David Meltzer: Turn OCD into Your Business Superpower | DSH #1542

Summary

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Digital Social Hour with Sean Kelly

Episode: David Meltzer: Turn OCD into Your Business Superpower | DSH #1542
Date: September 23, 2025
Guest: David Meltzer

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Episode Overview

In this deeply insightful episode, Sean Kelly sits down once again with entrepreneur, speaker, and philanthropist David Meltzer. The conversation dives into how neurodivergent traits—like OCD, addiction, and autism—can become business superpowers, the pitfalls and evolution of identity-driven success, the nuances of humility versus narcissism in leadership, and practical strategies for young entrepreneurs to thrive in an AI-driven future. The tone alternates between candid, funny, and inspirational, balancing Meltzer’s hard-won wisdom with stories from his own rollercoaster journey. This episode is a goldmine for anyone grappling with entrepreneurial self-worth, leadership egos, purpose, or navigating rapid tech change.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Turning OCD and Addictive Behaviors into Superpowers

• Opening Insight:
  Meltzer shares how he’s redirected his obsessive and addictive traits away from substance abuse and into positive routines:
  • “I use my OCD, my addictive behavior...for good behaviors, for nutrition, breathing, water, movement—all the things God tells you you need to live.” (00:01)
• He emphasizes that being “OCD about breathing, eating, and sleep” means prioritizing fundamental health needs, leveraging what could be a weakness into a strength.

2. The Power (and Exaggeration) of Helping Others

• Meltzer reflects on the joys of mentorship and how those he’s helped often exaggerate his role in their success:
  • “The older you get and the more you help people, the more they exaggerate how much you help them...Now, the president of Hyperice, the president of the Niners—these kids that I helped out when they were young, getting them really shitty jobs for low pay, now tell everyone, ‘Oh my God, Dave Meltzer made my career.’” (00:38)
• Both agree the “ripple effect” of helping and connecting people is impossible to predict but deeply rewarding.

3. Vulnerability, Social Media, and Dealing with Judgment

• Sean reveals his own social anxieties and autism, describing content creation as “one of my biggest fears” (02:46).
• David encourages embracing supporters and haters alike:
  • “10% of the people are going to hate you no matter what. But just remember, 10% are going to love you no matter what.” (03:20)
  • He jokes: “Maybe I’ll just stand on stage and say the word ‘the’ for 20 minutes...The people who love me no matter what are going to come up to me afterwards and say, oh, I saw what you were doing there with the consistency or the patience...” (03:27)

4. Mission-Driven versus Commission-Driven Success

• David recounts his early days “commission-driven,” obsessed with financial gain and tying self-worth to bank balances (05:15-06:14).
• After losing everything, he shifted to being “mission-driven,” focused on empowerment and legacy, notably as Chairman of the Napoleon Hill Institute and by building community centers:
  • “It’s easy to say that I’m mission driven at my age, but the commission still follows...I encourage people to make a ton of money...but I hope you learn—for the sake of what, I was making that money.” (06:43)
• He recommends Napoleon Hill’s Outwitting the Devil, calling it more powerful than Think and Grow Rich for unlocking purpose:
  • “Outwitting the Devil...was written in 1937...the depth and the layers of lessons are incorporated. It will change your life.” (07:45)

5. Overcoming the Money-Identity Trap and Finding Fulfillment

• Both discuss how their competitiveness and early focus on money left them feeling empty, and how tying actions to purpose (family, community, legacy) brought fulfillment:
  • “When you want more, like I wanted more of everything, there’s always more. So that leaves you empty and alone.” (10:19)

6. Age, Expertise, and Humility in a Rapid-Changing World

• Meltzer calls out the absurdity of ageism in modern tech fields:
  • “When we discount someone in a subject matter...by their age, we’re being foolish. We’re not being humble.” (12:22)
• He emphasizes cross-generational collaboration:
  • “You can really make a mutual exponential outcome by taking the expertise and subject matters that these kids know and add your mindset experience...It exponentially increases my revenue, my business, my efficiency...” (13:10-14:20)
• Sean agrees, adding, “I get crypto advice from 17-year-olds” (12:57).

