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Host
I cashed out my entire 401k thinking someone stole my identity.
Guest
A fake email cost me my dream home. After I sent my personal information to
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Guest
Let me just ask you this, Mr. Risk Taker. What's the bigger risk? Carrying on might get going, it's going well or taking the deeper dive. I grew up only knowing sort of the courage of the persistence. You're resilient, endure. Get up, dust yourself off. Go. The problem with that, the Achilles heel with that is if you get up and get the courage to keep on going every time and get up and dust yourself off, you make the same mistakes each time around because you never backed up to have what I've now learned, I'm still learning, is the courage to go, no, I'm gonna let some people pass me in the race right now because I'm gonna look at why I keep stepping in that damn same pothole and twisting my ankle the same why I keep failing when I try to get that next spot in this relationship or failing in this place to get this product of my craft to the next. There's a time for everything and for every thing, you reap that will you sow. There's a time to kill. There's a time to live, there's a time to plant. There's a time to gather. And you need both. You know, I sit here with a life where I have the luxury to ask myself and ask others, no, make a sacrifice today. Sacrifice something today for more freedom tomorrow. Sacrifice something today for a possible healthier future for your kids. I understand that's a luxurious position. I'm not going to apologize that I'm in. I'm in it. But I understand to someone in misery, they're going there. It's a privilege, man. I'm trying to put food on the table right now and pay my rent tonight. You want to talk to me about investing in My future. I'm trying to feed family tonight. I'm not thinking past that. I can't think past that. Well, if you don't have the hope or believe in something, you're going to end up, you're going to definitely going to remain where you are. And if you have hope and faith in something, I'm not saying it's 100% get of jail, you're going to absolutely get out, but you got the best chance to. And what if there is nothing there, man? What if there's nothing to hope for? What if there's no next? I don't know. But either way, not having any hope or faith in anything is a certain way to remain where you are. But if you can find something, something that no matter how small to look forward to and continually have faith in and chase, well, then your life here is going to be better. Now if you're going to do it, do it. Say what you can do. Do what you say you can't do it. Don't say you can do it. Don't over leverage yourself. Don't over leverage a decision and then jump in and kind of dip a toe. I think I'll try it out now. Think if you're going to try it out beforehand, but when it's time to go dive, finish it, find out, come out the other side, don't leave it and go, oh, if I just would. That keeps me up at night. I think it keeps a lot of us up at night. When you half ass something, you just don't know whether you failed or succeeded, got what you want or didn't get what you want. Finding out and looking in the mirror and going, I didn't half ass it. I went all the way. I found out and that ain't for me. Or I found out and you damn right that is for me. That's a great place to get to. I think part of the challenges in life is a lot of us are running around half assing ourselves, half fooling ourselves, not full of ourselves, not studying ourselves enough, not holding ourselves to task enough, not patting our own self on the back when we do get what we want enough. Not cracking our own whip on our backside when we do get out of line, even though we knew better. I wish we were more full of ourselves that way. Someone said this to me before, Matthew, you're so full of yourself. And I without thinking, I was like, well, who else am I supposed to be full of?
Host
That's a good line.
Guest
And I stopped after, I was like, that's exactly what I meant. I went and wrote that down. I wish more people were more full of themselves. I think we should take some time to be able to look in the mirror and own that thing that we pulled off and go, good job. That's what you wanted. It's what you got. At the same time, be able to, as we do more often, look in the mirror when we fail and go, bogey.
Host
You want to pull that off,
Guest
give others and yourself more credit. Happiness, you can't guarantee it, but there is a science to satisfaction there. You can look at habits that engineered less pain in your life, maybe more pleasure, but at least less pain. And that's. That's a win.
Host
So much easier to be supportive and gentle of other people than of ourselves. You know, you will happily bestow this sort of gentle, reassuring pat on the shoulder when somebody succeeds or falls short when they tried their best. Yet given the fact that you tried your best, you give yourself a kick on the way out of the door and a harsh word to follow you.
