Ep101 Markus Kaulius - How to Break Out of Mediocrity & Start Living on Your Terms

Markus Kaulius  0:00  
We are being drawn into that lukewarm pool all the time. Everything around us is drawing us into that pool and keep you there. I just want to be that one to go. Hey, if you want to stay there, go ahead. Stay there. If you're interested in getting out, I'd love to offer you a hand, and I'd love to help you out.

Jason Croft  0:18  
Welcome to strategy in action, where we reveal how industry leaders build real market gravity, the force that naturally attracts opportunities, partnerships and profits. You get raw insights, proven frameworks and strategies that actually move the needle in your business. Let's get started. Marcus Colliers is back on the show and so excited to bring this episode to you. This is just phenomenal, energetic. You can tell that I just had a conversation with Marcus, like the energy is through the roof still. And it was, you know, a remote conversation and ended a while ago, so energy is still there, and I think you're going to feel that during this interview. If you've listened to Episode 72 the first time Marcus was on the show, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. I encourage you to listen to that episode, or right now if you need to, just to get a little bit of backstory, but certainly not necessary to get all of the amazing energy and insights from Marcus today, we dig into this core idea of what has to be in place for someone to even take that first step. He's got a new book called play a bigger game, and the idea hit me of what is that question that needs to get answered, or that that quality that has to be there before someone even looks at that book, picks it up and then goes through it and lets in the fact that, Oh, I can be better in life. I can play a bigger game, and I can do it in this way. This is great for the folks Marcus is trying to reach, you know, with his book, to answer this question, to find this quality to what is that that has to switch over before he can get his message to them, but it's a great question, and the reason I bring it up for this show, make this this foundational aspect of it, is because we are coaches, consultants. We've got our ideal clients and our answer. And that quality in the person may be different for each of us, but we need to identify what that is, in order to first get in front of them. And, you know, a big part of it is that openness to change, to even allow the idea in that this is possible, right? And that's a big one, and then we can go and figure out, okay, how do we find the folks who are right there and have made that shift, have that quality? Or, how can we educate, teach, entertain all of that you know, to to maybe let that in and teach those folks how to develop that quality to then have them ready for how we can go in and help them. So we dig into that core aspect a lot, but certainly where Marcus is now, after selling his company and who he's helping now the companies he's helping now, just phenomenal journey. Amazing guy, you're gonna love it. Let's jump in. Marcus Colliers, welcome back to the show.

Markus Kaulius  3:48  
So excited to spend this time with you, brother. So grateful for the opportunity. And hello everybody.

Jason Croft  3:56  
I appreciate that this is, this is gonna be an absolute blast, not just because I say so, and I'm not just guessing, but if you go back to Episode 72 of strategy in action, you'll see Marcus's first appearance on the show. And that's how I know beyond a shadow of a doubt, it's going to be great, because that was so fantastic. So they'll be, they'll be, you know, we'll cover some things that we hit there. But you know, to really get that full backstory of Marcus, definitely hit that episode and get caught up. You're gonna love this one. And Marcus, I really want to dive into a real core topic here. What inspired you, know, reaching out and inviting you back to the show was the release of your book. Play a bigger game and just it's, it's fantastic. Had it had the opportunity to listen to the audio book. I need those audio books. I need to, I need to. I need that going so I appreciate that being out just fantastic. And it really. Inspired this core topic that that we're going to get into today, and that's really around this idea of whether it's your book, around playing a bigger game, being better in life. We talked a lot about that in the first episode of that 1% better each time you know, and really making those improvements and and you can even say, you know, personal development overall. What came to my mind with that is, what is that quality in someone who to even get them to pick up the book right, to even think change is possible, and I know you've been in Tony Robbins world and his personal development world, just knowing your story, you know for years and years and years like I have. And I think what can happen is that we forget that there are still people out there who don't even think in terms of personal development or growing or that it's even possible. So it's like not not just someone who's picked up the book, and now, how do I implement this stuff, but someone before they've even picked up the book? And I think this is a great question to answer for the folks you're trying to reach with the book, but also the coaches listening who they need to figure this answer out as well, for their ideal client, what is that quality, that there's even something that's even change is even possible? So trying to set the world record for the longest question in the world, as I think I've just done I'm so proud of you, brother, congratulations. Thank you. I'm glad you were here for it. That's really we can we can end the in the show now, uh,

Markus Kaulius  6:51  
I'll try to get my answer to under 10 seconds so we can get your next big, long, sweet.

Jason Croft  6:56  
I appreciate that.