7. Fear, Ego, and Emotional Mastery

• David shares his ongoing journey with therapy, trauma, and faith:
  • “One thing I realized through all that investment is I never know what I’m really afraid of...But what I’ve learned...is that I know when I react to fear.” (15:07)
  • “I’ve shifted my strategy...to only elevate the awareness of clues, patterns, and choices I make according to how I react to fear.” (15:47)
• He addresses faith’s central role:
  • “I believe everyone on earth, you’re better off if you have that type of faith.” (16:45)
  • “There’s no way I’m living this unbelievable life that I have if I didn’t lose everything in 2008.” (18:01)

8. Narcissism, Leadership, and Neurodiversity

• Sean asks if there’s “a place” for narcissism among CEOs, referencing research.
• Meltzer:
  • “Yes, for sure...the biggest, most classic narcissist is our president. He has all the qualities of a narcissist...” (18:37)
  • He aims to model “a gracious alternative in humility,” showing how neurodivergent tendencies—autism, OCD, addiction—can be redirected to create positive impact:
    “I use my OCD...for good behaviors...I use that as a superpower, moving what other people may see as a weakness into a strength.” (20:14)

9. The Problem with Labels and the Power of Alignment

• Both caution against fixed labels like OCD or autism (“victim card”):
  • “You are not autistic in everything that you do...You have certain behaviors that can be categorized as obsessive, compulsive or whatever it is.” (21:13)
• David’s advice: Align skills and desires with what’s “doing well” to expand strengths, not transition from “weakness” (21:13-22:41).

10. Time, Energy, Burnout, and Productivity

• David reframes how he manages energy:
  • “I believe...I’m a part of an infinite, abundant unified system of thought that has unlimited energy, unlimited information. So we all have the same amount of energy...It’s what are you doing to interfere with it?” (22:50)
  • He practices prioritization as the antidote to burnout, seeing every day as “24 hours guaranteed to me.”
• Meltzer debunks the myth that aging automatically means less energy:
  • “I have way more energy and I make a lot more money today with that energy...I’ve always had this energy, it was just drugs, alcohol, staying up late—all that energy.” (24:26)

11. On Education and Networking

• Both agree on the declining value of college except for network, alumni bonds, and social development:
  • “There’s no reason to go to college determined upon what you want to do. Yeah, some things you gotta go to college for.” (26:42)
  • “If I had to do it again…I would have went to like Ohio State or SC or Texas with huge alumni, because I’m a business guy and I know how valuable those relationships are.” (26:53)

12. Technology, AI, and the Future of Work

• Lawyers’ reactions to AI: Some embrace it to increase margins, others “based on transaction don’t understand technology” and will struggle (27:20-28:32).
• David observes every tech leap creates both fear and new opportunity:
  • “When they came up with a gas lamp...everybody’s like, what am I going to do?...There will be new jobs.” (28:37)
• 3 Pieces of Advice for Young People (29:06):
  1. “Practice AI. Use it in your own life...”
  2. “Read or listen to books...You’re only limited—you’ll never overachieve your own self-image. Your self-image is based off of your imagination.”
  3. “You got to cold call...If you get more people to DM you back...You’ll have twice as many guests.”
  • “Those are the three biggest takeaways or pieces of advice that I have for young people today.” (29:57)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On helping others boost your own journey:
  “Look forward to that for helping people.” — David (01:19)

• On haters/lovers ratio:
  “10% of the people are going to hate you no matter what. But just remember, 10% are going to love you no matter what.” — David (03:20)

• On redefining purpose:
  “For the sake of what am I doing this? ...I was always outcome driven. And here’s what’s sad. When you want more, like I wanted more of everything, there’s always more. So that leaves you empty and alone and separate and inferior. And once I changed that...I tie everything of meaning in my life to a definiteness of purpose.” — David (10:07)

• On cross-generational learning:
  “You’re an expert at what you do, just like I am. We’ve been podcasting about the same amount of time. And so when we discount someone...by their age, we’re being foolish.” — David (12:22)

• On fear and faith:
  “I never know what I’m really afraid of. ...What I've learned...is that I know when I react to fear.” — David (15:07)
  “I believe everyone on earth, you’re better off if you have that type of faith.” — David (16:45)

• On humility as an alternative to narcissism:
  “It is an advantage to be a narcissist if you want to be a CEO. But there is an alternative, a gracious alternative in humility.” — David (19:09)

• On using 'weaknesses' as strengths:
  “I use my OCD...I use that as a superpower, moving what other people may see as a weakness into a strength.” — David (20:14)

• On energy management:
  “I have way more energy and I make a lot more money today with that energy. ...I’ve always had this energy, it was just drugs, alcohol, staying up late—all that energy.” — David (24:26)

• On advice for young people:
  “You got to cold call, you got to get over it and be able to communicate effectively to get people to get back to you....That’s the first thing I teach. It’s called callback training. Let me teach you how to get people to get back to you.” — David (30:44)