Guest
Yep, because I got myself in the pickle. Because things didn't go how I wanted it to go or how I believed it could go. Life's the ironic tragedy. Life is pain. I'm the reason that I stepped in, which is also an asset. Even if someone go, why are you giving yourself so much credit for screwing that up? We're gonna make mistakes. You gotta own them, Then you gotta make amends, and then you gotta move on. Guilt and regret kills many a man before their time. So turn the page. Get off the ride. You are the author of the book of your life. There are habits that I notice of things I take care of in my life. Health wise, faith wise, father wise, husband wise. If I'm doing that consistently, there's less valleys.
Host
The ironic tragedy is that life has to be lived forward, but only makes sense in reverse.
Guest
When you look back, we all can all connect. Every single.it's mathematical, scientific, how we got to this table right here, it's all connected. If we go back and look at it and there's a whole lot of. I thought that was the end. Well, it was the end, but it was the beginning of this thing. What you're leaning into is that mystery going forward, right? That ironic Chinese that you have something to push off the. Well, I don't know what I do want, but I do know I don't want that. You have leverage.
Host
Yes.
Guest
You know it's there. You know, we always say, well, who are you? You know, once you figure out who you are. And we ask. I tried to. I try not to ask my kids that now. Well, I want you to know who you are. And a part of that who's helped me is Bob Dylan's lines like, I don't know what all this talks about who we are, man. We are all just what we create ourselves to be. And that gives me a little, oh, that's relaxing.
Host
But the.
Guest
It's so much easier to figure out who you're not. Then if you start eliminating the who I'm not by sheer mathematics, you end up moving towards who more of what feeds you and who you are. And it's a hell of a lot easier thing to go, how can I get rid of some bullshit in my life than it is to go, well, how do I go to my true self?
Host
Do I want to press the accelerator more quickly or do I want to take my foot off the break?
Guest
Sometimes the hard work and the endurance and the elbow grease, the work harder. We were talking about that hustle is not the way out. Sometimes it's, I need to back up, laugh, have a sip of my favorite whatever, and dance my way through the raindrops out of this sun. And even looking at the things that are bad and going, oh, thank you. Appreciate that.
Host
I think one of the themes of your worldview that I've become familiar with is alchemizing bad times into good ones. A reminder that things that seem bad can end up being good. How can people, or how do you have more of that perspective during a hard time?
Guest
I probably start off intellectualizing something that I know I probably should believe in, but don't believe in it and convince myself, even to an extent, to trick myself that you don't sit here and go, well, you just tell yourself, this too shall pass. Okay, great. Well, what the hell's that mean? Even if it's true, in the moment, you're like, what are you talking about, man? I'm in the debit section. I'm in. I'm in a warning section. This sucks. I. I think that how much I'm conscious of it or not, my undeniable optimism and faith that this isn't all it is. And if it is. Oh, so what?
Sponsor Voice
That.
Guest
That that's okay? Well, then, really, so what? You know what I mean, what's the big deal? It minimizes. I don't. I seem to have a tendency not to make a bigger deal out of things that other people make a bigger deal. Dramas. I don't like to create false drama when it comes in a Tard I am affected. I get the blues, I get sad, I get mad I'm a shit to be around. I can't get to sleep. I got demons in my own head trying to work. Trying to work the riddle out, why did this happen? That's the other thing that's tough for me is I think that any bad thing that happens to me, my initial reaction is, what'd you do wrong to lead to this?
Host
Heard a quote recently that said, every man knows reflection and introspection when he's at his lowest bad times. You can't do anything other than wallow in retrospective assessment. But one of my favorite things I've learned from you is when things are going well. Given that that's presumably what you want to have more of, maybe worth deconstructing that.
Guest
Yes. Can I try and bottle some science here to why things are going well. And I did find consistencies. You were appreciating more. You were pointing out beautiful things and not taking them for granted. Until I found a list of things I'm like. And when I get off track, I try to remind myself, ah, you've been slacking on some of those. I've definitely found consistencies and I think we all have them if we just notate them along the way that they're not by accident. Let's cheers. Let's have a cheers on the way for all the things, things that will work for when we have going. Right. Also knowing that it's not forever, that it will. We will have a mountain to climb here shortly. What's my best advice I need to give myself right now is listen to my own damn advice.