Markus Kaulius  6:59  
Oh, but no, Jason, this is a really great question, and I'm gonna start by saying this, the fact that whoever's listening to this is listening to this right now. Chances are it's about 100% of your listeners are the qualified person. And here's what I'm getting at. I think you're right, and I think you started to answer the question yourself. There's a lot of people who are like, I just I don't actually believe that growth is possible or that I can change. Chances are they're not listening to this because for listening to this podcast, you're kind of going, there might be some more change. For me, there might be some growth happening. My qualifier is, if you feel even 1% of you going, there's more to life. There's more I could be experiencing, there's more joy, there's more success, there's more fulfillment. I don't believe where I am right now is the end of the story. If that's you, then this book is for you, then growth is for you. Like I don't care if I get to be the guy to help you on that journey. I would love to be just so you know, but it doesn't have to be me. I'm not going. So buy the book right now. No, but if you're the person who's like, I think there is more. I think he's talking about me. I think there should be more I'm doing with my life, more experience, then this book will help you. And I want to say a really bold statement, if you read my book or listen to the audio book, which, by the way, is me, and you do the challenges, that means you have to take action on what you're learning, your life will change for the positive in a radical fashion. And I guarantee that.

Jason Croft  8:41  
Love it. Love it. And having gone through that book, I am right there with you. I can, I can stand behind that guarantee as well. Thank you, brother. It's, it's, yeah, it's huge. And we'll get into several core aspects of it that are, you know, specific, but something that hit to right at the beginning of the audio book. And it's one of those things, the energy probably popped off the page as well, but it definitely felt it in the audio book, this feeling right at the beginning I get, I can almost picture you reaching out through the digital airwaves and just wanting to shake the person. Do you understand that I changed my life like zero to 100 change, and this is possible for you, and sick this, and I think it hit me, because you've been on the show before, we've had this, and I felt that from you then as well. And it's, it's, it's a tough thing, it's interesting, and that, I think that's what spurred this entire thought process around this question, because there are people who don't even know it's possible and that, and that's like, the first thing to get to, like. Yeah, you've got to let in that this is possible describe, you know, quickly your transform it at 16, really quick. I know we covered it on the first one, but like, this was a massive shift. That was your first experience that, oh, I can be a different person

Markus Kaulius  10:20  
that you know this is why I know I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing with my life. My first 15 years, I experienced all the crap that I know people who are stuck are feeling right now. So I know that feeling of like, I don't, oh, my life is so crappy. I like what you're saying, but I don't know if that's for me. I don't know if I can change. I don't know if I can grow. And I just want you guys to know I've been there, and 100% you are capable, you can you can experience more. But if you it's, it's like Jason said, If you don't believe that, if you're like, I don't think I believe that, then, unfortunately, you're also right, because you have to accept that it's possible. First, it's like, if you don't believe that front door is there in your house, you will not be able to exit it. You have to believe it's there just know you can go through that door. So for me, my first 15 years, I had no confidence, no self worth. I felt like a zero in every way, and I attracted all the negative stuff that a zero attracts. I had the bullies I couldn't attract a girl to save my life. I just felt like I deserved very little in life, and that's what I got. And then there was this radical transformation, and I was on a trip, and I won't go into great detail, you gotta go back and listen to the last episode. But essentially, I realized, and I felt God speak to me and say, Hey, where are you going? Nobody knows you. You can just be a different human being. You could be the person you always wanted to be. And so I hope you guys hear that today you can be the person you have always wanted to be, and it starts today. Does it mean people are going to accept you today? No, but you first making that decision, and then two, start doing the things that that new human being would do, and it is that easy. And here's the greatest part. This is my favorite part about everything I've learned over the last 30 years, of mindset, of perspective shift, is this, it's not about the destination, so it's not about reaching the goal. Oh, well, that's great. As soon as I make a million dollars, I'll be happy as soon as I, as soon as I, as soon as I as soon as you take your first steps towards that growth, then you start feeling better. Then you start changing. You recognize I'm a different person than I was yesterday, and maybe it's only this much of a difference, but that's all that matters, because guess what? That's today and tomorrow and the next day and the next day, and they compound. And yeah, one day you're gonna slip a little bit. That's okay. You don't have to be perfect. That's the coolest part. It's not too bad you only did seven days in a row. You're a loser. You're out. No, I screwed up so many times. I screwed up on the very stuff that I teach people every day, and I still screw up today. I'm far from perfect. You don't have to be perfect. You just have to get a little bit better and keep focusing on growth, and then all of a sudden you'll look back a year or five years or 15 years and be like, I can't even believe that

