changer, literally life changer. Let's do this in the context of your fitness goal, which I'm not even going to, we can't call it a goal. The goals come as part of the story. All right? So your identity, right? What starring role are you choosing? Right? And so pick that first, right? So maybe your goal is to be the healthiest person in your community, in your neighborhood, you know, on your block. Maybe your goal is to be in the top 1 percent fittest people in your age bracket, right? Whatever your goal is, pick something, and maybe you're the, you know, the best triathlete in your age group.

Pick something, and your goals are going to come accordingly, but become a lifer to that thing. Because often when we set our fitness goals, there's so much wiggle room out of it, right? There's an end destination. There's this goal thing that we're gonna strive towards, but it's not our identity. It's not who we're choosing to be. It's not who we're deciding. This is my life story. It's this or nothing because you find a way because we started the episode with this. Obstacles are going to happen. 

BO EASON: Yep. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: And instead of shying away from them, when they show up, remember get good at remembering that this obstacle, this, I wanted this, this obstacle is qualifying me for that greatness that I'm seeking, that goal that I'm seeking.

BO EASON: That's exactly right. So if I didn't look, if I didn't make, if I didn't draw up when I was nine years old to be the best safety in the world, I would have just probably, I wouldn't be on this show. I know that. I wouldn't be here. I wouldn't have ever played in the NFL. I would have never written a play that went to Broadway. I would have never written screenplay. I never would have married Dawn. It would have been different, right? But what did I do? What did I guarantee my life as soon as I wrote a story? Oh, the best safety in the world does this and does that and does this and does I'm making this shit up because I didn't know what safeties did.

I was nine. So I made it up, but when you make up a story like that, you have just invented a bunch of obstacles for yourself. Otherwise, you don't, you wouldn't have any obstacles. If I didn't make the declaration, there's no obstacles, right? So there's none. So I just live a regular life of average and I'll be driving a tractor right now in the pear orchard where I grew up. That's what I would have done because there would have been no obstacle in front of me to do that. That would have been a straight path right to it. But if you have a dream, then you have to attach a story to that dream, and that story is wrought with boogeymen, enemies, the wicked witches. If you look at the, your favorite movies of all time, you know, brave heart, what who's standing in front of William Wallace, who's standing in front of him.

The King of England, the King of England is standing in front of him saying, you cannot be free. So that whole movie is about freedom for William Wallace, right? So what does a great storyteller do? Puts the king of England in front of little Mel Gibson. And he says, come on. Take me on in all my armies, just you. And your little band of brothers. So who gets rewarded based on that? Who gets rewarded because of that movie? Mel Gibson does. Rocky, same thing. What does Rocky do? He's a bum fighter. He's a bum. No one's going to cheer for a bum, right? Unless you put the heavyweight champion of the world as his nemesis.

So he put Apollo Creed, a guy named after a God in front of him. So who do we all cheer for? Rocky. David and Goliath. David and Goliath. That story's been around 4, 000 years. Every person that has heard that story told David and Goliath, who do they always choose? David. No one's ever chosen the giant. No one's ever chosen Goliath over little David. Cause David's only got a rock and a sling. The giant has size and power and strength and an army behind him. And David's got nothing. So that is classic storytelling. So for 4, 000 years, you're telling me that every person that's heard that story has chosen David. So I want to put myself in David's position in Rocky's position in Mel Gibson's position, William Wallace position in Braveheart, because I want the obstacle and the bigger the obstacle.

The more I get paid, the more notoriety I get, the bigger voice I have, the better leadership muscle I get because I'm up against it. So my enemy, my whole life has been mediocrity. I just fight it every tooth and nail every day. What does that guarantee me? A life of leadership. A life of strength. A life of courage, because am I going to defeat mediocrity by the time I die? Probably not. They're bigger than me. They're smarter than me. They got DC on their side. They got all the news stations on their side. They got everything on their side. They got all the money. They got every, what does little Bo got? What do I got? I'm right. Human beings were not born to be mediocre. I'm right.

So I'll go up against against him all day. That is my story. I'll go up against him until the day I die, but it guarantees my life. I get paid. I have influence. I get to have a voice. I get to have a vision because I'm up against it. Just like little David against the giant. Now I may not win, but who gives a shit right? As long as I keep my nose on the chest of Goliath. Bogus rewarded. That's true of all my clients. That's true of you and me. That's just how it goes. So most kids, you know, even including my kids are being promoted or being like advertised to that. You don't have to go through all that pain, right? You can just be you, and that's great. 

