Episode Summary
I just I just have lived the absolute most incredible life. And if I didn't believe that I should try, I wouldn't have done any of it. There's so much left for you to do that you should do it. You should jump right on board. [music] Why a hypnotist? Like of all the things I find that the the the conversations that I've listened to for people at podcasts or whatever uh um you know different interviews I find hypnotists to be uh and I know you do a lot of things. It's not the only thing that you do. I know that. But that particular skill set I find very intriguing because I think I think there may be a general perception of of hypnotism that's like ah this is fufu or it's all [ __ ] or but it you know my understanding and in the research that I've done just because I'm so interested in human psychology is that you're you're you're tapping into things that people just don't realize our brains work certain ways and they don't they don't necessarily understand. So, it's it's not it's not a trick necessarily. You're you're using a skill set to unlock certain we'll call it motivations or activations in a human that are always there. You just you do it in a way that might make a situation funny or interesting or entertaining, etc. Um, but what what drew you into that? Was it a love for psychology or was it just like [ __ ] hypnotism sounds fun, I'll I'll do that? >> Uh, it was none of those. Uh, I was a morning show broadcaster on a radio station in Niagara called 977 Hits FM. I was Danal on 977 Hits FM. You know, you slide right into that role. And I also was a business owner of all things. I owned a chain of tattoo shops. So, I went to work at 3:30 in the morning as a radio broadcaster. My show wrapped up about 9:30 in the morning. I'd get a couple hours sleep and then I'd open up my business at 12:00, 1:00, 2:00. I'd jump to each one and open up the businesses. And then when they were open, I'd go back and sleep for a couple hours. Then I would close the businesses, sleep a couple hours, and then get back into radio. And I did that for many years because anybody who's in business knows that a successful business doesn't just happen. It takes a lot of work. And I supplemented the growth of that business by working in broadcasting. And after a number of years of doing it, one day I stopped sleeping. And when I say I stopped, I stopped. I didn't sleep for weeks, about six weeks. And not for a minute or 2 minutes or 5 minutes, no minutes. And my skin turned gray and my hair started to fall out and my fingernails discolored. I was dying. I mean that sincerely. my body was shutting down without being able to stop. And I went to a number of sleep clinics and a number of doctors. And in the very end, there was a small portion of my brain that um makes REM work. And the doctor's choice was to give me a pill. I was going to become uh Neo. I was going to take the blue pill in the morning and the red pill at night. Like that was going to be my life. And having never been on a a pill taker, a drug user, or any of those things, it just didn't feel right to me. Like I just didn't want to be the guy that had to take pills every day to exist. And a friend of mine said, "You should see a hypnotherapist." And I was really at my wit's end. So I went and seen a hypno therapist and in about 50 minutes, they cured me. And it was so impactful. It changed my life so significantly that I quit everything and I went and became a hypnotherapist. That's how it worked. It changed my life so dramatically in one hour that I quit radio. I reduced my hours at the tattoo shops and I went back to school and became a hypnotherapist and just poured myself into the the neurological triggers of the subconscious mind. And it just affected me in such a fashion that I knew that it was something that I needed to do. Now, as time went on, I became a hypnotist as an entertainer. I mean, it was a a great field to be in, especially backing myself in radio broadcasting and and being the type of person that I was. But I can say to you, there's no bells and whistles. There's no tricks behind it. The truth of the matter is I utilize the words that I say, the speed in which I say them, and the tone that I use to trick your subconscious mind into taking a nap while you're your uh your trick your conscious mind into having a nap while your subconscious mind takes over the mechanics of your body. And our mind is like a huge dry erase board and it's just filled with absolutely everything that we've ever done, every memory, everything that we see. And hypnosis just gives you the opportunity to go in and circle or highlight or erase something on that dry erase board. It's not magic. It's not secret powers. It's not any of that stuff. It's programming. I mean, you and I are talking on a computer right at this very moment. And if we needed to delete an application or throw something in the trash, we would do it if effortlessly and we would never look back at it and think of it differently. The subconscious mind works on that same way. It's just having the opportunity to go in there and and make those adjustments. >> It's a pretty interesting mix that you have the radio broadcasting, you have running a small business and a chain of small businesses, and then you also have this entertainment side, which is a lot of what you do today is entertainment. when you so you you have this amazing experience and you go you know you say I I want to learn this because I just had changed my entire life and all this and then what was the driver to take that and then turn it into you're going to say I I can use this for for entertainment I want to get up on stage right I mean there's probably a lot of paths you can take with that uh good and evil I'm sure um and you chose to to to entertain people to to get up on stage to be a performer what was the trigger for that or was it just felt like the next natural step. >> No. Well, I'd been working in the entertainment industry already in broadcasting for a long time, and I I I think that anybody who has an audience of any size, and if they work that audience well, it really does something to them. It it it certainly