Jason Croft  13:42  
was me. Yeah, and that's that, that piece too, which is so important in that is you cover in the book is celebrating those, those those wins, like the tiniest ones. And it's because if you don't, we're just, it's just too easy to bypass if you don't schedule that in and yeah, and go, Okay, what did I do yesterday? Yeah, wow. Okay, I did that. I've never done that before. Like, you can apply this to having a client, and, you know, making sure you're you're letting them know and show them all along the way. Like, hey, here's the progress you've made. Yes, be your own client in this. Yes, let's, hey, let's, let's, let's be realistic. Kind of messed up there, but you are so far. It's, it's a huge thing. And I think there's these. It's another fresh thought yesterday, as I was thinking about this, this interview coming up, that there's some good and bad to this. The I think they're the bookends of all of this, are having that goal and vision, that identity that you're talking about. Hey, you know, being that other person, having that clear picture of it, where am I going? And then the other bookend is consistency, and everything in the middle is awesome and great, but if you you don't know why you're doing all the things in the middle, and if you're not doing them consistently, that's why I think having, you know, consistency be kind of the last chapter of your book. It was, was actually a great thing, because it's like, hey, go back. And if it doesn't, if it's, you know, if you're not doing all these things. I said this was good and bad. The bad is those just happen to be the two things that I'm the worst at those two bookends. I'm really good at this metal stuff, you know, like running around back and forth, but, but there's, there's a, there's a real core to that. Does that ring true for you, the bookend kind of concept? Or,

Markus Kaulius  15:56  
yeah, absolutely. And thank you. And by the way, that is exactly why I put consistency last I love talking about consistency. I think I even start that chapter by saying this could have been the first chapter. The truth is, without doing all this stuff consistently, you're not going to get anywhere. It's like anything else in life. You know, we've all tried a workout regimen that lasted five days or 10 days or 15 days, and you go, man, I don't feel like I changed. And it's like, what's going to change in 15 days? But if you did that same thing for 45 days, now you're going to start seeing something so it's it's like anything else, you have to figure out ways to create the habits so that you do them every single day. And there's something that we've been dancing around, Jason, that I just want to highlight for people, and I think this is going to resonate with people. The one major thing I see in common with people who are stuck is that we, and I'm going to say we, because I was stuck for so many years, we focus on all the negative stuff going on in our lives, or all the reasons we don't deserve to be ahead. I want to tell you guys this those things are always going to be available for us to focus on. But you know what else is always available for us? The good stuff happening in your life. And so it's a choice, which one do you want to focus on, and just a reminder where your focus goes, energy flows. So if you're focusing on, Ah, man, here's all the reasons why I don't think I'm gonna have a great day today. Now you're pouring energy into that, and your brain is so brilliant it's going, Hey, no problem. I'll help you prove that. Oh, look see. Look what happened. Just like you, just like you knew Jason days falling apart. What I learned to train my brain for is I'm just wanna focus on the positive stuff. I'm gonna have an awesome day today, and now my brain is going, Okay, I'm gonna help you prove that too. Hey, look at that. That's awesome. Hey, that's awesome. That's awesome. You know, a big part of this is gratitude. I hate to sound cliche, but if you start focusing on like, hey, I want to start my day with going, here's all the amazing things going on in my life. There are so many amazing things. I've never met anyone who didn't have some great things going on. The fact that I'm talking to them means that they're alive. They've got air in their lungs. How can you not be grateful for that? Let's not take the obvious stuff for granted, the fact that they can communicate with me, that's amazing. You know, many people imagine you couldn't communicate at all. That would suck. What a positive thing. So when we start stacking these little wins, so just like you're talking about now, recognize them. You recognize the little wins. Recognize the little things. What were the wins of yesterday? It's one of my favorite things when I'm talking to a new client, or any of my clients, hey, share me a win from yesterday, and it gets your brain going. Actually. You know what happened? I totally forgot about that until you brought it up. But here's an awesome thing that happened. Look how it starts changing your state. Like, hey, here's a win, good. Give me another one. Oh, here's another win. Good. Another one they you have so many wins every single day. You're just not focusing on them. And again, the thing that we have in common as stuck people is, yeah, but look at all these I don't want to hear about the negatives. I don't want to. They're all there. They're all available for you. Is it getting you anywhere? Is it bringing you any joy, happiness, fulfillment? Do you think you're winning by focusing on it? And if the answer is no, and I hope it's no, then why not try? What if I'm right, and you want to try focusing on the positive stuff for a little bit. And I'm not just talking silver lining stuff, not like, hey, just everything is great. Oh, someone hit my car. Awesome. No, but you can still decide to focus on the good stuff and find the gift in everything,