If you're 400 pounds, that's amazing. If you're mediocre, that more amazing, you'll be rewarded. That's not true. That's not true, but that's what's being talked about. It's what's being rewarded. You tell a story where you are the little guy and you're up against the guy who is skyscraper. His name is on top of the skyscraper. You're the winner. You get the most attention. You get the most money. It's just how it goes. You're the most heroic. That's why storytelling is so classic and you can involve it in your company, in your life, in your future. But also that defining moment story is very powerful because it came from you being hurt so bad that you decided to rise above. And that's a great story too. So you want to have both of those. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you for this because you're helping us to reassociate with problems and the challenges and obstacles that show up in our lives, you know, because most of the time we are proactively, we just, when, when an obstacle shows up, we just want to go away. I want this thing gone and we very often missed the opportunity in it. And one of the cool things about this and all these different stories that you've shared. Along the way, there are, there are these moments, there are these people that show up, there are these things that happened that would not have happened had you not chose, right?

And, you know, it's part of that qualification, like you writing that declaration, again, you said it, all of these, when you were talking about the things that happened, you also mentioned a lot of people as well, you know, these interactions. And so something I learned from you is when you choose to really own your story, write the story that you want, people are going to show up. The universe is like conspiring to help you on your way. Talk about that. 

BO EASON: Yeah. Well, great question, Shawn, because we're going right back to story. In every story. Every great story. Take star Wars. There's always obi Wan Kenobi in every great movie, who is a mentor, who is a truth teller because the hero is always up against it, right? There's always up against the enemy, always up against it. The Wizard of Oz. Everyone knows that story. So here's this little girl from Kansas skipping down the yellow brick road. No one cares about a girl from Kansas. She's got a little dog named Toto. Who cares? No one cares until there's a witch standing in front of her, stopping her from going down that yellow brick road.

That's when people start to care. Right? People go, Oh, I'm going to stay focused on this girl from Kansas who's kind of boring and got this dog and I don't really care about, but I care about her going up against the enemy, the witch. Then who shows up in every great story, a mentor. Somebody assisting you to get through the yellow brick road in this case, you know who it is, right? It's a cowardly lion. It's a scarecrow. It's the, who's the other one? Tinman. There's three of them and they help Dorothy get back to Kansas. There's always a mentor. Obi Wan Kenobi, when, whenever the going gets rough, he goes, Oh, young, you know, young lightsaber dude. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Skywalker. 

BO EASON: Skywalker. Go forward. Go, you know. And, and they just push you along. Well, you're so right because that is in every single story. It's also true for our lives. So every time you hit a roadblock or I hit a roadblock, some coach out of nowhere, the most unsuspecting dude ever shows up in my life and goes, you know what? I believe in you. I think you're going to make it.

And you're like, what? You're the one person who believes in me, you know, and that's all you need to take that next step. And then when you hit the next roadblock, guess what? There's another somebody who shows up, might be somebody that you're not expecting. Like it could be a girl in this case, it could be a girl and go, you know what? I want to marry you. And if you marry me, you're going to the top and you're like, I'm go, you know what I mean? It's like all these mentors. If you would have never had been on this heroic journey, they would have never showed up because they wouldn't have had to show up. Yeah, so it's so true in storytelling.

It's so true. If you just make a declaration that is seemingly impossible to you and me. And when our encourage our kids to do it too, the more impossible the dream is, the more mentors and more people show up. I've seen it happen in my life. I see it happen in my kids' life. People show up out of nowhere, and just whatever their expertise is. Oh, hey, Axel, to my son, do you need any nutrition help? Do you need any blood work? Because that's what I do. And then I find out what you're allergic to or what you, you know, causes you problems and then we set your nutrition . Out of the blue. You're like, I don't know. I never met a person like this. It takes blood and then figures out your nutrition.

Oh, this is great for an athlete. This is going to get him closer to his dream or actually, do you need to be faster? I happen to be a speed coach. In fact, I'm the best speed coach. You're like, Oh, perfect. Thank you. And one after the other, these mentors show up in my kids lives and they would never have showed their face had they not had this dream or they would have never wanted to help. They would have never, they would have never been there. I always think about that, that people committed to mediocrity never get the rewards of what a great mentor sees in you and then calls it into, you know, speaks it into existence and goes, I believe in you take one more step that way. Take nutrition this way, take speed that way.