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Important Timestamps

• 00:01: David on OCD and using neurodivergence as advantage
• 03:20: Dealing with haters and unwavering supporters
• 06:43: Mission-driven vs commission-driven work
• 07:45: Recommending Outwitting the Devil
• 10:19: Warning about the emptiness of the “more” trap
• 12:22: Level playing field in new media, importance of humility
• 13:10-14:40: Collaboration between generations and asking for suggestions
• 15:07: Therapy, fear, and emotional management through faith
• 18:37: The role of narcissism in leadership
• 20:14: Flipping OCD/addictive behaviors into business assets
• 21:13-22:05: Skill and desire alignment to maximize potential
• 22:50: Meltzer’s philosophy on time, energy, and burnout
• 26:42: College, networks, and social capital
• 27:20: Lawyers’ reaction to AI, and the future of “human” work
• 29:06-30:57: The “AI + imagination + cold call” formula for young workers

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Closing

David Meltzer leaves listeners with a call to combine tech agility, creative imagination, and persistent outreach as the “three biggest takeaways” for young people looking to thrive amid rapid change. Throughout, he models humility, openness, continuous learning, and a refusal to be boxed in by age, labels, or his own past narratives—making this episode a must-listen for anyone navigating internal or external barriers in business or life.

Transcript

[A]

I use my ocd, my addictive behavior. No longer with alcohol and drugs. I use it for good behaviors, for nutrition, breathing, water, movement, all the things God tells you you need to live. I really focus my ocd. Sleep. If God tells me you need this, if you don't breathe, you're dead. I'm OCD about breathing. They tell me you got to eat to live. I'm OCD about eating.

[B]

Okay, guys, David Meltzer back on the show. It's been two years.

[A]

I know. Look, you're all grown up, Sean. Yeah.

[B]

You were one of my first guests.

[A]

That's amazing. I love to hear that, by the way.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And I love to see people who succeed. I know a lot of people in our space don't. I get so much joy elevating others, being a part of a journey. And one thing you'll learn about helping other people, because I know you do, is is that the older you get and the more you help people, the more they exaggerate how much you help them. So, like, I have people. I got, like, selling ticket jobs for five bucks an hour at aeg. You know, what used to be Staples.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And now, like, the president of Hyperice, the president of the Niners, the president of Harris Blitzer. These kids that I helped out when they were young, getting them really shitty jobs for low pay, now tell everyone, oh, my God, Dave Meltzer made my career.

[B]

Wow, that's awesome.

[A]

So look forward to that for helping people.

[B]

No, that's incredible. Cause a lot of people wouldn't give kids like that the chance. They wouldn't even talk to them.

[A]

Right, right. And I've. As you know, I make a point of being accessible to everybody. I always say I have five minutes for anybody. I give out my cell phone to everybody. And I just make sure that I'm very efficient with an. Intentional with my time to be of service and value, to help people. Because you never know, one little thing can make a huge difference in someone's life.

[B]

Yeah. That's why I have events, too, because you never know who you'll meet. You'll never know who you connect. Like, I still hear stories years later of people I connected that I had no idea about.

[A]

That's so awesome, man. I hear great stories about you as well, connecting with people in the podcast as well. And so it's a privilege to be back. And let's cut it up. Both of our brands have grown exponentially.

[B]

You've been crushing a man, Sirus. Big deal. Congrats.

[A]

Thank you. Yeah. We've been Working with the studio ever since they took it over from Blue Wire. Now we're actually going to have this SiriusXM content mastermind. So we're gonna bring in great content creators like yourself, teach about content, and so we'll bring people in, allow them to be on different shows, also be able to distribute it in our normal distribution, but also through SiriusXM. I love it as its own separate type of podcast and I think it has a lot of legs and they're certainly excited bringing in all the great creators like you and really amplifying through a variety of different people, different ideas, and also teaching about podcasting or content.

[B]

Getting into content was one of my biggest fears, really. Just being open and vulnerable and I hated public speaking. But now I've seen the most growth of my life from getting into it.

[A]

It's crazy. I didn't see that about you when I was on the first show with your co host. I just assumed that you were kind of like the Casey Adams of your speaker.

[B]

No, I was super introverted. You know, I have autism. I'm like, not really social, but like.

[A]

Jim Kwik, sort of.

[B]

Yeah, I was scared of being judged.

[A]

By putting content there's. I mean, I was scared and I was old, so I could imagine me in my 20s.

[B]

Yeah, well, people are ruthless these days on social media, man.

[A]

Now they're protecting you and they're teaching you. So just realize with all the haters out there, there, 10% of the people are going to hate you no matter what. But just remember, 10% are going to love you no matter what. I tease people. I said, I'm on that Aspire business tour. We'll be out here next Sunday with the growth conference that they're doing with Kevin Costner, Gary Vee, myself, Tim Story. But we were joking around. I go, maybe I'll just stand on stage and say the word the for 20 minutes. And they're like, what are you talking about, David? I want to make a point that the people who love me no matter what are going to come up to me afterwards and say, oh, I saw what you were doing there with the consistency or the patience or. But, you know, and the same 10% of the people, by the way, s, we're going to make fun of me for being, you know, old, fat, stupid, whatever great compliments they give you that have no relevance in my life other than to protect me and to teach me. So every time I read something that doesn't resonate with me that somebody's attacking me for some silly reason, I remind myself I'm being protected and taught by it, not punished by it.