Jason Croft  19:50  
absolutely and, and that's, that's the everybody you know, everyone who, who claims to be the realist. Or hasn't, hasn't bought into the the positive mindset of things, shifts to that. Well, I'm, you know, I'm right. That's, that's more important to be right. I'm accurate, right? This is this, and this is happening. But to your point is, it's all happening. And, I mean, what is it? You know, a billion things going on around in our you know, our beings focus on a few things, so we could be accurate at a molecular level and all of this stuff. But it really is this core principle in life that we get what we focus on just like you said, focus goes energy, flow and just, that's the thing. Like going through this, I kept feeling like that too. Like going through the books, you're just like, just, just like you said, during it, try it. Just try it, try it. 10 days, try five days. Try to like, that's like, to fully do it. And I I dare anybody to not feel a little bit better. Shut off the news, focus on the good things that are happening and tell me you're not feeling better, like get out of your logical mind. Well, yeah, I didn't keep up with this. Tell me you don't feel feel it in here and feel that better. And I think that's a it's a massive step forward. Huge

Markus Kaulius  21:22  
love that, Jason, you just said something. I want to, I want to highlight, real quick, that that realist. I think there's the realist voice in all of us. I don't think there's any of those hardcore realists that even listen to great podcasts like this. But you know what a lot of us do is we hear that realist voice because we have someone in our life who we almost like have a little argument with in our minds, like, Okay, what if I had to pitch this to them? What would they say? And I want to just highlight this, because imagine you're talking to that person before you speak to that person. I just want you to think, is that person living a life that excites you? Is there something about their life that makes you go, yeah, I want to live more like that. Because I used to do this. I used to have those realists. Unfortunately, I had a lot of them in my life. I surrounded myself with them, and what they really were were dream crushers. And one day I took a step back and I'm like, There's nothing about their lives that I want to emulate. There's nothing that there's I don't see joy, I don't see happiness, I don't see fulfillment. I don't see playfulness. I don't see wonder, excitement, imagination. Those are the words that I want to mark my life. And how about success? Nothing in those people and unfortunately and the same online. We listen to those people like they're our best friends, like we should they're our number one, the person we should listen to the most. I'm going turn the volume off. Don't Why are you even talking to that person I love? To focus on people who are doing it right, who are seeing the results in life that I want to see, and they're doing it the way I want to do it. That's the person I'm going to listen to. That's whose voice you want to turn up all the way and go give me some of that. So if today, any of what I'm saying resonates with you, or you look at me and go, you know, there's something about his life. I would like more of this or this. And it doesn't mean you have to buy into all of it. You might go, Hey, this guy is too much. Guy is too much energy. I don't know what's up with this guy. That's okay. I'm okay with that. But if there's something you're like, you know, he just seems lighter, because I have a very light life. I don't I don't get weighed down by much of anything, and I find the joy in things. And I'm a super playful guy. I love to laugh. That's one of my key principles for the year, I am going to laugh out loud more. Isn't that just awesome to go I'm going to choose to do that, and I've been doing it, and my life is even more awesome. So if there's anything about my life that you're like, Yeah, I'd like a little bit more of that, then come join me on this ride. Hopefully you can just take something away from it. Maybe you read the book or listen, but I don't care. Like, I'm not, not trying to shove that down your throat. Come check out my Instagram. I give you free content every day. It's all free, and if you do any of those challenges, it will improve your life.

Jason Croft  24:18  
Yeah, and, and I think that's, that's the piece that you let in, certainly that it's possible for all of this, but also that these are things that are changeable in people like you, like you're talking about, like making that conscious. I want to laugh. I want to be the person who laughs all the time. And it sounds like one of those things, whether it's charisma, being funny, laughing more, getting attention when you walk in the room before we go down. This road of what's possible. I think those go into the category of just like, Oh, you're either that kind of person or you're not. You know, Marcus is just that kind of person. He's just, man, he's got that energy in this, and that's, I think, a core component of this foundational quality, or whatever it is we're talking about that to even to understand that those are things that can change. You can become a charismatic person. You can become all of these things. These are none of that stuff is fixed. No at all. And that's that's so important. Oh yes,