Host
You've got this great line where you say so many people are obsessed with how to live longer instead of how to live better. How do you come to think about that?
Guest
I'm for it. The longevity. I'm for it. But in. In the pursuit of it, are we measuring quality of life along the way? Some people aren't. And I personally don't want to have the highest number but then go, that wasn't any fun or I didn't enjoy that, or that sucked. Profit measures quality with the quantity. So I'm saying real success is when you have profit. Well, really great longevity would be for those quality years, quality time left in this life. I also say that because while I'm not looking forward to it, I'm not really afraid of death or dying. I'm not looking forward to it shaking my boots. If I'm face to face with that great white, you Know what I mean? I'm not looking forward to it, but I see it as a. Obviously it's inevitable. And obviously I personally see it as hopefully a comma, you know, not a period. So tomorrow is not today's measurement when the misery is bad enough, right? These people don't have the suffering. Consideration is a privilege, man. I'm trying to put food on the table right now and pay my rent tonight. You want to talk to me about investing in my future and I say, and that's part of what faith and religion are for. To help those in misery hang on to a hope that will most likely not be served them in this life, to sell them belief and faith that they will be served in the next. And what if there is nothing there, man? What if there's nothing to hope for? What if there's no next? I don't know. But either way, in misery, here or without a heaven there, not having any hope or faith in anything is a certain way to remain where you are forever. But if you can find something that you can keep going, something that no matter how small, to look forward to
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Host
I cashed out my entire 401k thinking someone stole my identity.
Guest
A fake email cost me my dream home. After I sent my personal information to
Sponsor Voice
a scammer, my AI agent wired thousands to an account I'd never seen.
When billions of people feel unsafe, that's no longer a security problem. It's an economic one. At Jenn, we're building the trust layer for a more fearless planet with products and technologies from our global brands, Norton, Lifelock, Avast and Money Lion.
See it in action@genndigital.com this episode sponsored by Minky Couture. Fair warning. Bring a Minky Couture blanket home and it may instantly become the most wanted seat in the house. That's the magic of Minky Couture. Minky Couture created the original soft minky blanket trusted for premium quality and custom styles. One touch and movie nights, naps and cold mornings suddenly revolve around who got to it first. Shop now@minkycouture.com that's Minky. M I n k y couture. C o u t u r e.com Go to minkycouture.com and get your Minky Couture blanket. Now, before everyone in your house claims
Guest
it is theirs, continually have faith in and chase. Well, then your life here's gonna be better. Now, heaven or not, let's go to the dream. Let's flip that script. I always have gone from nonfiction to say, let's make that the dream. Just keep living. Art emulates life. Let's go to dreams. Let's go to poems, prayers. These are pursuits of an ideal beauty. These are in between the lines. This is in between the math. This is not academic. This is not intellectual. These are ideals that we pursue the beginner's mind that we have as a child before we know worse. And I don't want to be ignorant. I don't want to be foolishly optimistic. Let's look to those and believe that we can still make those real. I grew up only knowing sort of the courage of the persistence. You're resilient, endure. Get up, dust yourself off, go. The problem with that, the Achilles heel with that, is if you get up and get the courage to keep on going. Every time you get up and dust yourself off, you make the same mistakes each time around because you never backed up. To have what I've now learned, I'm still learning, is the courage to go, no, I'm gonna let some people pass me in the race right now because I'm gonna look at why I keep stepping in that damn same pothole and twisting my ankle the same spot. Why I keep failing when I try to get that next spot.
Host
In this relationship, there is a unique sort of circle of hell that is reserved for when you keep on making the same mistake over and over again. That you've done it, you've had to pay the penance, say that you're sorry, and then arrive straight back to the same place.
Guest
Yeah, I think there's a hell in the mirror. Then I think it can become a living hell. I kept that poem in their daymares.
Host
I love that one.
