Fitness & Finance

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: Erik shares the changes with the show in the coming month such as a name change. His purpose is to provide you with the tools that are going to help you the most which is why some changes to the show are coming. There will be a new name which will be announced soon.  KEY POINTS: Erik talks about a story with a day trader and how there are times when people make money when the market is down (called shorting the market) and compares it to craps when betting against everyone but actually with the house. In that instance the odds are in the person’s favor to win but they are usually in the minority compared to the rest of the gamblers at the table. It is an interesting philosophy that shows there are many different ways to earn money     RESOURCES MENTIONED:  Schedule a time to talk with Erik. Find Erik on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter

OVERVIEW: Dr. Lindsey Marvel, optometrist describes getting into the field which was not widely accepted by her family even though she is a doctor. The focus she had growing up was on sports, especially tennis as she was a highly ranked tennis played that led to a collegiate career and school was secondary. EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: Being in competitive tennis allowed Lindsey to utilize her skills developed in competing directly against someone else, translated into understanding how to handle nervousness in optometry school when it came to demonstrating her capability to perform eye exams while being tested. It also helped in dealing with adversity and failure by bouncing back from difficult circumstances. Lindsey continues to visualize like she did in tennis, where it’s a process done beforehand so she is prepared for different situations.    KEY POINTS: Lindsey describes different challenges with not having equipment in certain clinics she worked at and the appropriate access to proper care right after graduating from school, especially when it was beyond the scope of her practice.  Lindsey talks about the importance of eye exams when it comes to health and catching things early, to prevent problems from happening. She describes the current process of tele-health and performing eye exams from home.   TWEETABLE QUOTES: “The visualization part has to be early on...picturing myself doing well. Also going through different scenarios, what if this happens or that happens.” –Lindsey Marvel “With diabetic eye disease, there are new blood vessels that form and need to be put out like a fire...if new ones form and talk to each other they can spread like a wild fire.” –Lindsey Marvel “They never one with glaucoma because it’s the silent killer of vision.” –Lindsey Marvel “The eye is really a window into the body.” –Lindsey Marvel RESOURCES MENTIONED:  Schedule a time to talk with Erik Find Erik on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter Check out the Seva Foundation Email Dr. Lindsey Marvel Follow @lindsemarvel on Instagram

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: Erik shares a story of a conversation he recently had with an individual who studied finance and daily trades in the market. It was interesting to find that the individual was not aware of different financial concepts.  KEY POINTS: Erik revisits the rule of 72, the compound interest formula where we take the number 72 and divide it by the interest rate we earn on our money and it equals the number of years it will take our money to double.  72 / % rate = # years money will double  Erik also talks about the indexing strategy where our money is not in the market but is based on market performance and we get the growth but are protected from the downside in case the market goes down. He brings up index funds which people are familiar with where a mutual fund is composed of specially the S&P 500.          RESOURCES MENTIONED:  Schedule a time to talk with Erik. Find Erik on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter

OVERVIEW: In this episode of Fitness & Finance, Kristi Lee Cronin, Cardiology Nurse Practitioner shares how she got into the field of nursing and the challenges that came along the way. Her story is inspiring because it shows that persistence pays and we cannot avoid the things that are on our hearts.  EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: Kristi has been into sports most of her life and believes that it is important to stay active especially since it is good for our heart. The heart is her favorite organ as it is involved in so many things and keeps us alive. She originally did not get accepted into nursing programs but knew that she always wanted to be in the field as she grew up with family members who are health care professionals. Knowing that it was meant to be she continued to pursue nursing and was accepted into an accelerated program and then practiced for over 5 years before deciding to make a change. Seeing a gap in care with patients she wanted more responsibility and control over patient care and decided to become a nurse practitioner where she is licensed and had to take board exams.  She is now able to prescribe medications in the state of Florida and has enjoys being able to provide her patients with the care needed and specializes in cardiology because the heart is very important for living.  KEY POINTS: Kristi is very resourceful and talks about being able to adjust her lifestyle during nurse practitioner school in order to minimize the amount of student loans she needed during that time and how she was disciplined in paying them off. Sticking to a school is also what allows her to accomplish a great deal as she is also a wife, mother of two, and also wrote a book Black Balloons. In the book she describes how using and strengthening her faith got her through difficult challenges (black balloons). RESOURCES MENTIONED:  Schedule a time to talk with Erik. Find Erik on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter Visit KristiCronin.com – Book Available Here! Find @kristileecronin on Social Media  