feeds their ego perhaps or it it helps uh their their uh agenda for what they're trying to build or what they're trying to do. So, when I left broadcasting and I started doing hypnosis, the one-offs, sitting in an office all day and helping one person or two people was still very, very important, but I lacked the the uh gratification, I guess you'd call it, of what an audience and what the applause would get. So, I started doing shows on the weekends and it started off just with friends and family, but it took off so significantly. Within one year, I went from learning how to do it to two shows a day, seven days a week for seven years without missing a show in a in a theater of 685 people. >> Wow. I'm not kidding. >> Wow. >> Sometimes you get what you ask for. >> Yeah. I mean that's like that sounds like the Beatles in when they went to Germany, you know, and they they did their their kind of 10,000 hours. I mean, that's that's how you develop that time, you know, where So, okay, so you have this seven years, two shows a day, right? And you're you you're starting at there's two there's so many pieces in there that I want to dig into. >> Listen, let me let me lead you down a path. >> Yes. Um, I live in Canada, uh, very close to Niagara Falls, Ontario, which is a tourist capital of the world. Everybody goes to Niagara Falls. They all want to see the water go over the hill. Okay. So, the opportunity there is like mini Las Vegas. Niagara Falls is Las Vegas of Canada. So, as a business person, I had a very stronghold with a franchised business that I had created throughout the Niagara region. So I was already known in business. I had already did six years on the number one radio morning show as a broadcaster. So when I put together this show, I already knew who I would present it to or who I would talk to about making it grow. And I hooked up with one of the largest hotel chains in Niagara Falls. And they had a famous theater, the famous Crown Plaza Theater. And it was just I said, "Let me have it. let me try. And it didn't I just didn't sign on for seven years. I mean, we started it and it became the number one attraction in Niagara Falls on Trip Advisor. I my show was number one. It beat Niagara Falls for for votes on Trip Advisor. And uh um when somebody watches this or listens to this on replay, it sounds like I'm the luckiest person. Success isn't lucky. You have to work your ass off. If anybody doesn't think that I didn't have to study and go to school for this and then put together a show and hire staff and and sacrifice time away from my family and and then go on stage and fail and lick my wounds and do better and better and better. Like I mean there was so many things that had to happen in order for me to achieve the success that I got to. But once the momentum started, it was a sought-after form of entertainment. And I think that when you create a product that's clean content and familyfriendly, because I'm a father, I mean, I would want to do a show that I would be proud to have even my young children or my grandparents in. When you put together that program, it's such a niche market because there's so many people that play blue or they're they're just child entertainers. Like, it's hard to find something that checks all of the boxes. And I I managed to put together a program that checked all the boxes. I was financially secure so I could hold a supporting staff that could work with me during the growing stages of the business. And then once it took off, there was just no stopping my career in the entertainment industry just skyrocket. >> So as a fellow speaker and and we talked about this before we went live everyone, but but we met each other at a hotel bar or at a hotel at an airport bar. Uh I had just got done um in Vegas at uh MCing an event and and and we s I sit down and I'm guys I I'm kind of miserable. Like I just and I'm miserable. Miserable is the wrong word. I was emotionally and energetically drained. I just was on E and I was like sat down with my beer and what I normally would do is just kind of put my head down in my phone and like let my introvert side of me like, you know, kind of kind of regain its energy. And and then we started chatting. I can't remember how the conversation started, but >> Well, I know how it started. I said I I said, "I don't want to sit next to you and not network. We're both strangers at a lobby going somewhere." That's my line. >> That's right. That's right. That's right. And then and then we got we got really deep really fast. And um and and I loved that because uh I think one of the things like there's a lot of people as a speaker and I'm sure this is the same same for you and because you perform a lot more than I do. Um but I get asked a lot about presenting in front of audiences about speaking etc. And you know some of the questions I think are you know kind of the normal shallow questions you get. But um you know the the question that I that that I think keeps people from going I think a lot of people can get a stage or a couple stages but then it it fizzles. It's like that initial either that initial energy goes or uh they don't like they don't like the feedback. They don't like the the pressure of the event like and we all can work through that. you obviously have had just so much experience in this and and I'm really interested in how with your your your background in in hypnotherapy and how just I what a a deep thinker you are about these things how much experience you have those that initial journey for someone who's coming into presenting right whether that's workshops or keynotes or however you're going to do it you're going to be comedian that first year three years even five years and and then beyond there's additional challenges it's so hard when you're trying to find your voice. How do you how did you work through and and again I know you had the broadcast experience etc. But when you're developing what your voice is going to be that seems to me to be the most emotionally chaotic moment because you you kind of maybe you don't know what you want to say. You don't know how to say it yet. It doesn't always hit. You're inconsistent. How