Guest
I do, too. You know, nightmares suck, but at least you wake up and they're over. The ones that stick with you when you wake up and go through your day, that Are right there. Those are the ones. That's the living hell. I think that's what you're talking about. And you repeat offend enough, word gets out circles gets out. People doubt you on your approach, are like, yeah, but don't do this one. I mean, all of a sudden you're going places and you gotta look over your shoulder. You gotta see who's there that I didn't pay back, who do I owe, what bridge did I burn, what person did I betray to get where I am? That's a life. That's a living hell.
Host
In the modern world, you can move from city to city. At least you can in some regard, leave your reputation behind. However, if you lose your reputation with yourself, if you no longer trust you, Yep, I don't keep my own word. I know that I'm not a trustworthy person. I keep making promises to myself and to other people and I keep on breaking them. I keep doing something that hurts other people or the same person. They don't trust me anymore. And oh, I don't trust me anymore.
Guest
The rom com time that was definitely me doing the work I was doing and only being able to do the work I was doing and offer the roles I was getting. The rom coms was eating at me because I felt like I could. Life is good, man. I make good money, feel like I can roll out of bed and do one of these tomorrow morning. That's cool. I'm the go to guy for this. I was countered by, I had met Camilla, fallen in love, she's now pregnant with our first child. My life was extremely vital and I was alive. Cried harder, laughed louder, felt more joy, all those things. But my work was like, all right. And I was like, well, I wish my work could be as challenging or as vital as my life. And I remember looking in the mirror going, well, be glad right now. Appreciate that it's not the other way around. But can I have my work challenge my lifestyle in this vitality? Yeah, if I do some dramas I want to do, well, those aren't coming. All right. If I can't do what I want to do, let me quit doing what I was doing. Now that was, yeah, it was definitely courageous. I did, I did honestly think I'd written myself a one way ticket out of Hollywood. People close to me, basically almost everybody besides my wife, was like, what is your major malfunction, little brother?
Host
You got it made.
Guest
Why, why are you throwing a jackknife in this? You're tripping yourself, running downhill, man. You did it. And I had my wife and myself to remind myself for that 4am clarity that I had in tears when I was like, no, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm rolling the dice. I'm sticking with it. Yeah, man, I did think I wrote myself a ticket out of Hollywood. I did look at other vocations, become a teacher, a wildlife guide. I serious, serious with those things. But over time, and it was about 20 months, it was gone long enough. Had found anonymity. Enough was not in your living room, in a theater, in a rom com. You didn't seem on a beach, shirtless. Where is he turning down the 14.5 million dollar offer. Maybe people go, oh, what's he up to? They don't just. You don't just step out of Hollywood and enter unless you get. You turn that down because you got a plan, you got somewhere you want to go. And I think that made me more attractive as a new novel idea. But that was. Yeah, that risk took it. I think it's fair to say that took a fair amount of courage from me.
Host
For a lot of people, their work feels more vital than their life.
Guest
Yeah.
Host
Is that a shiny object mirage that they need to rid themselves of?
Guest
If you can and you're willing to. Yeah. Look, that's part of why I started writing. The script flipped on me five years ago. It was like I was feeling like my work was more vital than my life. I felt like I was going through the motions more of my life. But I was really getting major life experiences through my work. And so that was a challenge to myself, which led to the writing, which was a more direct experience. Kind of put a word down without it's my script and without my performance on it, without music, without pictures. So that was an inward journey that I'm still on. Yes. Confidence, identity. Testing it out and it can work. Confidence to go, I'm gonna try and pull this off, maybe get away with it. Maybe it won't work. Pulling things off. And I have an innate ability for something that I believe I have the innate ability. And I learned to. The reason behind that instinct and how to, how to. Where's the right time, timing? Oh, and it'll work, I think right here. Who's the audience I'm talking to? Oh, yeah. I'm gonna make a plan for that cell. If it's all sales or that transaction or whatever it is. And bam. It hits and it lands like I wanted it to dawn. Damn it. Was that deja vu? It happened. That's how I saw it. That I get confidence from that It's. I don't think it's what the mystics meant when they were like be disattached they give me go embrace but for highs and lows and pains and pleasures understand that those outward things are not the things to be attached to for your own identity. It's got to be inward first. Enjoy those partake but don't become attached to those for your measure
Host
without complacency. Trust that time is on your side. What do you mean?