OVERVIEW: Erik talks about the news of Kobe Bryant’s death and what it means to him and the lessons learned from the tragedy. Unfortunately it takes tragedy to bring people together and appreciate one another as we need to tell people how we feel about them always because we do not know how long we are going to live.  EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: It’s is important to appreciate and love people because we never know what is going on in each other’s lives as our time is limited. We often take time for granted so it is a must that we live our lives the way we want to live them and not care what others think.   This is our one opportunity to truly be happy and maximize every single moment of every day the way we want to. Being present is important as we value our experiences so we need to put our all into everything. Going through the motions and “killing time” does not serve us nor those around us.  KEY POINTS: Our legacy is to advance life and set the next generations in better positions than we are currently in. It all starts with ourselves and everything that we do. We need to treat our lives like they are valuable and do better in our health and finances.             RESOURCES MENTIONED:  Schedule a time to talk with Erik. Find Erik on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter

OVERVIEW: In this episode of Fitness & Finance, real estate investor Vee Khuu shares his experiences getting into real estate investing as an immigrant from Vietnam in the midst of the 2008 financial crisis, the benefits of investing out-of-state, tax liens & more.  EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: What was Vee’s upbringing like, especially as an immigrant from Vietnam?  Vee grew up playing volleyball and has become a volleyball coach here in the US.  Vee read Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki, which led him to workshops and coaching in real estate.  When Vee got involved in real estate it was in the middle of the 2008-2009 financial crisis, with tons of foreclosures, so he was interested in buying wholesale from foreclosures.  He found a coach and bought his first property in only three months, and that was only five years after he came to the US.  As someone new to the country, Vee developed the confidence to pursue this line of work after he invested so much money into the coaching that he had nothing left to lose.  Vee learned that he didn’t need any liquid cash in order to make an offer to buy a property, he only needed to put earnest money down once an offer is accepted and contracts are signed, at which point Vee had time to flip the contract and sell the property to turn a profit.  After his second-ever deal went badly and he pulled out of it, Vee and his business partner bought a house to flip themselves.  Ten years later, Vee is interested in out-of-state investing.  Looking ahead, Vee wants to get into commercial investing, maybe with an apartment complex.  To build a team in a new market, Vee suggests doing a lot of research about job growth, population growth, and other data about the area to identify where to search for properties.  You can determine comparable rent in the area by asking other property managers in the area, going to Zillow.com, or RentOMeter.com.   Another option for getting to know an area is to do “mystery shopping,” by calling numbers on for sale signs and saying you’re an out of town buyer looking to move to the area.  People who are interested in investing in real estate but who don’t have a lot of time to wait on the market or shop around because they’re nearing retirement, Vee suggests finding a business partner.  Another option is a tax lien certificate where the government is your debt collector, but it requires a property where someone has defaulted on their property tax.  Vee’s podcast, Real Estate Lab, aims to give you the information you need about real estate investing to earn enough to quit your job.  3 KEY POINTS: Vee met his coach and others who helped him in his career—including Erik—through networking alone.  Out-of-state investing is great because if you make a mistake, it is potentially a smaller financial risk.  Figure out how much cash flow you need and profit you need to make from a property as your baseline so you can determine what deals are a good fit for you.  TWEETABLE QUOTES: “I was young at that point. I was young and stupid. I didn’t care. I didn’t have anything in the back of mind that this was not going to work. I knew it was gonna work because we bought it cheap, we knew the number, we had our mentor, there was no way that I could be wrong.” –Vee Khuu “You can live in SoCal and invest elsewhere. You can go to Detroit, buy a $20-30,000 house and get in $800-900 rent per month. Or you can go to Memphis, same thing. Those are towns you may not want to go in, but people live there. People have jobs there and they need to rent somewhere.” –Vee Khuu “If you want to invest in real estate, I would say invest for cash flow and be an investor not a speculator. You do not want to speculate because you will lose a lot faster than you will win.” –Vee Khuu RESOURCES MENTIONED:  Schedule a time to talk with Erik. Find Erik on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter Find Vee Khuu on Facebook, Instagram Listen to Real Estate Lab Podcast