do you guide young performers in those days? Like that emotional journey that you have to get through in order to become a version that you feel proud of every time you go out on the stage. >> Yeah, that's a great question and it's it's a question that I've had many many times. I entertain under the name Danny Z's, which is the Z's are for sleeping like hypnotist. That's why the Z's started that way. Although I wear many hats now, that's the name that stuck. But I had to create a character. Even in radio as as Danimal or whatever the character is on radio. In radio, you create a character because you want the audience to fall in love with you. In the entertainment industry, whether you're a speaker or an entertainer, you have to have a visual character as well. So I always say the character development has to be the very most p most important because for you as a speaker you and I briefly talked about you a husband and a father and and all of the things and the journeys that you've went through to become the man that you are today. When we step out on stage, if we are just the genuine person that we are ourselves, it's too much to carry because sometimes there's topics that are very very hard or there's many things that we need to go through or share. And if you're just the genuine you, it gets too heavy. So I always suggest with anybody, your character development has to be right on the money. Who do you want people to perceive you to be? And how do you want people to read that person? So Danny Z is a character that I play. I'm very brave and I'm confident when I step out on stage. I'm truly believe the words that I say and the the illusions that I create. But when I step off stage, I get to be Daniel Paul and it allows me to be a father and it allows me to be vulnerable or sad or or happy or any of those things because if I don't separate the two, then I'm preaching to my kids something that I I would say from stage or if somebody on stage says something to me, I take it home and it hurts. So I think that you got to separate those two. You have to allow yourself to become the entertainer, speaker, author personality that people need to see in order to have self-growth. But I think that you need to detach that and leave that cape hanging up on the side stage and be able to get on the knees and play blocks with your kids as a father. Be able to kiss your wife because she's your best friend and you love her. And be able to hold your friend when he loses his parents and and not be that speaker. If you don't separate the two, I don't think you really are doing the best that you can for both type of audiences. >> Okay. So, I I I love that. I think that is a very contrarian answer from what the advice that most people get. I think the advice that most people get is be authentic. You know, be exactly who you are. You know, if you if you like to wear hoodies and jeans, wear that. you know, you get this very and and I've that to me is always like I've never like when someone asks me what I do, I might say, "Hey, I speak." But but when I what I really I perform. It's a it's perform. There's >> it's it's not a fair answer and I don't mean to interrupt, but I have to say it in this fashion. One of the things that you and I talked about over a beer in that lounge one day was about um loss and hardships and all of those things. And I can remember when my father passed away, I still had to do a show. I got 700 people in the audience that bought their tickets. They don't care that I'm having a bad day. They don't care that I'm not getting along with my wife or my leg hurts or my stomach isn't right. They don't care. They traveled from wherever they lived all over the world. They pre-bought their tickets in advance and they're in their seat and I can't come out and say, "Hi everybody. I'm Danny Z's. I'm not having a great day. we're going to do a mediocre show today. You cannot be that character. When you talk about being your authentic self or you're trying to be true to that that person, well, you and I would never get booked anywhere because that's not what they're paying for. They're paying for the the celebrity or the person who's confident that's going to motivate the people who are are there in the audience or going to make significant change and impact. You don't you're not allowed bad days. So, if you don't separate the two, and if you're not strong enough to separate the two, how do you get on stage after burying your father? Or how do you get on stage when your stomach hurts or when you're scared or when you're jet-lagged and you've just got off the third talk in in two days and you've just been running from airport to airport, you don't get to do that. >> Couldn't agree with you more. Um, and I I I brought this up when we were talking uh uh over the beer was there's a concept that I've ex that I heard from Jordan Peterson that I've extended to many other aspects of my life. Um uh and it and it kind of fits with what you're saying. It's this idea of act as if and where it came from just for those listening it came from uh his first book tour uh 12 rules for life. I went and saw him and um someone in the crowd asks because uh he references God a lot in the book and someone asked if he was a believer and at that time this is like 2016ish um how he answered the question was um essentially I'm not sure but what I know is when I act as if I believe in God and I love God and I'm connected to God my life gets better. So what I'm doing today is acting as if. Right? So I thought that was a wonderful way of describing where he was. Uh but I then I that I kind of uh internalized that to be to be this is what we need to do. Like when you when you you might not be having you might had the worst day ever at work, right? And what do so many of us do if we're not properly calibrated is we come home and we yell at our kids and we give our wife [ __ ] or we ignore her or, you know, we're, you know, we we we neglect the animals or what, you know, whatever needs to happen because, oh, I'm in a bad mood. I had a bad day. I lost a sale or my boss yelled at me or whatever. Well, no. When you come home, you could be, it