Guest
Yeah man, we'll get a header behind it now I can get in a rush look and I know how to hustle and let's go. The clock's ticking. We're all behind, all hands on deck. We gotta bust ass. No time for pause. There's no sleep, no nothing. Get the caffeine out, let's go. Sometimes we gotta do that but that is usually because an unforeseen circumstance has happened that there's a crisis we got to deal with or we've procrastinated and put myself in that position where we got a cram. But it's not those two circumstances. We're going to watch ourselves getting ahead of time and it's on your side. It's a little what I mean about the living longer and living more quality time's on our side and we're forced to think and feel especially today with how fast things move that more productivity, faster pace, more information, faster pace. That's better. We're, we're ahead, we're ahead of time a lot and the time still moving at the same speed and they're not given more than 24 hours a day. Even though me like a lot of people are looking for more. There's not, there's not any more unless you just want to change your workday and some people do. Me, I need my nine and a half hours sleep phone is I'm getting four hours sleep and get five and a half hours more of a workday to be more productive. I would but not to making that trade off. It's on our side and when we're feeling like we're dancing with time I know I'm usually getting more done at the same pace. It's the John Wooden a great basketball coach for uc. Like be quick but don't be in a hurry. That was his note to the his basketball players like and be quick but don't be in a hurry. You will miss things. You know it's, it's, it's, it's, it's The LEGO set and, and you sit there and you get in a rush, you don't read the directions. You get to the end and you've got 12 pieces left and you're like, because you got in a hurry, you got ahead of time. Instead of just that feeling of I've checked out what I need to do and it's all adding up and this thing's built right in the foundation, right? And boom, there's the last piece. It fits. Voila. Was with time. Time's on our side. It's not an enemy. The end. Death is not the enemy. I do believe that part of, you know, not in a rush to get there and we can stave it, we want to stave it off sometimes. And that it can be a screaming fight and partially denial can help us get there. I understand that. But still, it's on our side. It's going to happen. And since it's going to happen and there's that's non negotiable. Might as well go, well, I'm not gonna rush to try and make more of it than there is. I want to try and spend the time I got as well as I can produce, succeed, achieve whatever those things are, but also at a pace that I'm me, that I like to dance to. I like the give and the take. I like the reverb, I like the, the, the cause and effect of how things are happening at this pace. How are we orienting ourselves now since time is speeding up so much faster? With AI I'll ask you this. With AI and I mean, this is an objective question. With AI, with all these podcasts, with all these wealth of information that people can get at all times and no one's listening to music anymore. They listen to everybody talk about this and reading up in this and they're finding out the answers and in 10 seconds that would have taken them 10 days to get before. Do people sound smarter to you?
Host
No.
Guest
Me neither. It'll sound dumber. I do think so we were talking about significant. If everything's significant, nothing significant at all. I do think that I, I, I talk to people that feel like they're hyperly punching their information. Absolutely great flushing out. But I'm going, dude, what was the theme there? Did you have a bass guitar in your band? You need a bass guitar or at least somebody on percussion. Hold it down. Because I didn't hear the theme, I didn't hear the thread. It was digits. Where was the soul in that story? Which goes back to the quality with the quantity the quantity of information. But can we have the soul in it? Where ah, I hear the rhyme. Ah, this rhyme to that those digits, there's rhyme to those, those facts. Oh, I see how they add up. Oh, but what if you put them in this order? Ha. They add up to another thing. Or actually, they may add up to the same damn thing. Interesting. Now I've got a rhyme. Now there's a song that happens when times on your side and you're looking at it without complacency like start now that doesn't mean time's on my side. Yeah, dude, inshallah, when it happens, it'll happen. No, like wake up, clock's ticking it's on your side now just move with it, dance with it Put some soul with the facts.
Host
I cashed out my entire 401k thinking someone stole my identity.