Markus Kaulius  25:43  
yes, brother, that is so good you are. So you're killing it today, by the way, I love this, because the truth is that idea that you can't change is what the world wants you to believe. Why? Because it's easier to lock you down and pin you down if we know exactly who you are, and we we're not going to let you change, especially if you're somebody who's lacking confidence, who's not feeling fulfilled, and we can sell stuff to you more easily. That's why they're doing it. That's why they're locking us down. And again, for me, I had all these years of confidence zero, and that confidence is one of those things I love to talk about, because I think most people would say, Yeah, I'd love more confidence. You can change that starting today. Actually. Do you mind? Jason, can we do a really quick exercise with everybody? I want to show people how quickly you can change your confidence. So please, whether you're listening to this or watching this, a really simple exercise is probably going to take us less than 30 Seconds to change your confidence level. Now I'm not saying you're going to be a super confident human being, but I just want you to gage right now. Tell yourself, close your eyes if you need to, whatever you need to do. Tell me right now, out of 10. How confident of a person you are right this minute? Are you a three out of 10? Are you a six out of 10 or an eight out of 10? Okay, you got that number. You write it down. If you need to write it down. Now, I want you to close your eyes. Or if you're driving, don't close your eyes. Just try and do this without closing your eyes. But I want you to kind of visualize what is a 10 out of 10, super confident human being look like. So how are their shoulders? Oh, see right away. Look one thing we just did. One thing, Jason. I if you're watching this, Jason and I both did it at the same time, shoulders went back. Tell me already you don't go actually, I feel a little more confident. It was, that's it was one tiny little thing. Took two seconds. Okay, now eye contact. Oh yeah, there's good eye contact. When you're a confident person, I'm gonna pretend to shake someone's hand. Oh yeah, that's a firm handshake. Yes, when I say yes, and go ahead, people, if you're listening, say yes, but say it with confidence. What would a 10 out of 10 confident person say? Like yes, already, you see the difference coming on. One last thing, we haven't even used up our 30 seconds yet. If you can, I want you to visualize a big win in your life, just something big that happened in your life. At any point in your life, maybe you scored the winning goal, the big high five, a big hug from a girl that you liked, getting married to the woman of your dream, just some sort of win. Visualize it. Think about it. Feel it. Now, tell me out of 10. What do you feel right now for confidence? I'd be shocked if you actually did what we asked you to do, that you didn't move up at least one notch. But here's the super fun thing about this, why can't you do this every single day? Why can't you start your day like this. Why can't you do this before any big meeting? You go into, what if you were able to raise your confidence level one, two or four notches before a big meeting? Who do you think is going to get more yeses in life, more success in life, experience, more fulfillment in life? That is how easy it is. We just have to learn to do a few of these little things that someone else has done. I'm not making this stuff up. I learned it from somebody else. So you just have to try these things out and do them consistently. But it's your choice, also your choice. You got a meeting today. What if, for two minutes before you walked into that meeting, you went into the bathroom, go into a bathroom stall, close your eyes, did exactly what I said. You're in the bathroom going, Yes, everybody's laughing. You're laughing. You think you're not going to go in in a better state, in a better mood, and get more people behind you. Of course you will. Yeah, of course you will. And if you don't win in this meeting, you'll win in the next meeting, but at the very least, you're gonna feel better about yourself. I don't mind losing in a meeting if I at least came in at 100% I gave it my all, and I still didn't win. I wasn't meant to win. I will win the next one. That's a great feeling. What a beautiful statement to be able to say with confidence that maybe I just wasn't supposed to, but I gave it my 100% I don't have to. I should have done this. I should have been a bit more this. I wish I was more energetic. I wish I gave a fergama handshake. I showed up 100% today. Win or lose,

Jason Croft  30:43  
all I have. And if you don't believe that, if you're on that like, well, I don't know that. It just picture, be on the other side of that. Be on the receiving end of that. You're sitting there in a meeting, and two different people walk in. One is who Marcus is describing right now, and the other one's coming in. Hey, what's what's going on? Guys like you don't think you're going to respond differently to those two people. Give one your attention over the other. Give, oh, benefit of the doubt to one over the other, like, just let that in, and then you go in and do some of these things once, do the once, that feeling is going to be massive. I appreciate that, that that exercise Marcus, because that's just that's so strong. And I want people to I want people to feel it. I want people to understand what's what's possible here. I want to make sure we get into life now, because life now for you is different a bit than it was back when we did our first episode. Paint, paint that picture for us and the because the book is a piece of that, of this new transition, a bit and a shift for you right now,