[B]

I love that. Seeing the impact of Aspire tour has been incredible. You guys are touching so many lives with that tour.

[A]

It's probably the best speaking blessing and also alignment with my mission of empowering other people because they will sell out everyone, four to five thousand people, but it's the right people. Remember Cole Hatter's thrive that was here that had the same vibe, but he didn't have the same legs as Eddie Wilson and Andrew. You know, th. Those guys have sunk millions of dollars into the community to bring the biggest and the best at the biggest and best and do it often. And it's been a great blessing to be a part of that tour.

[B]

Yeah, they do it every month now. They're doing a huge virtual one too, right?

[A]

Yeah, it's here. It's here in person, but it's three day virtual. So. Kevin Costner, myself, Tim Story, Eddie, Andrew will be here next Sunday.

[B]

That's incredible. What's the biggest thing when you're speaking on stages like that? What's the biggest message you're trying to get across?

[A]

You know, for me, simple messages. Because the simple things to do are simple not to do. And I also want to reinforce the fact that you're either humble or, or you're about to be. And just like your story of losing everything, making back, losing everything, making it back. I had, as you know, you know, significant loss.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But I also had a great transformation in the mindset of how I make money and what my mission is. I always say I was definitely commission driven when I was your age.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I was my Denny. I remember in my early 30s running Lee Steinberg, the notable sports agency. I would look at my bank account worth over 100 million. Right. Properties, Ski mountain, golf course. Dream girl over there on the lovesack. By the way, she's going to take one home if it's in. But you know, I literally would look at my bank account, it would go up like 100 bucks from the day.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And I would somehow have a greater self worth or if it went down a couple hundred dollars, all of a sudden my wife Julie was like, what's the matter? I'm like, oh, I lost money today. My identity was that closely tied. So instead of being commission driven, I'm truly, and it's easier to say at 57 years old with four kids that are, you know, one being 21 this week. That's why we're celebrating here. It's easy to say that I'm mission driven at my age, but the commission still follows. So I'm trying to motivate people that you can have a mission at the young age. And I encourage people to make a ton of money by the way. But I hope you learn for the sake of what I didn't know for the sake of what I was making that money. So I was attached to it and as an identity, not as a purposeful, in fact definiteness of purpose. Which by the way, one of the other big things has happened in my life. Chairman of Napoleon Hill Institute.

[B]

Right. Congrats on that too. I saw that.

[A]

That's part of my mission.

[B]

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[A]

And more than you know, the, the speaking at Aspire, the Sirius XM side of it, Napoleon Hill is going to be my legacy.

[B]

That's a huge legacy. I mean look at how it's carried for him.

[A]

Crazy for his estate. Did you ever read Thinking ro?

[B]

Everyone has, right?

[A]

Yeah. Have you ever read Outwitting the Devil?

[B]

I haven't seen that one, no.

[A]

So Sharon Lecter narrates that I, I'm an audible person. So if you so am. I want the best audio book pro ever created. This is. And I read everything or listen to everything now. Outwitting the Devil will change your life. It was written in 1937. He was channeling for sure. The depth and the layers of lessons that are incorporated. And Outwitting the Devil narrated by Sharon Lecter, one of my mentors. You know, rich dad, poor dad for women and all the things in financial literacy that Sharon Lecter has done. I will tell you, if you're an entrepreneur, if you're a content creator, take the time to listen to that audible. It's called Outwitting the Devil by Napoleon Hill. And you will be texting me, emailing me. Thank you.

[B]

Wow, that's my car ride home today.

[A]

Right on.

[B]

Tell me thanks for that one. 1937.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So it must have some powerful smoking.

[A]

And, and education as if it was 2027. He's still ahead of us right now, so. And it's so entertaining because he has a conversation with the devil, and the devil's called the opposition. But it's super cool, and it will change your mindset and give you a depth and understanding of your pursuit of your potential and purpose. Better than any other thing that I've listened or read, including Think and Grow Rich ironically.

[B]

Wow, that's. That's awesome. Did you struggle to find purpose for a while in your life?