And then all of a sudden there you are with the gold medal around your neck. And I always say to my son and my daughter too, as a volleyball player, I always say at the end of your, when you're winning the gold medal, the more people that you have to thank, the better for you. The more people you can hand that credit to, the better for you. So you want a whole army of people that have helped you get on top of that box. And that metal around your neck and then hand all the credit to them so that you can do it again. Because if you take the credit of that gold medal, you ain't doing it again. It's over. That day's over. You got to hand the credit away. You got to put the pressure on the others. The team that got you there, not on you. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: This is the first time, thank you so much for this. This is the first time that I understand why in my mind, my mother in law is my greatest mentor. And you know, of course there's these, there are these things I've learned from her and the, and she's listening right now. There are the pieces of, you know, compassion, certain ways of being, but what it was was that she believed in me. This is the first time that I'm like consciously, Realizing, like, that's what drew me to her and why I see her as my number one mentor. Early on, she was that person that believed in me. Yeah. And she already had esteem in some of the things that I was trying to figure out. 

BO EASON: Right. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: My wife believed in me first, by the way. All right. She took a risk on a risky guy. Yeah, but my mother in law came as part of the package was like this incredible bonus and she was working as an occupational therapist. But she was going above and beyond and really helped people to heal.

Right. Nutrition and meditation and all these other things. And so she had these things that I resonated with, yes, I see that, but it was because she believed in me, she supported me. And this is part of it too, is like sharing your story, right? She saw my story and what I was trying to achieve. And she was there to, to help direct me on that. Right. So thank you for that, man. That's powerful. 

BO EASON: Yeah. And I think as, as men, the older I get, you know, I'm 64 now. And I, I didn't get married till much later in my life. You know, we've been married for 26 years. So, but I never thought I was going to get married when I was 33, and that's when I met Dawn. I was 33. But the minute I met her, I knew I was going to get married to her. It was over for me. I just, I, she walked by, I didn't even see her face. She was walking away and I go, it just hit me. I was 33. Obviously I dated, thought I was never going to get married. And it's this thing hit me and I go, I'm going to marry that girl.

Then she turned around, I go, I'm definitely marrying that girl. But what she was, what her energy was, was the same thing you just talked about. Like when, when she looked at me, I saw my future. And she saw my future like she saw it and then I saw it and it looked good and it didn't always look good, but it looked good with her in it. You see what I mean? If you think about like the, your life, like the, the little, like I, as, as I was on my first date with her that night that I met her, I said, God, my kids are going to be amazing. And they're going to look great. And then I said, my bank account's going to look great with her in it. Oh, my occupation, whatever that's going to be, is going to be great with her in it.

Because she, like your mother in law, like your wife, saw me clearly, believed in me because I, she had clear eyes. Just like your mother in law, she had clear eyes. And she saw your greatness. And she goes, Okay. You go, you run with this buddy. And I think in the end, that's who we marry as men. We marry the first girl that sees our greatness and then speaks it into it and then goes, you know what? I see it. I believe in it. This is going to be good. And then we go, you know what? I'm marrying you because I want that life. And the gals who don't see that in us are, we have to talk them into it. We're not marrying them or at least that marriage is probably not going to last if we do marry them. You know what I mean?

Like they see something very clear and it's your future. It's the man's future that they see. And then boom, it's over from that day forward. If you can find that gal who sees that in you, for all of you that are single guys, I would find until you meet that gal who sees that you clearly. I would hold off on marriage. And then when you feel it and you see it, bam, that's the one. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: The strength of which you said that it's not just a seeing some potential in somebody. It is seeing that vision and that life because my wife, she still gets emotional when a certain song comes on, which when. Because she pulled up to my shitty apartment in Ferguson, Missouri where she had no business being in this hood. She had no business being there, but she pulled up and this song was playing and she was crying and she shared this with me like years later Like she was crying because she was thinking like he doesn't even know. He doesn't even know who he is Who he really is.

BO EASON: Well, you do now.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yeah. She saw it before me, you know. Yeah. 

BO EASON: That's often the case. Those are people come in your life at the right time. Yeah. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Well, Bo, you don't know this, but there's, there was a guy sitting right here in this chair, multi platinum artist, billions of streams of his music. His name is Big Sean and he's got just a mega hits, big part of the, of the culture, hip hop culture, but very much as intentionally, I can viewed pieces of mindset, his story. He just actually released a book recently called Go Higher. And he detailed him through his ship in sharing a story, which, you know, if somebody writes like a personal development book. It can be very superficial, it can be very sterile and like have the principles and whatnot, maybe a little story. 

But he told his story and embedded those principles throughout the story and the story was riveting. So it's a page turner and he shared a couple of books that are just like right there on his table that he refers to. One of those books is There's No Plan B for Your A Gang. 

BO EASON: No way. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: It's your book. 

BO EASON: Really? 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yep. 

BO EASON: Wow. That is so cool. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yep. 

BO EASON: I didn't see that coming. Big Sean. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yeah. Big Sean. 