could have been the biggest POS day you've ever had and you're freaking miserable. I need to now act as if I'm a great dad because my kids neither deserve nor care that I had a crappy day that day, right? Like maybe I don't need to be super dad, but I can't be shitty dad. I need to be at least, you know, the, you know, the good to great version of myself. And that's just performing. It's just performing. Like you said, it's I I, you know, I just had to do this show after losing my dad. And even though I got through it as a pro, I'm still absolutely racked with emotion. And now my kids want me to play blocks with them. And what am I going to do? I'm going to go lock myself in a bedroom and pound beers to try to mask the pain? No. get down on the floor and act as and what happens and dude and this is where I'm I'm really interested in your insights on this and your experience is what I found and I think this is what Jordan was saying with his thoughts is that even if you don't believe or you aren't that thing today when you act as if you are it that that's the only way to become it. It's the only it's the only way to grow is to act as if you are that thing even if you're not. And that idea has paid so many dividends in my life in times when I was miserable or unhappy or broke or you know when I was getting divorced like just okay like just act as if you're a great boss today. Act as if you're a great dad today and you just play a role. You perform the role as it should be done even though you know your real feelings are this other thing. I mean, I don't know. We I that has just been something that has stuck with me for so long. >> I always say when somebody's negative around me, you're getting on me. I I like that term because it's almost like getting dirty, so to speak, on a rainy day. And it's pretty hard for me to have that attitude that I don't want somebody's negativity to get on me if I'm spreading that negativity as well. And um it it's it's funny when you talk about uh your children or or divorce or relationships or all of those things. We've all been in that experience, every one of us, where you're with your significant other and you're having a little bit of an argument of some fashion. You're mad at each other and then you bump into somebody at the mall and you immediately like, "Hey, how are you?" Right? Like you slip into character. Now the question that you have to ask yourself is are you doing that because you don't want them to see you negative or to understand that you are having shortcomings? Um are are you doing it for them or are you doing it for you? And I really think especially being a father, it's not the kids' fault that I'm having a bad day. To them I'm still Superman. To to my wife I'm still an excellent lover. To my friends I'm the person that they could call on a bad day. So, I I just don't want my life, which is so incredibly short, to be filled with the bad times. And you know what? A lot of the times when I'm talking on stage or trying to help coach people or helping to inspire them, I talk about when you look back at your childhood, how easy it is to remember the bad days and how hard it is to remember the good ones. I often say that I can remember every sp every spanking I got, but I can't tell you what I got for my sixth birthday. Do you understand? For some reason, the negativity sticks. So, if I can have as little negativity moving forward, I'm just not filling my subconscious mind with enough poison that gets on the people around me. >> What do you say to someone who would view that as dishonest, right? You're playing roles. Like, how do I know who the true you is if you're performing for me when you see me in the mall? Well, I guess I and I guess that's a fair question, but if that's the only character that I ever perform, how do you know that's not me? I mean, this this is this is who I am. And how is it not me? It just it's a matter of strength, really. I mean, somebody who goes to the gym and will run on the treadmill for 30 minutes doesn't run all day. That's all the running that they do. for somebody who eats uh very very carefully but on Fridays has uh pizza and wings. I mean we all have our own time, our own personal way of doing things. I think that I would like to think the character I play is the best version of me. I would like to think that the version that struggles and is sad and has hardships is is not. I mean the Danny Z is so much better than the vulnerable Dan Pollen. I can tell you that already. So if I had to pick between one, I would want the successful one that brings joy to people than the the negative one who walls in self-pity. >> Yeah. I also think cuz because I've uh I've I've I've talked to people about this, right? And they, you know, and there's there's tends to be like a bifurcation. There's people like completely get this concept of of kind of performing and and this idea of like your kids don't deserve your bad day at work. And then there's people that are like, well, this is, you know, that's not being honest. That's not being authentic. that's not being genuine. And I I struggle with that because the these these ideas of authentic and genuine, they really they they're only valid in a in a snapshot in time because you could say something to me on this show that changes my viewpoint on something and now I'm a completely different person after this when we when we close this down. I've taken in this concept and I'm a completely different person. Well, was was this not the genu genuine version because now 15 minutes later I have a slightly different perspective on the world and operate differently because of something you said to me. Like it's genuine and authentic. It's just this snapshot. And if in the moment when I'm on stage, I want to pull out five or six qualities of my personality that that present really well and create an entertaining, educational, valuable uh moment in time. Well, that doesn't mean it's not genuine. It just means I chose those five characteristics. Like when I'm with my golfing beer drinking buddies there, that version of me is a crass locker room degenerate, right? But that's, you know, that's just one