OVERVIEW: Erik shares a story about a mentor of his who shared the stages of why people are successful and also why they fail. Most people become successful and do not know why, which keeps them from having continued success. Others also do not understand why they fail. Erik shares a personal story relating to his health and fitness journey of success and failure.  EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: The 10 stages of Winning  Failure (we try something and it does not happen because we have to learn)  Blame (as a result of the failure we may blame people, places and circumstances)  Doubt (do not trust that things will work out or that it is “meant to be”)  Realize (we then realize that people do not care about our problems because they have their own)  Survive (we decide to just show up and make something happen, but we are not winning yet)  Hope (it is the belief that comes from the inside that things will happen)  Focus (we decide what to do next and have a sense of direction toward a goal)  Positive (we are excited and have the emotional attachment and need the fuel long-term)  Win (reach the target we set out to accomplish)  Complacent (Biggest challenge for repeated success is the lack of a new vision)  KEY POINT: It is seen with sports many times where a team wins a championship but does not make the playoffs the next year. The example of a team with continued success is the New England Patriots as they look forward instead of looking back. We can use the stages to see where we are in our health, finances and all aspects of our lives and there are times when we can go backwards from stage 7, Focus to Failure, depending on how we respond to circumstances. Use this as a guide to help you.            RESOURCES MENTIONED:  Schedule a time to talk with Erik. Find Erik on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter

OVERVIEW: In this episode of Fitness & Finance, Aimee Carlson, entrepreneur and host of podcast, The Toxin Terminator, shares how she began her journey of eliminating toxins from her life, some useful first steps you can take today and more.   EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: What was Aimee’s upbringing like?  Aimee is a registered mechanic and worked in the petroleum and mechanic businesses, which she believes was the main source of her toxic exposures.    Aimee is not anti-medicine, but has found most doctors are only treating the symptoms you’re presenting with and not looking at you holistically or connecting the dots between seemingly unrelated symptoms.  When and how did Aimee realize her environment was harming her?  There are over 80,000 chemicals available for use in products sold in drugstores and the US has only banned the use of 9 of those chemicals; manufacturing standards in the UK and other countries are much more strict.  Pharmaceutical companies are the ones funding the approval of drugs.  It’s not realistic to eliminate all toxins from your life, so Aimee says to focus on your home because you can’t remove a toxin from the entire environment.  A first step would be to address your water sources; if you can’t afford to get a whole-home filtration system, Aimee suggests a shower head filter as a starting point.  Aimee suggests using lemon—this can be used to rinse your fruits and vegetables because it helps remove dirt, and it supports your liver and kidney function—but if you have frequent UTIs, lemon can make that issue worse.  Aimee also loves apple cider vinegar.  The number one thing is to remove anything with added fragrance from your home—unscented isn’t good enough, it should say fragrance-free.  Aimee also recommends getting rid of products that include parabens, phthalates, and sodium laurel sulfate.  Bioaccumulation can lead to toxic overload, which presents as very broad symptoms like fatigue, sleeping poorly, skin sensitivity and rashes, headaches, gut issues, etc.  Some solutions are pretty immediate, and some solutions take more time, because your body didn’t end up in a chronic disease state overnight.  Aimee is introducing a new segment on her show called First Steps, where a listener will come on air and share what they’re struggling with, Aimee will give them 1-2 changes to commit to making for the next 30 days, and then they’ll come back on air to share how those changes have affected their lives.   3 KEY POINTS: The American healthcare system is reactionary, not proactive, and often treats symptoms and not the whole person.  You have to do your research to determine products safe for your home, where you can control most of the toxins you expose yourself to.  You can decide how far you want to go with it, but even taking a few small steps towards reducing the chemicals and toxins in your home can go a long way.  TWEETABLE QUOTES: “If it was being produced in this country, if I could buy it in a story, we live in the United States for crying out loud, we’re not a third world country, so it had to be safe. Why would I question it? Then I started finding out just because it’s sold in a store, doesn’t mean it’s safe for us.” –Aimee Carlson “The body is made to remove toxins. We remove them through our breath, we remove them through sweat, our blood removes it, our kidneys, our livers… but when we inundate it through bioaccumulation, we get into this state called toxic overload.” –Aimee Carlson  RESOURCES MENTIONED:  Schedule a time to talk with Erik. Find Erik on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter Visit AimeeCarlson.com Find Aimee on LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube Listen to The Toxin Terminator Podcast  