Markus Kaulius  32:07  
truly. Thank you. Life is so cool right now. I'm just on this. I'm in a new chapter in my life. Yes, pun intended. So I believe last time we talked, I had just started this, this process of selling my business. It sold and it sold. It it was, it was this incredible experience to learn how to sell a business, to learn how to prepare a business for sale, going through all of that sell the business. Wow, how crazy it gets the six months after you've sold your business, and how I would love to help people who are going through that process, because it is a mind roller coaster. I knew it was coming. Well explain, first of all, if you are an entrepreneur who's selling your business, you're an entrepreneur whose identity is 100% tied up in that business. There's I've just never met an entrepreneur who's whose identity wasn't tied into being an entrepreneur, and that's your business. So for me, that was my business. For 19 years, I was Magnum. Sometimes people called me Magnum by accident, and I loved it. And so the idea of now you're not Magnum anymore, you're not the guy anymore. And let me tell you a few more things about the mindset of what's going on. You're not the boss anymore. People aren't answering to you anymore. Maybe people aren't laughing at your jokes as hard as your employees laughed at your jokes like there's so many things, and all of a sudden you're like, Oh no, what have I done? And lots of people now, fortunately, I saw it coming, so I I didn't speak like that, but, man, I've talked to so many exited entrepreneurs who are like, What have I done? And I'll never forget this crazy moment where I think a lot of people would have, like, cracked pretty hard. I now had to turn over my big, beautiful office, which, if I'm not mistaken, last time we had our interview, I was in this big, beautiful office. Now it had this thing built for me. It was my dream office. It had everything. And I'm packing it up to give it to the new owner. And it was on a Saturday, so nobody's in there. And I was like, Oh, this is one of those moments. This is one of those moments where people would be like, What the heck have I done? This is my office. This was my baby. I'm not leaving. You'll have to drag me out of here. But in because I knew my next chapter couldn't start until I did what I'm doing right now, I was I actually found myself whistling. I'm whistling, I'm smiling, packing my box, going, Wow, this is going to this is going to be challenging. Like, I'm not a fool, I'm not like, this is so easy. Life is always so easy. No, it was a challenge, but I appreciated the challenge. Why? Because I know. Through challenges when we grow. And yes, that rhyme. I just I love the opportunity to grow and to change, and I knew a new chapter was coming. So sold, the business got called to write a book. And the book, by the way, I wanted to give this book as as a blueprint for anybody trying to play a bigger game in life, who want to, who wants to experience more fulfillment out of life, more joy out of life, more success out of life, more yes out of life. And it's an easy read, by the way, this is, this is not some scholarly guy giving it to you. This is like, step by step, do this, and you can experience this. And I did a big book tour, which was amazing. In the first week of sales of the book, it was in the top 40 selling books in the United States, which blew my mind. Was so happy, but then God had much bigger plans for the book. In the third week, it was in the top 10 selling books in the United States, and I want to just give a quick shout out to brand builders, group that you and I both know and love. They are amazing, and they helped me promote this book. They are the same people that worked with Ed mylett, Lewis, Howes and so many other incredible authors. And so that's what happened with my book, and now I am doing what I've always dreamed of doing. So I'm so grateful that God has placed me in this spot. I almost on a daily have entrepreneurs reaching out to me to help them on their journey. Now, of course, I can't say yes to all of them, which is really unfortunate, but I get to pick and choose the exact entrepreneurs who I know I'm supposed to be aligned with, who I see something so special in that I get so excited to work with them. I invest in these companies. I mentor the the entrepreneurs and so now I have ownership in a whole bunch of businesses that I'm making an impact on, entrepreneurs that I get to work with. Man, life is freaking good.

Jason Croft  37:06  
Absolutely. Congratulations, too. Thank you. It really is. And I know you acknowledge, hey, I'm I've been helped all along the way. I'm happy to be here, but you also put in the work that came with every opportunity as well, all along the way. And that's, you know, you got to do your part, right? That's the biggest be, hey, here's an opportunity, awesome, full force. Let's go. I mean, that's, that's what your life is about the books. No, certainly I love that brother, but, but that's, you, that's that's so phenomenal. And there's an intentionality to all of this in on that path, which is, which is fantastic. And even in those those, of course, it's, it's great, you're selling your company, but there's still those moments that are hard, that are backing up your office that have been, you know, but it's those, those moments, I point to also that when people ask, why this personal development stuff, right? Why go it's in those moments. It doesn't mean the moments don't happen. That's right? It's, it's, it allows us to go through those moments, get to the other side of that. Oh, feeling faster. Oh, and when you can shorten that yes, and you shorten and shorten and shorten, that's what this is all about, and and again, not to trivialize it or anything like that. Because those those moments have their their weight, and they're important to go through. But you do this stuff so that it doesn't crush you, it doesn't you get to the other side, like you in that office on a Saturday morning, like it's that's the difference of like somebody who's not self aware, and doesn't do any of this stuff, and like to have a flood of this feeling to go, Oh, my baby, no, there's no way. Let me call my lawyer. I gotta get this. This can't happen, you know? And instead, oh, to ignite. And I think that's the that's the piece of this, too. And I've learned this from from folks even recently, of acknowledging the feeling right, like letting that be there. Of like, oh, that's fascinating. Yeah, yes, yeah, you're, you're, hey, feeling you're allowed to be there right now, let's sit and talk about that and moving forward. So I love, I Oh,