small portion that I bring out with that group of friends because that's funny and we're having a good time and blah blah blah and we got 20 years of history and like, but it okay, but if I'm not like that when I go home, is that not the genuine me? Like, so I think that argument breaks down really quickly. I think everybody shaves the sharp points off of their lives whether they admit it or not. So somebody who says um that Danny Z who plays a character, he's not giving me his genuine self. I would be sitting with that person you or anybody having a lunch and talking about our day and you would never say during that lunch, I got to get up and use the bathroom. I think I have diarrhea. [laughter] Okay? No one would ever say that. Somebody would say, "I'm just going to go wash my hands or I have to use the restroom quickly." They shave the ends off because they don't want to be embarrassed or uncomfortable or perhaps the environment doesn't allow it. You there's no way you're with your significant other and say, "I don't want to sit on the couch with you. I'm super gassy." Like, we all shave our edges off in order to the audience in the environment we're in. So, how can you say that person isn't being genuine and then shave an edge off of a time that you're with somebody else? That's all. So, you really got to pick it. I I can say to you that with my own faith, my my relationship with my children and my wife, all of those things, I'm as genuine as the situation needs to be for the health and welfare of the relationship. And I think that that's what's most important. So, um I don't mind I don't mind playing a strong, respectful, fun character that is liked by others if it brings joy to the people around me. I got no problems with that. >> How do you handle feedback and criticism? >> I punch them in the face. >> That's a good answer. [laughter] >> Sorry, I thought we were going back to that genuine thing. >> [laughter] >> Um um I I love criticism, which is something most people don't hear. As an entertainer and a speaker, every time somebody criticizes something I've said or done, it makes me better the next time. And because I'm trying to make a living from this character and from the things that I say and that I do, I think that criticism is essential. Somebody always knows something that you you don't. In that same respect, there's lots of people that don't have the same views as me or belief system or or political views or financial views. I mean, you can pick whatever category you'd like to put that on. And sometimes you have to listen to those views and those criticisms even if you don't support them. It's it it what do you do? I mean, you you you try to be polite and you try to listen and you thank them for for for sharing and uh you try to defuse whatever is coming from it. But I've never heard somebody criticize me and me not recognize that there's probably a shortcoming that I should address. So I think that it takes a strong person to criticize somebody and um it takes a bad person to do it poorly, but it's hard to tell somebody that they need to change or need to fix something or could improve on something. I think it takes a a strong person to share. How do you balance ego? I my I think I told you this my my TEDex talk that I did in February was on uh ego and essentially how it was called stop living a life that you didn't choose when we let the negative side of ego drive our decision-m and you know you find a lot of a lot most of the commentary around ego is the negative side but as someone who's done incredibly uh been incredibly successful been on amazing stages I mean just go to your homepage you're standing on the America's Got Talent uh uh America's Got Talent right that was America's Got Talent Yep. Got Talent. America's Got Talent Extreme. All of them. I did them all. >> Yeah. And Simon Coll right there. Like like you know it takes ego, right? To develop yourself to keep pushing to wanting to be better to wanting to be the best version of yourself to be able to to to get to the stage and then to do a great performance, right? I mean, there's it's your ego driving you, the positive side of ego to get there, right? But then there's also the other side of, you know, I'm not getting paid as much as this or he's got 10 more gigs than me or why did they hire him versus me and like and that balance I find especially for successful people and particularly for performers. Um it it's I'm very interested in how you handle that like when you get the chirp from the you know from the negative side right and you can hear yourself going h I wanted that gig or something right or or maybe you don't have that but I know most most people do. They may not listen to it, but it's there. Like, how do you balance that in your mind to make sure that you're coming as often as you can from the most positive version of that voice versus the the negative side that wants you to play the zero sum game and, you know, try to box other people out and look at everything as competition? >> Yeah, that you know what, that's another question that I've heard more than once. And my answer isn't what you think. I mean, I cry a lot, okay? [laughter] I'm not brave. my I I got very lucky and fell into the career that I am in. None of the path that I've taken has ever been my own. I didn't mean to become a hypnotist. It happened because of that issue. I I do escapeology, which is something we haven't talked about, but I'm an escape artist, and I did that because I was asked to do a commercial, and I tried something I'd never done before. The entertainment industry, radio broadcasting. I mean, I became a radio broadcaster because I won a contest. I mean, there's there's none of my none of the history of who I am today was a choice and something that I wanted to do. It just happened. And I feel like I haven't got to where I need to go yet. I feel like I'm still trying to climb that ladder to be what I'm supposed to be in the in the end of my journey. And my uh my life is like a book. It's just a a cluster of pages. And I I get to write in every page of what I'm going to do that day. But I don't know how many pages are left