[A]

Yeah. I didn't even understand it, you know, because I was so attached to the outcomes. Being competitive, growing up poor, attached to just wanting to buy my mom a house and a car. And then that happened so early. Nine months out of law school as a millionaire. Three years later, our exit at West Publishing was $3.4 billion. I lost perspective because I actually bought my own bullshit. That money could buy me love and happiness. And Brad Lee actually put it best when he said, david, money is really important. I agree with you. But money does not buy love or happiness. But it allows you to shop. And if you shop for the right things, for the right reasons, you'll be happy. That's why I'm always asking myself when I make major decisions in my life for the sake of what am I doing this? I never asked those questions. I was always outcome driven. And here's what's sad. When you want more, like I wanted more of everything, there's always more. So that leaves you empty and alone and separate and inferior. And once I change that to, you know, instead of saying, I'll be happy when I have a hundred million dollars, it was when I recapture over a hundred million dollars, this is what I'm going to do with it. For the sake of building community centers in Africa, for leading as chief chancellor of Junior Achievement, and building Napoleon Hill's brand and providing security and safety for my community and my own family particularly. So I tie everything of, you know, meaning in my life to a definiteness of purpose. Now that never was there before.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

It was all just a competition to me.

[B]

I love that. I'm pretty competitive, too. I definitely fell for that money identity trap. I think a lot of entrepreneurs do.

[A]

Sure. I think it's an almost a necessity at first. Like, most entrepreneurs are in it at first to make a lot of. They don't want to be limited. I remember my dad, who was an entrepreneur, said, oh, you're going to be a lawyer? I'm like, yeah, someday I'm going to make a thousand dollars an Hour being an oil and gas litigator. And he goes, oh, that's too bad. I'm like, what do you mean a thousand dollars an hour, dad? He goes, yeah, but there's only so many hours in the day. He goes, why limit yourself? And even though I was money driven, my dad was money driven, tried to teach me not to be money driven. Try to be behavioral driven, pursuit of potential driven. I still was caught up in that game of competition that was going to make more money. I still fall into it, like, Ed Milette's a friend of mine, Bill, you some really wealthy guys. And I'll still fall into the trap of comparison, like, oh, well, he just bought an island, you know, and then I catch myself and say, that's not my journey and there's enough for everybody, everything for everyone. But what I need to do is my best to learn lessons and have fun with my life or it's just not going to be worth it. And every day I do my best at what I do. People think it's a grind. It's not. I just, I'm doing my best at what I want to do and then I'm learning all the time. You could tell I'm still well read. I still come to these interviews to learn from you. One of the things too, not to ramble, but I have to say this about you and others in your space. I think a lot of older people, they don't realize there's certain things today. Take AI. How long has AI really been around?

[B]

Seven years.

[A]

Right. Social media, how long has it been? So everybody has a level playing field. You're an expert at what you do, just like I am. We've been podcasting about the same amount of time. And so when we discount someone in a subject matter, topic or expertise by their age, we're being foolish. We're not being humble. Now, I'm not going to take on a 19 year old life coach. Right. That's courageous. But all day long, I'm listening to you. I'm listening to Casey Adams, I'm listening to Dan Fleischman. A lot of those kids I coach too, but they're coaching me because they know more about it than I do. Even though I'm way older, I get.

[B]

Crypto advice from 17 year olds, which.

[A]

Is smart because, yeah, you got to.

[B]

Be nerdy and on discord or whatever, you know. Yeah, no, you're right. Ageism is a thing I see. And I don't like when people use Asians as an excuse. Yeah, because it should be about results and experience. Right?

[A]

For sure. In looking at that situation, knowledge and understanding that you can also increase the capabilities of some of the young people that are doing crypto or blockchain or working with content when you share some of the Outwitting the devil, think or grow Rich, rich dad, poor dad, you know, all these laws, success principles that exist and you can really make a mutual exponential outcome by taking the expertise and subject matters that these kids know and add your mindset experience of how to look at things and when we merge together, collaborate together, the it is such an exponential outcome that occurs by having that positive, open minded, whole, humble, you know. Would it help you if I call it questions and suggestions? Yeah, you know, people shadow me all the time and they're really surprised I allow them to do it. But it's such a benefit for me because I tell them I will do it. You can travel with me, but you'll probably be asleep by 4 o' clock because I'm going to burn you out. I may be old, but I got a ton of energy. But two, you better ask me questions and please give me suggestions. And I've changed my business because as you know, some kids like, hey, have you ever heard of this app or did you know that yourself? Your iPhone can do this for you, right? And all of a sudden it exponentially increases my revenue, my business, my efficiency, the statistical success of what I'm doing. And I never would have known it if I was around a bunch of 57 year old middle aged white men.

[B]

Right? Being open minded, putting your ego to the side. Right?

[A]

For sure.

[B]

That's important.

[A]

That's what I practice is identifying how I react to fear, which is the relationship of my ego, which is meant to protect me from what I perceive to be fear, but where it became instant and obvious. Like most people my age, I've spent millions of dollars in person.