Markus Kaulius  39:38  
Jason, this, I just want to comment on this really quick. You know, this is about living life like life has a whole bunch of different emotions and feelings. And it's not like, Oh, guys, avoid these feelings at all costs. Shove them down and forget. No no. Go ahead. Take a minute with it. And you know, one of my favorite exercises I do with my brother is we call. Each other on this stuff, if we're if we're in a bad space, something bad is happening, or whatever, whatever we're dealing with, and And number one, we both recognize, is this serving me? This is a question I ask myself all the time. Is it serving me to feel this way? Is it serving me to think this now, if you're in a negative place, of course you're going, Yeah, this is not, I don't want to be here. This is not serving me and my brother and I ask each other a simple question, how long do you want to spend here? It's up to you. And hey, there's no blame. There's no judgment. Here. You go ahead and spend as much time you want to be a victim. How long do you want to be there? You won't be there for days. And for me and for my brother, it's like, no, I want out of here immediately. I don't like that. Great first, first question, how fast you want to get out? You want to get out right? Okay, now let's do some things to get you out of there. And the coolest thing is, there's some techniques that can get you out of there, like this. And all of a sudden you're like, wow, I don't have to spend a bunch of time there. And the more time you spend there, you get comfortable there. And then you start, you start going, it's not that bad. Life's okay here. And and then you start attracting things that keep you here. So for me, I like to do the opposite. I go, I don't want to be here for more than a few seconds. I am ready to be out. And now I start doing the things to get me out. And then you start attracting the things that keep you out. See how this is a win, win, win, win, win.

Jason Croft  41:25  
It's huge. I love that. That's it's the human part of this too, which I love that, that that you're doing there with, with your brother and stuff too. It's not, Hey, dummy, you know better than that. You don't need to know it's, you know, sometimes I just want to sit in it. I want to sit it. I'm gonna set the time limit for five minutes. I just want to sit in it. Yeah, I'm exhausted. I'm angry right now. I want to sit in it for five minutes, but only five minutes. Really good. When that belly, it's gonna get up and move forward? Yeah, I love, I love that exercise.

Markus Kaulius  42:04  
That's, that's really good. And I just want to highlight the fact we love to come from a place of love. You know that idea of like, Hey, dummy, it's man. We think we like that because we saw like a coach in a movie that motivated that way. Hey, stupid, work harder, and it's like, okay, that's me. I don't think that works in real life, and maybe it works in professional sports, but I still actually believe if you came from a place of love and respect and mercy, you'll get even more out of that athlete. So I come from a place of mercy and love, because again, I was once there, and I had, unfortunately, a lot of people going, Hey, stupid, stop doing that. And I didn't, and that didn't help me. That didn't get me out. So I know that it's not going to get other people out. And I have so much mercy for the human condition. We are being drawn into that warm, lukewarm pool all the time. Everything around us is drawing us into that pool and keep you there. I just want to be that one to go, Hey, if you want to stay there, go ahead and stay there. If you're interested in getting out, I'd love to offer you a hand. And I'd love to help you out.

Jason Croft  43:13  
I love that. Who should reach out? Who should stick their hand out? How do they get in touch with you? How do they go, Oh, I don't know what this is, but I need more. I need more Marcus in my life. Oh, man, I

Markus Kaulius  43:26  
love that. I love that I give you a taste for free. All right, that's like a good drug dealer here. No, I would love it if you reached out. Just so you know, everyone like this is the season of my life I'm in, and I don't see myself ever leaving. I really want to serve. So if you are somebody who something resonated with you, will you let me know? I mean, why not encourage me? Lift me up? I would love to respond back to you, telling you thank you. And if there's something going on in your life that I might be able to help you with, I would love to, I mean, I'd be blessed and honored to do that. Find me@playabiggergame.com it's the name of the book. Play a bigger game.com or find me on Instagram. Shoot me a DM. You know, I received a beautiful message this morning, as it's on my mind, an email someone who took this challenge when I put it out on another podcast, and they're like, Hey, I don't think you're gonna respond, but here's what's going on in my life, and here's what the message that resonated with me. Just wanted to hear your thoughts on such and such. I was so honored and blessed to respond to that. Now, yes, of course, I get a lot of these messages, but I just want you guys to know I love it, and you taking the time to message me will make a difference in your life, because you are doing something, you're taking a step, you're taking action to change your life. So I want to encourage you with that, and I'm so proud of you. If you're thinking of doing it, just do

Jason Croft  44:51  
it before we wrap up here, you mentioned some of the folks you're working with and taking some ownership in companies. In all of that. What's, what's the latest in all of that right now?