or what what they're going to say. So if you say to me, you know, what's that look like? I don't have a clue because I haven't achieved what I've been meant to achieve yet. So when I step out on stage, I'm super nervous. when I um get off stage, I'm just a shaky, babbling mess because although I'm there, I don't feel like I deserve to be. And I think that if I ever stepped out on stage and felt like I should be there, I don't want to do that anymore. I It's a blessing. The people that I get to meet and the things that I get to do every single day is a blessing. I mean, I I have the opportunity to inspire people and share my my journey and my life and all of the incredible things that I've done. And I think that I think that uh God gives you what you can handle. I and he has tremendous faith in me because he throws a lot at me. And when I look at my entire life, when I look at starting a broadcasting and then starting and then having a business and then becoming an entertainer and then finding stages and then getting on television, I feel like I'm climbing towards a journey that is supposed to affect people in a fashion that is going to be positive. I haven't achieved it yet, but I feel like being an author and a speaker and all of these things are meant because I'm supposed to say the right thing at the right time for the right people that need it the most. So, when I'm there, I'll let you know. I I I'm I'm still chasing that. >> Yeah. Uh God didn't give David a kingdom, he gave him Goliath. I keep that in my head all the time. Every time something happens that isn't what I would want necessarily have wanted to happen, I say that in my head. God didn't give David a kingdom. He gave him Goliath. Right? There's a reason. And I completely agree with you. Uh and you know, if you're even, you know, taking out the the biblical nature, if that bothers anybody, although if you're listening to this show, I reference God enough that it can't bother you that much. Um, you know, it's so easy to get caught in in the negativity of where we thought we were supposed to be. And the nature of my next question for you is is this this you you feel like your life has just happened to you. You've you've you've my interpretation is you have been you have been willing to capture the opportunity as it was presented in those moments, right? Versus driving, you know, trying to drive to an opportunity and determine an opportunity. You've let fate or destiny or whatever uh make that determination. I'm very interested in why you feel like you're not where you're supposed to be like like how is like how do you know that what you're doing today the amount of joy, entertainment, connection, laughter, you know, all this stuff that you bring when you stand up on stage or or or someone's listening to you for three hours while they're on a long drive on a broadcast or listening to, you know, something you've done, right? How do you know that that's not what you're supposed to do? That this isn't the thing. Like what is it inside you that says, you know, there's another there's another thing that's going to happen? There's something else. There might be 10 more something else that's going to happen. Like, how do you know that that's the case? >> Yeah, that's a pretty easy answer. There's a few steps to this answer based on what you just said. I have a raging ignorance to doubt. A raging ignorance. So, I can say to you that when I'm walking down the hallway of life, there's all kinds of doors as we pass and they're all cracked open. And there's so many people in life that peek in to see what's on the other side to see if it they enjoy the flavor, the smell, the taste, the experience. I just kick the door open and be like, "What's going on in here?" And I go door after door and I'm like, "Hi, I'm a stranger. What's happening? I just I seen the door was cracked. I am am I interrupting something? I don't miss the opportunity because when we look back at our lives, we can always see the missed things. And I I mean this sincerely at the end of my life, I don't want to ever regret something that I didn't try or didn't do. What a tragedy my life would be if I didn't experience it. We only get one. So, I don't miss that. I don't miss if it's a new restaurant I've never seen, I'm going to order it. If it's a country I've never been, I'm going to fly there. If it's a stranger at a lounge bar, I'm going to turn and talk to them. I don't miss the cracked door. And I don't know what I'm going to be when I grow up. I don't have a clue. But I can say to you that this incredible journey, I I as briefly as I can share it, I uh was homeless at 13. I was self-sufficient. I got a job. I went to high school. I was the first person in my family to graduate high school. I opened a business. I did what every businessman would do. I worked 20 hours a day for no money to make it successful. I got a job in broadcasting with no experience. I just put myself out there and tried something new. And I did that with uh magic and hypnosis and escapology. And you and I briefly talked about this at the lounge. My right now my main job is as a speaker, but in the last six or eight years, I've done a tremendous amount of work in the escapeology, which is why you see me on all of these Got Talents. America's Got Talent Extreme. I just got back from Romania a couple of weeks ago. India is next on my list. I've done 17 Got Talents and I've performed in 50 countries. And there's one thing that I can say to you every single time and my daughter summed it up when we were doing Franc's Got Talent is I was going into a box that they were going to raise 180 ft with a one minute automatic timer and I had to escape my shackles and clip a safety line on before the automatic box dropped. And we were being interviewed and my daughter looked at me and said, "Daddy, are you afraid to escape the box?" And I looked at her and said, "No, baby. I'm afraid to step into it because stepping into the box is the hardest thing that we have. When you and I talk about being parents or a divorce or we look at the people that we've lost or the jobs that we've had, we're all in a box. You're in a box