[B]

I hope you guys are enjoying the show. Please don't forget to like and subscribe. It helps the show a lot with the algorithm. Thank you.

[A]

Development. I've even been to therapy from all the trauma. And one thing I realized through all that investment is I never know what I'm really afraid of. Right? Like there's, there's, I believe in, you know, millions of lifetimes. So yeah, I believe in past lives. I'm like, okay, so I'm afraid of shit because of past lives. Womb trauma, infant and toddler trauma, tween trauma, teen trauma, 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s trauma. How do I really know what I'm afraid of? But what I've learned in this ego relationship and acceleration that I've been able to experience even the last two years since we've known each other is that I know when I react to fear. What do I mean? It's instant and obvious when I'm pissed off. Right? It's instant and obvious when I'm worried, resentful, guilty, separate from all these things are instant and obvious. So I've actually shifted my strategy of ego to only elevate the awareness of clues, patterns, and choices I make according to how I react to fear. It's so funny because my wife, we were on the plane and this lady was rude or whatever, wanted to push by her. And my wife's like, excuse me, there's no place to go. And the lady ended up flipping off my wife. Damn. And I'm thinking, you know, I'm really proud of her because she reacted to that anger in the appropriate man. She didn't let it bother her. She had fun with it. Where I know when I was younger that could ruin my whole day and I could accelerate in the wrong direction. People cut you off and then you're flipping them off and then you go home and create an argument with the people that you love. This happens every day. So I'm a big fan of teaching people how to react to fear. Shorten the distance of resistance created by the reaction of fear through wisdom and also faith. I'm very faith based about your God, not my God. I believe you have to believe in something bigger than you, that that loves you, protects you, promotes you, perfects you more than your mom wants to, and call it what you want, go to church, don't go to church, I don't care. But I believe everyone on earth, you're better off if you have that type of faith.

[B]

I agree. I think it's. I've lived the atheist lifestyle and it's pretty dark. That was probably the lowest I've been in, mentally.

[A]

I was worse than an atheist. I was a narcissist, meaning I thought I was God.

[B]

Wow. I met a few of those. Yeah.

[A]

Like my mom even said, I told her one time, I don't believe in God. And she goes, oh, son, you believe in God, you just believe in the wrong God. And so I do believe you have to have that type of faith to be protected when other people know, especially as entrepreneurs, every day there's no evidence we're going to make it, or the evidence is contrary, we're going to make it. And so you have to have faith that I just don't understand how not getting that funding or not getting that deal or losing everything is somehow going to put me or indicate that I'm in a better place or a better position. I, I look backwards in my life. There's no way I'm living this unbelievable life that I have if I didn't lose everything in 2008.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

There's no way. There's no way I do this. All right. I probably, if I didn't lose everything, did I have to be really, you know, vulnerable with you? I'd be dead. At least divorced and my wife's over there. That'll confirm that. Because I was doing really dumb things. My behaviors were not aligned with where I wanted to be or better. And. But for me, losing everything and people around me telling me this is what's going to happen. You need to change your behaviors to align with where you want to be or better.

[B]

I did want to ask you about narcissism.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Do you think there's a place for that? Because they've done studies on a lot of CEOs and a lot of them are somewhat narcissistic.

[A]

Yes, for sure. So it's really challenging because genetically and energetically, I inherited those traits. And they do make for great leaders. In fact, they biggest, most classic narcissist is our president. He has all the qualities of a narcissist. Just look it up on TikTok or Google or ChatGPT, go down the list. So the attributes are there. I want to challenge myself to be a great leader without utilizing the genetic inheritance of the narcissistic tendencies that I had. And I've worked really hard. It's as I got older and I've seen the older generation of mine and I'm like, oh, huh, that's manipulative. Oh, this is. And they're super successful because of it. And so I just want to encourage people to know, yes, it is an advantage to be a narcissist if you want to be a CEO. But there is an alternative, a gracious alternative in humility. And I think it's even more powerful when you know that you have narcissistic tendencies and then utilize the truth, your growth expansion, in a humble way to go ahead and show people, illustrate, empower them through not utilizing. Look, we all have different capabilities that are good and bad. You don't have to utilize them. And I believe that weaknesses are just a matter of where you place them. So you yourself have self admitted autism. Yeah, right on the spectrum. But that can Be a powerful tool, as we see with some of the greatest entrepreneurs of all time. Elon Gates, Elon Jobs, all of them. And I know Jim Kwik, lots of my friends. And I use my ocd, my addictive behavior, no longer with alcohol and drugs. I use it for good behaviors, for nutrition, breathing, water, movement, all the thing God tells you you need to live. I really focus my OCD sleep. And if God tells me you need this, if you don't breathe, you're dead. I'm OCD about breathing. If they tell me you gotta eat to live, I'm OCD about eating. And I use that as a superpower, moving what other people may see as a weakness into a strength.