Markus Kaulius  45:05  
Easiest one I'm most excited to talk about these days, it's yay stack and yay it's this unbelievable company that is just pure positivity. Love energy and giveaways. So we it's an app right now that is only in we're proving ourselves in Atlanta, Georgia, but it's at any day. I mean, even by the time that this comes out, it might be right across the USA, but it's a geocaching app. What that means is, you download the app and you will get notified when we're doing a drop near you. So hey, there is a $250 Lululemon gift card less than a mile away from you, and people are bolting to get there, and when you get there, if you are the first one to get there, it turns around. It gives a little surprise, and you've got a $250 Lululemon gift card in your hands. And we're working with the coolest brands, Lululemon, Chick fil A, Zoa energy. In fact, we're doing a few of the rocks brands, because the rock is the coolest.

Jason Croft  46:03  
Amazon, I use this shampoo because I thought, I thought, You know what? If anybody knows hair products, it's the rock. So I gotta use that. I love

Markus Kaulius  46:13  
it. I love it. And, you know, I why it excites me so much. Though we're giving back, and it's company that gives back to the very core. The generosity is built in throughout. You know, people need it so bad. We need freebies. We need wins right now, and especially with this economy like it's it's just something to give, and it's just give. It's just give. There's no cost to this. You just give. You receive, you receive, you receive. And people are sharing it with their friends. They're going with their friends. They're going with their family. People are challenging each other. It is so much fun. And more and more companies are getting on board. More and more companies are giving away big prizes, and we just love it. And by the way, one of the coolest things in the back end, one when we start making the big dollars we've already committed to putting a lot of it towards the Tim Tebow Foundation, which saves kids out of the sex trade. And it's just beautiful, like that's just to our very core at yay, this is what we do, and that's

Jason Croft  47:11  
what I was gonna ask. I love that, because knowing you, I know there has to be that bigger piece, both in the bigger mission of the brand and also the people behind it, I imagine are just yes, there's got to be something that resonates there for you. And I love this idea, because it's people probably think I'm a broken record, but this idea of you can do good in the world and make money, and the more you can get brands on board, and more people like it's these aren't mutually exclusive things. And you know, like you said, it's a way for a brand to break through that other ways aren't working anymore, or Yeah, as well. So yes, appeal to those brands like, Hey, this is gonna help your bottom line, all the while doing great things in the world. I love that. Thank

Markus Kaulius  48:09  
you, brother. Hey, I gotta tell you one more super fun feature that I know you're gonna appreciate about this app. So I just won my gift card. I'm immediately prompted to shoot a celebratory video. And so yeah, thank you, Lululemon. I just won $200 I love you, Lululemon. And immediately it gets sent to their dashboard. So Lululemon has all these videos of people who are celebrating loving Lululemon, like talk about win, win, win, win, win. Everybody's happy. What a perfect situation. And again, for me to be perfectly aligned with this brand and the ownership Trey, the coolest CEO on the planet. And yeah. So watch, watch for yay coming to your neighborhood. Beautiful

Jason Croft  48:52  
Marcus. Thank you so much. Thank you for being on the show, coming back on here, and doing what you do in this world.

Markus Kaulius  49:00  
It's, it's huge. God bless you, brother, man. I just want to say thank you again. Thanks for the opportunity to hang out with you and your amazing hair. And I just appreciate what you're doing. You are making a real impact in people's lives. Please don't ever forget that. And every anybody, everybody who's listening still, will you go leave a five star review, let Jason know that you're listening, that the stuff he's doing is making an impact, because I know it is. And he takes so much time out of his day, and he puts so much love and effort into this, the least we can do is support the guy with some reviews. Share the content. You're going to see these little clips, share it with someone else who needs to hear it. We all have people in our lives who need to hear this stuff, so give them a little taste. And just say, Hey, I'm thinking about you. Hey, I thought you might like this. Hey, I thought you might appreciate this. And God bless you guys. Thank you so much for listening. Thank you, Jason,

Jason Croft  49:51  
thank you so much. We'll see you all next time. Thanks for joining us on strategy and action. Remember. True industry leaders don't chase opportunities. They attract them. Want to build your own market gravity. Visit media leads co.com See you next time you.