right now. You'd like to be in a bigger house, a better job. You'd like to be in a different financial bracket. You'd like all of those things. You're boxed in on every single aspect. And we become so complacent with the box that we're in and we're used to the four walls that are around us that we just exist. So when I'm in the box and I'm shackled up, I have an order of operations just like you. I got to pick the locks, remove the shackles, take off the the stuff to get the harness to get out of the box. You have to go to work, pay the bills, have a relationship, watch the kids, do all of those things. It's still an order of operations for a dayto day. But when you're in your $80,000 a year job and you want to step into that $120,000 job or whatever, I'm making it up of course for conversation, but when you want to do that, getting out of the box is easy. Stepping into the new box is what's so fearful because you don't know what's in there. You don't know what danger you're going to be in. Because if I don't step in that first box, I'm never in danger. I'm not raised in the crane or on fire or shackled up. If I don't get in the box, I'm safe. So getting out of the box when you're in is easy. Stepping into that new box. Everybody's in a bad relationship because they're worried they'll never find somebody. So they just harbor a horrible relationship out of fear of not meeting somebody new. Or they have a dead-end job they've been in for 15 years, and they're already capped at their financial goals at that position, but they don't want to change it cuz everything in the desk drawer is as they've left it. My raging ignorance of doubt means I step out of the box and into a new box. And as as afraid as I am to step into it, I'm excited to see what's inside. For the person who's listening to this they're listening to you talk and they're examining their own life at the same time. I'm doing this as you're talking and their self-evaluation comes back that they overindex on safety and and hearing you speak they're going that that pain that discomfort that frustration that anxiety that dull sense that we have when we're misaligned when we're you know h what what's something they can do how how would you guide them to break out of this safety cycle of just always overindexing towards safe. If if they're unhappy with that, right, with the advice always being if you're, you know, on cloud9 with with that, then that's wonderful. But you're sitting here and you have that dull sense of ah, man, I'm stuck, but like you said, I'm right now more fearful of of what the next move would be or stepping out on my own, whatever. How do they start to crack that mentality? Right. But how do they start to break that down to to maybe they'll never be uncomfortable taking that dangerous step? But how do we get them to do it if their happiness lies down that path? >> Well, the first thing I'm going to say is look around. You and I are talking on computers in different parts of the world real time. We have lights around us. I see books behind you and all kinds of things. All of these are because people failed and succeeded. I mean, the light bulb alone didn't work the very first time it was tried. Like, I mean, pick pick anything around you and we have it because somebody didn't give up and they pushed it until it was a product that we could buy, invest in, or use. And when I look at my own life, I often wonder if I'm bringing something tangible to the market that is valuable to somebody else. So, when you're stuck in that spot, the first thing you got to do is look at the character that you play. me it's that character development we talk about Danny Z have I invested in my character enough to believe that it's valuable to somebody else and then the product what I'm saying or what I'm providing or the entertainment that I'm bringing is it good enough that people would want to invest in that. So one of the things that I already said to you in this conversation is I don't know what I'm going to be when I grow up or I don't know what's next or I'm fearful because I I I still got so much to do. So, if you're looking at your life and and you're stagnant and not going somewhere, then you're one of those people that really needs to evaluate what the next step is because to be comfortable and complacent for the rest of your natural life. You you might as well be a program that's doing nothing. Like, you're just in you're just in the groundhog day. Every day is the same. What value is that? And how do you inspire others? You and I are both parents. Shame on me if I stop and don't show my children that they can achieve anything if they work hard with good ethics and good moral backbone. I I want my children to far exceed anything that I've ever done. I don't want them to be on fire in a box hanging from a helicopter, but I can say to you that I want them to challenge themselves and find out what is out there. I don't want them to just be happier that be good enough. And if [snorts] if you're listening and watching this and you you're you're in that relationship or that job or that house, nobody ever moves to a bigger house without it being uncomfortable. Moving day sucks. Nobody ever breaks up from a relationship thinking that they're going to be lonely for the rest of their life. But that first kiss with that new person, the magic of falling in love again is the most incredible thing. my first born. If I just gave up, I wouldn't have all the children that I have. Each one is a magical memory and an expression of myself and and my proof that love exists and and that there's so much more. So, yeah, if you're watching this and it's uncomfortable, good. It should be uncomfortable because growth is uncomfortable. That's why we had growing pains when we were young. Growth isn't easy for everybody and it requires sacrifice and failure. I've fallen and broken so many bones. I carry my medical papers with me where I go so that when I hurt myself, I can just hand them in at the hospital. Okay. Um, it's not easy and it's hard to get back up on the horse after you've been bucked off. But the journey is so incredible when you get there that you