[B]

That's why I'm not a fan of some of these labels, because a lot of people get prescribed, whatever, ocd, adhd, and then they use it as a victim card.

[A]

Right. But you just apply it. So I agree with you. I like to talk about things and behaviors because this could be an autistic behavior. But you are not autistic in everything that you do.

[B]

Right?

[A]

Right. You have certain behaviors that can be categorized as obsessive, compulsive or whatever it is. So I try to get people to understand the capabilities, the skills, knowledge, and desires they have. Align it with what's doing well, stable, what they think is doing well. Maximize not only the opportunity by aligning your low, your basement, with the best potential you have and. And then accelerating it through the Delta, the desire you have. So, for example, if I love basketball, you know me, I'm not your typical basketball player. My basement is so low that I could have the same delta, the same desire as Steph Curry or LeBron James, and. And do it my whole life the way that they did. But my achievement, my outcome, although my Delta could equal LeBron's, I wouldn't even equal his basement. He was better than me at 9. Then I'll be my whole life no matter how much I shoot baskets.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And so I help to align what other people perceive as weaknesses or strength with what's doing well, what's stable, and they think is doing well, and their desires. And when we start developing this, we see the expansion, not the transition from our vets, our first responders, athletes who I work with. They're all trying to transition. I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa. Let's expand the skills, knowledge, and desires that made you a great athlete, gave you the great skills to be a United States veteran or a first responder, and let's apply it to entrepreneurship. Instead of thinking, you got to transition anywhere.

[B]

I love that. That alignment, right?

[A]

Correct.

[B]

That's where I feel like I'm at now because I'm working really insane hours. But I don't get any burnout. Yeah, I love what I do.

[A]

Can I give you another philosophy why that is?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So in his faith base, I believe, as you know, in this omniscient all power source. And I'm a resource of that. I'm a part of an infinite, abundant unified system of thought that has unlimited energy, unlimited information. So we all have the same amount of energy. In your 20s? In my 50s, we have the same amount of energy. It's what are you doing to interfere with it? So when we talk about sleeping, eating, drinking, movement, all these necessities, the reaction to fear, I just interfere with the energy less than anybody, regardless of their age. Therefore, I'm not burned out because I just see the days as 24 hours guaranteed to me. Eight of them are guaranteed in non negotiable sleep. Four of them are going to be family, faith, finance, studying time and relativity, which is meaning of the time. And then I get to be an expert at circumstantial behavior, which requires prioritization, which is the antidote to feeling overwhelmed or to procrastinating. And in the essence of seeing 24 hours as activity, what's the difference? People tell me, oh my God, you do. And you probably have heard this about me, right? How are you everywhere you fly all these cities, how do you do this? Aren't you exhausted? Aren't you burned out? You're seven days a week. No, I also vacation every day. I'm going to topgolf after this. I'm gonna go out to sushi roka. And then I'm not gonna go to live because I'm gonna, you know, past those days, I'm gonna get a good night's sleep. But I have that energy and so do you. Let's just figure out what we're doing to interfere with it. To get the most productivity, accessibility and gratitude out of each and every day. Burnout's impossible.

[B]

I love that belief because there's this common notion that as you age, you lose energy.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. I'm not as, you know, as strong as I was or fast as I was. And I'm older and genetically, trust me, my wife and I were joking the last couple days. Man, if somebody would have told you certain things that happen to you when you're old. Right as I'm like dyeing my hair, I'm like Man, I just go gray. But you're on these scenes and I'm pretty transparent about what it is. But I have way more energy and I make a lot more money today with that energy. Just because I understand. I've always had this energy. It was just drugs, alcohol, staying up late, all that energy. My body could handle a lot more resistance than it does today.

[B]

Yeah, especially in your 20s, you could not sleep. You could pull an all nighter.

[A]

I'm with 20 year old daughters here in Vegas and I just can't wait to see them like pop up the next morning to go to the live pool party after they went, you know, John Summit's playing and they'll spend the whole night out till four in the morning. I'm like, oh, not me.

[B]

Those days you got to get out of your system though, right? Yeah, I think it's important to have that little phase. And then sophomore year of college, I was over it.

[A]

Where'd you go to college?

[B]

Rutgers.

[A]

Oh, I love Rutgers.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Right on.

[B]

It's a good school Jersey. I didn't make it though. I didn't make it all the way through.

[A]

You're an entrepreneur.

[B]

Yeah. You did though, right?