Guest
A fake email cost me my dream home. After I sent my personal information to
Sponsor Voice
a scammer, my AI agent wired thousands to an account I'd never seen.
When billions of people feel unsafe, that's no longer a security problem. It's an economic one. At Jenn, we're building the trust layer for a more fearless planet with products and technologies from our global brands, Norton, Lifelock, Avast and Money Lion. See it in action@gendigital.com Fair warning.
Bring home one Minky Couture blanket and suddenly everyone in the house will claim it as theirs. That's the Minky Couture difference. Seventeen years ago, Minky Couture created the original luxury Minky blanket. And ever since, we've been bringing comfort, connection and softness to families everywhere. Crafted with premium quality and thoughtfully designed styles, our blankets are made for real life. Cozy moments from movie nights and afternoon naps to slow mornings at home. Shop now@minkycouture.com that's M I N k Y C O U T U R E com and discover why Minky quickly becomes everyone's favorite blanket.
Episode: Matthew McConaughey – You Are What You Create | Motivational Speech
Host: The Mindset Guru
Date: July 14, 2026
This episode features a powerful, wide-ranging conversation between The Mindset Guru and Matthew McConaughey. The primary theme centers around self-invention, the courage to take risks, learning from failure, and the ongoing pursuit of meaning and satisfaction. McConaughey shares personal stories and insights, emphasizing self-reflection, resilience, and the necessity of living intentionally, with an honest look at our choices and the “art” of becoming who we are by what we create.
“If you get up and get the courage to keep on going every time and get up and dust yourself off, you make the same mistakes…because you never backed up to have what I've now learned…is the courage to go, 'No, I'm gonna let some people pass me in the race right now because I'm gonna look at why I keep stepping in that damn same pothole.'” — Matthew McConaughey (01:03)
“If you don't have hope or believe in something, you're definitely going to remain where you are. And if you have hope and faith in something…you got the best chance to.” — Matthew McConaughey (03:38)
“Someone said this to me before, ‘Matthew, you’re so full of yourself.’ And I was like, ‘Well, who else am I supposed to be full of?’” — Matthew McConaughey (04:19)
“So much easier to be supportive and gentle of other people than of ourselves…Yet given the fact that you tried your best, you give yourself a kick on the way out of the door.” — The Mindset Guru (05:11)
“Bob Dylan's lines like, I don't know what all this talks about who we are, man. We are all just what we create ourselves to be…It's so much easier to figure out who you're not.” — Matthew McConaughey (07:07, 07:25)
“I don't like to create false drama…When it comes in, it's hard. I am affected. I get the blues…I got demons in my own head…” — Matthew McConaughey (09:09)
“I'm for it, the longevity…I personally don't want to have the highest number but then go, that wasn't any fun…Profit measures quality with the quantity.” — Matthew McConaughey (11:20)
“Nightmares suck, but at least you wake up and they're over. The ones that stick with you…through your day…that's the living hell.” — Matthew McConaughey (16:54)
“If you lose your reputation with yourself…if you no longer trust you…'I don’t trust me anymore.'” — The Mindset Guru (17:31)
“I did think I wrote myself a ticket out of Hollywood. I did look at other vocations…But over time…maybe people go, oh, what's he up to?...I think that made me more attractive as a new novel idea.” (19:26)
"Those outward things are not the things to be attached to for your own identity. It's got to be inward first." — Matthew McConaughey (22:30)
“If everything’s significant, nothing’s significant at all…I didn’t hear the theme, I didn’t hear the thread. It was digits. Where was the soul in that story?” — Matthew McConaughey (26:24)
Matthew McConaughey’s insights resonate with candor, humility, and wit. Through tales of Hollywood risk, repeated mistakes, and the lifelong journey of self-creation, he encourages listeners to step back, investigate their “potholes,” live fully (not half-way), seek hope even in adversity, and add meaning to the relentless pace of modern life. The conversation brims with actionable wisdom — all delivered in McConaughey’s relaxed, philosophical tone, reminding us to “just keep livin’,” and, above all, “be full of yourself.”