realize the value isn't in the journey, but the destination. And when you've looked around and you've tasted the food and seen the sunset, it's time to move to the next place. Keep going. It's an incredible, incredible way to live. >> It does seem like a lot of people get stagnant for a whole bunch of reasons. One of those reasons being um or one of the reasons that was recently given to me by a guy who call randomly called me uh colleaguefriend and he had questions about a couple stuff and the conversation kind of similar to ours uh devolved into more headier topics we'll say, right? and he he had kind of expressed that that while he's been successful, he felt very stagnant and he's like, you know, I I I really would like to to kind of spit spin up this side project um or side quest, but you know, I'm just I got so much going on, blah blah blah. And and ultimately, when I asked him what those things were, they're all just distractions. right now. I'm assuming in order to when you're in a box that's on fire that is uh elevated at a distance that the fall would be something you don't want to happen, right? You have to be supremely focused and present in the moment to execute that. That that's my assumption, right? So focus seems like a superpower today, maybe more than ever before. Not that it always hasn't been incredibly important, but maybe more than ever before with focus seems so incredibly important. How do you stay focused at the macro level? Uh, career, life, family, the things that are important to you, right, with all the opportunities that probably come to you on a day-to-day basis. And then maybe I'd love for you to dig in even how do you be as present and focused as you need to be in that box? Like how how do you on a micro level? >> The box is an interesting analogy. Not just the one that we talk about like we did like escaping the box, but when I get in there, it's it uh I'm only able to do it from muscle memory and repetition. The truth is picking a lock, it it's even picking a lock is such an interesting concept when you think about it. I mean, the truth is I can't see what I'm doing and I have to reach in and with a very delicate touch, I got to feel the pins and I have to count and I have to think and I have to can't let anything else around me bother as I micromanage the simple simplicity of picking a lock. That's all like I mean there's just no room for error. And you you have to be focused on that enough that you're able to achieve that and then go on to the next order of operations. So having a plan, even though it sounds like I just wing my life, I just went on and be like, I'm going to the next door, kick it open. I mean, you you still have to have a plan in some fashion. And when I get into the box and have to escape it, I do have a box at home that I get in and I practice over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. And and I do try to work all of the bugs out and I do drop my picks and have to find them in the dark. Like I try to challenge myself under the worst circumstances to have the most positive outcome. And the fact that I'm nine operations and probably 70 hospital visits later means I didn't always make it. But um uh it didn't stop me either. The the the focus and the ability to to to deal with what I have to under that pressure is horrible. It's not a joke that I cry the whole time or I'm stressed out about it before or after. I mean, what I do is very extreme and not for many people. But when you peel back all the layers, literally every single thing we do is the exact same. It's just we look at it in a different way. You can look at it and say being in a high pressure box at that stake is way more dangerous. I don't know. Is it just as I I I'm certainly in less danger in that box than somebody texting on the highway. I can tell you less people have died falling from a crane in a box on fire than on the highway while they're texting. So, it's it's um it's making advanced proper choices that put me in the best situation for the most positive outcome. And if you really just think about the words that just fell out of my mouth, you look at any situation you're in, analyze what the best things that you can do for the most positive outcome, and do your best to achieve that. And in the end, you'll find success in whatever it is you're doing. >> Why do you think it is that so many people get derailed then? Because because you know I come across so many like want I want w want to be in the way that they want to be an entrepreneur not want to be and like they tried and they never you're right like they I just hear well I started and then I got distracted or or I started and then we morphed and then it never really became anything. It's like why why is it so difficult for us to as you said prepare and execute over and over and over again the routine that leads to success. It's It's so rare that someone doesn't know the things they need to do to be successful. >> Do you have a coach? >> I have I have a mentor that I talk to. Yeah. >> Yeah. Perfect. And um I I I I as as I do and I have a circle of friends, okay, uh that I count on or I have conversations with and I'm lucky enough to be on uh shows like this where you talk to other like-minded people or motivated people. Why do people stop? Because if you don't have somebody that holds you accountable, self-accountability is the easiest way to fail at anything. I can tell you yesterday after we had dinner, my daughter didn't want to bring the dishes to the sink. She'd rather talk on Tik Tok or whatever platform she's playing on her phone. Uh my wife didn't want to put the laundry away because we were playing with the baby. And I like I could give you a laundry list of failures that we don't want to do. And my success comes from having to be accountable. Because if I come on this show with you and I say, "Tomorrow I'm going for a world record and I'm doing this." And a whole bunch of the listenership and the people who follow you log on to watch me and I don't do it. They have nothing positive to say about me. I have to follow through. So having a platform in radio or television or having a good coaching platform