BO EASON: Big Sean. Man. I gotta, I gotta follow this guy.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yeah. Yeah. But again, it's just speaking to the impact that you have and you saying yes to a certain thing and providing a resource that lives on beyond you. You know, and going up against Goliath and Mediocrity, you're making an impact, you know. So number one, where can people pick up a copy of your book? Where can they get more into your world, learn about some of the trainings that you've done? I've sent my son. 

BO EASON: You have sent your son? 

SHAWN STEVENSON: My oldest son to one of your trainings and it changed his life. We were just talking about some of the things that he's doing and creating now that were planted. Those seeds were planted by him being around you.

BO EASON: Yeah, no, he was amazing to watch him go through it, especially at that age. How old was he when he went through? 

SHAWN STEVENSON: I'm guessing 21, 22. 

BO EASON: It's perfect. Yeah, you know, there's, there's. What I'll do, Shawn, is my team gave me a number that people can text and I'll send them a free guide that allows them and prompts them and shows them how to tell their story. Is that cool? 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Absolutely. Okay. Good. Yeah. 

BO EASON: I'll get the, I have the number right in front of me. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: This is free? 

BO EASON: Yeah. It's totally, it's totally free. So all you have to do is the word guide, so simply text the word guide to (323) 310-5504. And that will, you'll get, that'll give all the information on my book. All that, and you can have access to everything. Now, if they want to do the story part, they want to get prompted and write their, you know, signature story, they can do that too. So, and if you want to come, if you want to jump in the deep end and come to event for three days with me and train story the way Shawn's son did in La Jolla, simply text this event, the word event to the same number. (323) 310-5504. And we will hook you up, we got all the information there, you can come and work with me. You know, you got information on the book, and just happy to share and help and train people and get everybody rolling. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yeah, and truly, again, I'm so grateful for you and what you've extended, the impact you've had on my family. Again, in between this time when I've seen you, certain things I've picked up from you have become a part of my family culture. 

BO EASON: Oh, cool! 

SHAWN STEVENSON: You know, and this concept, this idea, this truth of deciding to be the best right and imbuing that in certain parts of our culture. And we did a video back in the day, I think you remember, and it was like a, it went bonkers by the way on social media. And I basically pretended to be you. I became an actor and I was Bo Eason and I was playing catch. I was playing catch with my youngest son 

BO EASON: Oh yeah! I remember this. On the street. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: And on the street, right? And I was just like, we're the best. The ball doesn't touch the ground. 

BO EASON: That's right. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Right. And so we're throwing the ball back and forth and I'm doing commentary in between just. You know, but just again, you're such an influential person because you are the real deal. You walk your talk and I see the outcomes with your family as well, you know, and again, for everybody listening, we, whether we want it to or not, the obstacles are coming. But you can be proactive and decide where is this obstacle leading me to by taking control, honing your story. And understanding you're the star in your story, you are the star, you're not a co star, you're not an extra. This is your story and this is your time to proactively write that story, to embrace your story and to write the story you want into the future. 

BO EASON: That's so good. It's so good. And you know what else, Shawn? No, just end with this. So if you want to be the best in the world at one thing, or you want to be mediocre at one thing, that takes the same amount of work. So choose wisely, don't choose to be a mediocre runner, be the fastest runner, right? It takes the same damn work. It takes the same years to achieve those two things. Choose wisely, choose the best. It's a clearer path. Same amount of work. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Hmm. My guy. Thank you for coming to see me. I appreciate you. 

BO EASON: Thank you. 

SHAWN STEVENSON: Bo Eason, the one and only. Thank you so much for tuning into this episode today. It is not lost on me at all. Every single time that I have the honor and privilege of doing this show and learning from these incredible minds. It just, I just, I have no words for it. To be able to speak with somebody that I played on a video game when I was a kid, and to be able to sit here and to learn from him, and to share his insights with so many other people, it just does my heart so much good, and it really helps me every single day to get up and to get after and I'm so grateful and I'm right along in this experience with you.

So I appreciate you so much and please share this out with your friends and family. You can share it on social media. Take a screenshot of the episode and share it I'm at Shawn model on Instagram and share it with Bo as well tag Bo Eason as well I'm sure it would absolutely make his entire life week or even his month to see the love and to let him know that he connected with you today.

And we've got some incredible masterclasses coming your way and some phenomenal guests. So make sure to stay tuned, take care, have an amazing day, and I'll talk with you soon. And for more after the show, make sure to head over to themodelhealthshow.com. That's where you can find all of the show notes. You can find transcriptions, videos for each episode. And if you've got a comment, you can leave me a comment there as well. And please make sure to head over to iTunes and leave us a rating to let everybody know that the show is awesome. And I appreciate that so much and take care. I promise to keep giving you more powerful, empowering, great content to help you transform your life. Thanks for tuning in.