[A]

I went to law. Yeah. I went to law school as well, business school and. But it's a different world today, you know, and that's true. About time. I used to tell people you got to wake up early all the things that I, I had to do because it was a 95 world and the starting point was different and they didn't have YouTube. I mean, I learned so much. The only reason all my girls did very well and go to great colleges, but only for the social aspect. Right. My middle one who went to IU made six figures while she was at iu.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

And when the social part was done, she wanted. She's five Beta Kappa. School's easy for her, but like she was a semester away from graduating Phi Beta Kappa. She's like, I think I'm just not going to go anymore. I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Now I had to like step in and go, that's just complete. I'll pay for it. Just get C's, I don't care. She ended up, you know, getting A's, but there's no reason to go to college determined upon what you want to do. Yeah, some things you got to go to college for.

[B]

The social aspect is the number one thing for me in my opinion.

[A]

Oh, I think the alumni, you know, beyond the social thing. Like if I had to do it again and I Went to a very small school because it was. I wanted to play football in college.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And it was the only college that would let me play football. The small ones I would have went to like Ohio State or SC or Texas with huge alumni, because I'm a business guy and I know how valuable those relationships are. And you get this instant in when you're like, oh, brother, we want, you know, we're Buckeyes or we're Aggies.

[B]

I've thrown out the Rutgers card a.

[A]

Few times to get guests on the Helps, right?

[B]

Yeah. Helps. Founder of Complex is a Rutgers alum. There's some big ones.

[A]

Big ones, yeah.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Great.

[B]

So all your lawyer friends, now that they're lawyers, are they freaking out about AI? Because now when I get a contract, I put it in chat. Gbt.

[A]

I think some of them are and some of them are. And I think the ones that have the perspective that I have, that technology, since I've been involved in 1992, is here to make humans more human. So they're smart enough as business people to know, hey, this is great, now I don't have to pay paralegals, but they still need a lawyer to file, argue, and to interpret what it is. So instead of you having to go to a lawyer to get that contract done or, you know, chat is awesome for that. If there was a serious issue that is in consultative in nature, they wouldn't have to do the same work that you can do for yourself now. And they get greater margins because they don't have the biggest emotional expense quantitatively, which is employees and overhead. You don't need as much employees in overhead. So now you can be more profitable as a lawyer. But yes, lawyers who are based on a transaction don't understand technology. Amplifying the human nature aspect are going to be in big trouble because they'll be in that drifter mentality and they're going to be victims.

[B]

Yeah. I wonder how my generation is going to evolve with AI over the years. Because there's a lot of concern with jobs being lost.

[A]

Yeah. And there will be. But there'll also be new jobs as well. So there's always that I study history because I want to know human nature.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Always that fair. Even when they came up with a gas lamp, you know, everybody's like, what am I going to do? You know, we're not going to do this anymore. And so it's so funny for me to watch. And I would say three things as we finish up, as I got to go to the 21st birthday party. Shout out Marlena. Three things if I'm going to give a piece of advice to young people today. One, practice AI. Practice it. Use it in your own life, whatever you're doing today. Two, read or listen to books or watch them, whatever you do. Because when we do, like when you listen to Outwitting the Devil, you're developing your imagination. There's one thing that a lot of young people don't realize is that there's going to be a huge value on people that have imagination and can determine the difference between real and fake. And if you know the difference between real and fake, you're already seeing a big benefit. And a lot of people are losing that capability because they're not imagining. Besides, you know that you're only limited. You'll never overachieve your own self image. Your self image is based off of your imagination of you in the future. And then lastly, you're really good at this cold calling, man. The people that are not developing cold calling skills, and I don't care what platform it is, it could be DMing people knocking on doors is exceptional. Cold calling on the phone. I want young people today. If you want to be super duper successful in the next 10 years, practice AI, read books or ingest books to improve your imagination. And then finally you got a cold call, you got to get over it and be able to communicate effectively to get people to get back to you. Because the total addressable community so big statistically, if you get more people to DM you back, email you back, call you back, whatever back to you, you'll. If I get twice as many people to get back to you, Sean, for guests in your podcast, you'll have twice as many guests if it's three times. You do the math four times. Yeah, but we're losing that capabilities. Young kids that come and work for me, that's the first thing I teach. It's called callback training. Let me teach you how to get people to get back to you, because there's so many people that we can get to get back to us today that wasn't available. So those are the three biggest takeaways or pieces of advice that I have for young people today.

[B]

I love all of that, especially the last one.

[A]

I bet you're good at it.

[B]

Yeah. Thanks for coming on again, man.

[A]

Can we do this again? Come on my podcast as well. That's the win. I want to put you on the SiriusXM Tour with me with the content masterminds. I'm literally pouring into young executives and people like you that are going to change the world and appreciate everything you're doing.

[B]

Thanks so much, David.

[A]

Thank you, man.

[B]

See you next time.