OVERVIEW: Erik shares stories that have impacted him in his career, whether good or bad. He discusses a time when he was in a situation with a client and could help them but was not able to.  EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: The society and environment we live in is very reactive as we do not think ahead and plan long term. Most end up waiting until things happen to us in order to take action and we seem to have only a short term memory when it comes to our health and finances.   Many have not learned from what happened in 2008 because the economy is great but different problems were not solved.     KEY POINTS: Erik shares about a client he was looking to help, being a family member of a friend, and how they were looking to help her plan long term; especially being a single mother. There was a lot back and forth along with delays in taking action and unfortunately she passed away from cancer, complicating matters with the family as there was property involved forcing them to go through probate court.  On the other side, there was a story of another single parent who saw the value of taking action right away by finding the right vehicle for some money from her old 401K and set money aside for her daughter in addition to herself.            RESOURCES MENTIONED:  Schedule a time to talk with Erik. Find Erik on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter

OVERVIEW: In this episode of Fitness & Finance, Jason Priest, Founder of Dad Bod Health and a Registered Nurse, shares how he chose to change his pattern of bad health decisions, how nursing school led to his entrepreneurial journey, the importance of stepping outside your comfort zone and more.  EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: What was Jason Priest’s upbringing like?  Jason’s experiences watching his mother’s substance abuse led to his own drug addiction.    Jason ended up working in nutrition and corporate wellness because he was tired of being surrounded by death as an ICU nurse.  How did Jason going to nursing school help to get him out of the drug and rave scenes?  Working the overnight shift as a nurse—staying up all night, eating fast food, and drinking heavily—caused Jason to gain a lot of weight.  What are Jason’s “four core pillars of health” and where should you start?  As Jason started working out again, it was the power of the fitness community that kept him going with accountability and encouragement.  No one has motivation when they first start to work out; you have to create it yourself.  To get past a fitness plateau, realize that a huge portion of the changes your body is experiencing is your internal health, not your external appearance.  Don’t become complacent with your current routine; always strive to step outside your comfort zone.  Jason began his business as a private coach, but realized he wanted to help more people than he was able to privately, so he started the Man Up Community.     KEY POINTS: Wellness isn’t only about fitness, but also about your nutrition, sleep, and stress management.  A commitment to your health comes before motivation does, so keep going.      Accountability and community have been Jason’s biggest motivators in his health and wellness journey.  TWEETABLE QUOTES: “I never really liked school, and I didn’t want to commit to something for 4 years or 8 years that I didn’t have the heart for. This was way before I even thought about starting a business.” –Jason Priest “I’m big on what I consider the 4 core pillars of health. I’m a big proponent of dialing in your sleep and getting a strict sleep schedule, and then dialing in your stress management…If you prioritize those two things first, the path becomes much easier.” –Jason Priest  RESOURCES MENTIONED:  Schedule a time to talk with Erik. Find Erik on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter Visit the The Man Up Community website Visit the Dad Bod Health website Find Jason Priest on Facebook & Instagram 

OVERVIEW: Erik shares some tips on financial habits to build in 2020 that will help take control of our financial situations so we can reach the goals we have set for the year.   EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: Some people may have already abandoned their New Years resolutions of being better financial as this is a new decade. Even though that may have happened, we can start today in taking better control of our financial lives.     It is never too late and the tips shared can helps us get back on track.     KEY POINTS: Look at the upcoming expenses and bills due whether it is rent/mortgage, electric, cable, car insurance, and/or credit card bills. We want to make sure the money is in our accounts to avoid overdraft charges that set us back even more.  Track our spending on a daily basis: whether it’s online, at a store, or eating out and being aware of how much we are spending. We have to ask ourselves if we continue doing these habits will it help or hurt us financially long term. We cannot turn a blind eye to what our spending habits are if you want to become financially free.       Learn something daily that will help us financially as there are uncertain times now with war and an election year that we want to be prepared because a decade ago people were not and paid the price with their jobs and finances.        RESOURCES MENTIONED:  Schedule a time to talk with Erik. Find Erik on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter

OVERVIEW: Rocky Garza is a Dallas-based public speaker, who focuses on helping people figure out who they are through his ‘identity mapping’ process. In this episode of Fitness & Finance, Rocky talks about how to interact and connect with other people, how to discover your uniqueness and why this is important to a more fulfilling life.   EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: What was Rocky Garza’s upbringing like?    Rocky learned that he was really good at disclosure but not good at vulnerability.       Rocky has pursued many career paths, including a wedding photographer.    What is Rocky’s process of ‘identity mapping?’  Was Rocky more of an introvert or an extrovert while he was traveling a lot when he was a kid?     How do we detach ourselves from our personal biases about our past?      How do the ‘truths’ others tell Rocky about him and the ‘truths’ he tells himself about himself apply to Rocky now?     How can we build connections with people a lot faster?   Don’t ask a question if you don’t want the answer.   Everyone wants to be unique, affirmed for that uniqueness, and to know we can use our uniqueness for goodness in this world.     How can you go about figuring out your uniqueness?   How can identifiers about ourselves improve our lives?   Being a great observer makes you better in your work life.    KEY POINTS: Rocky Garza is a public speaker who spends ⅓ of his time doing workshops and keynote speeches at conferences or for companies, ⅓ on a process he calls ‘identity mapping,’ and the last ⅓ on general consulting.   The two types of stories running alongside each other are the stories that have been told to us about us and the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves.              TWEETABLE QUOTES: “Whatever happens to us between the ages of 6-12 is what we do to survive. When I say  survive I don’t mean life or death, unless that’s a part of our story. Whatever we do to get by is a pretty good accurate description of how we operate as an adult.” –Rocky Garza   “Everybody deserves to be known and I want to help give you the language and processes required in order for you to see yourself in the way the rest of us see you.” –Rocky Garza   RESOURCES MENTIONED:  Schedule a time to talk with Erik. Find Erik on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter Find Rocky Garza on Linkedin, Instagram, Facebook & YouTube  RockyGarza.com

OVERVIEW: In this episode of Fitness & Finance, Personal Trainer, gym Owner, plant-based Wellness Coach and Chef, Coach Letha, talks about losing over 100 pounds, being passionate about her health, how she built up her Wellness Warriors Bootcamp brand and fitness gyms, and being both a vegan and a chef.     EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: What was Coach Letha’s upbringing and early health like?   What were her first 10 days of juicing like?      How did Letha get led to the change in her mindset towards a healthier lifestyle?   Feeding yourself unhealthy junk food isn’t an appropriate reward system when losing weight.   What made her keep going with her diet during the first few days?        How long ago was this when she began her health journey?    What other lifestyle changes did she make after losing her first 40 pounds?     Watching documentaries and doing research in nutrition was helpful in Letha’s journey.  Coach Letha’s vegan life was led by compassion and love, as far as what she eats, what she puts on her body, and how she treats people.     How did her family respond to her new life choices?   Has her family changed their viewpoints about her new life now that many years have gone by?  How did her next 60 pounds come off after losing the first 40?     How did she develop her training program?   What was it like when Coach Letha was opening up her gym?     How did she build up the company culture at her gyms?    What are Letha’s business plans for the future?    Coach Letha talks about being vegan and being a chef.   Letha is launching a Patreon account under Wellness Warriors with Coach Letha.    KEY POINTS: Letha lost about 40 pounds in the first 40 days of juicing and eating a plant-based diet, mostly raw vegan.   Eating better has a more positive impact on your exercises and have more endurance to perform better.             TWEETABLE QUOTES: “You don’t know what good feels like until you feel it.” –Coach Letha  “My body and my mindset and everything just gravitated towards a plant-based lifestyle, more directly being vegan, and I realised, oh my gosh, my makeup doesn’t have to have animal products. Why am I trying to look cute while harming animals?” –Coach Letha   RESOURCES MENTIONED:  Schedule a time to talk with Erik. Find Erik on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter Find Coach Letha on Instagram  Find Wellness Warriors Bootcamp on Instagram & Facebook   

OVERVIEW: Erik talks about the psychological aspects of our plate size and thoughts about gathering with family during the holidays and eating.    EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: When using a smaller plate in wanting to go back to get more food we have to decide if we want to go back and get more food The second time around we do not get as much food because we want seconds of the food we want more of.   When we meet with family the common thing is food.   We want to make the best choices when it comes to our health because we have to mindful of what we are eating and drinking.         TWEETABLE QUOTE: “Use a smaller plate… people will feel like they are overeating when they go back multiple times.“ –Erik Smith “It forces us to get up and out of our seat… it forces us to get up again.” –Erik Smith   RESOURCES MENTIONED:  Schedule a time to talk with Erik. Find Erik on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter

OVERVIEW: In this second part of Fitness & Finance Justin Norris, Entrepreneur and Executive Marketing Director at LegalShield Official in Fairhope, Alabama, talks about why he believes that ‘the victim mindset’ is a lie, giving ourselves permission to have success, learning how to receive, the power of belief, personal development and focusing on the moment.    EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: What tips would Justin give to someone starting a business who may have a similar background as him?   Justin explains why you need to learn how to receive.    Who do we typically listen to?      Justin Norris breaks down why he feels ‘the victim mindset’ is a fallacy and creating solutions through challenges.     The mind works best when it is focused on one thing at a time.        What is Justin Norris’ routine?   Justin Norris discusses how he improved his health as he was expanding his mindset and growing in his business.    What is the Reticular Activating System?   Right now is the only moment we have, and it is filled with infinite possibilities.  Which books has Justin read multiple times?   Justin expresses the importance and impact of personal development.     People deserve their best life and health is a huge part of that happening.   What are the things that Justin cares about?  KEY POINTS: Be on purpose with everything.  Things aren’t happening to us. Things are happening for us.           TWEETABLE QUOTE: “I didn’t know that I needed to learn to receive. I was so used to being in need, my brain did not have a mature foundation of being willing to receive, and receiving is a good thing because it puts us in a position.” –Justin Norris  “Seek the advice and the council. Seek the mentorship. It’s very important. It’s highly important to seek the mentorship of those that have the results that we want, and listen, and be willing to do things against our own understanding.” –Justin Norris   RESOURCES MENTIONED:  Schedule a time to talk with Erik. Find Erik on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter Find Justin Norris on Linkedin  Email Justin Norris – JustinBNorris@gmail.com 

OVERVIEW: Erik talks about what it takes to cover expenses for the days we no longer work for money over a 20 year period. He breaks down the numbers for basic expenses.  EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: Are we or our parents set up financially to cover expenses that we will have in a 20 year retirement.    Depending where someone lives, the expenses could be more for their rent and/or mortgage.      Looking at the numbers $1,000,000 seems like a good amount of money but a 20 year retirement requires more than that.   As a result many people are more fearful of running out of money compared to dying.           TWEETABLE QUOTES: “...Want to set up our own pensions, and if we want to do that, we have to look at a lot of factors...” –Erik Smith  “Some people spend $912 in a meal…” –Erik Smith “$980/month for healthcare… this does not even include Long Term Care.“ –Erik Smith RESOURCES MENTIONED:  Schedule a time to talk with Erik. Find Erik on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter "Power Of Zero" by David McKnight

OVERVIEW: In this episode of Fitness & Finance Justin Norris, Entrepreneur and Executive Marketing Director at LegalShield Official in Fairhope, Alabama, talks about being raised by a strong single mother, his involvement in sports, how he began to take fitness very seriously, dying and coming back to life, working at LegalShield Official and what paradigms mean in our lives.   EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: Justin Norris talks about his upbringing and where he grew up.       Justin opens up about the strong positive impact that his mother had on his life.       What made Justin Norris decide to get involved in sports early on?     Which moment prompted Justin to take fitness seriously?   How did mentors play a role in fitness for Justin?     What took place in Justin’s life after high school football ended?   Justin talks about almost dying in the hospital.    What are paradigms and how do they affect us?      Why did Justin step away from sports in college?   How did Justin Norris begin working at LegalShield Official?   For things to change, we have to change. KEY POINTS: Justin Norris died and was revived. This began after he took taking medicine and his whole body starting to itch and he temporarily went blind.  Anything that we tolerate we invite more of in our life. This is why many people live in pain and don’t do anything to change it.          TWEETABLE QUOTE: “I’ve got an amazing mom. Huge heart. I believe I inherited her heart and caring for others. She always taught me to do my best. I remember, I think I was 13, when we sat down and she told me to always do my best so I will never have regrets.” –Justin Norris  “Paradigms are foundations of thought that we have received, whether it be from our family or from the conditions of the world around us that we believe as completely normal and that we accept.” –Justin Norris   RESOURCES MENTIONED:  Schedule a time to talk with Erik. Find Erik on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter Find Justin Norris on Linkedin 

OVERVIEW: Erik shares thoughts on how to get into the 0% tax bracket at retirement since we do not know what taxes are going to be in the future.   EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: To get into the 0% tax bracket we have to be able work our exemptions, deductions, retirement accounts, and social security together by intention so we do not pay taxes legally in retirement.       A lot of the concepts are ones we do not learn about in school and are typically reserved for the top 1-3%.      TWEETABLE QUOTES: “There are ways where we can put our money away and it will grow for us tax deferred and be pulled out tax free.” –Erik Smith   “You don’t have to like life insurance, but you can like it a little bit more than the IRS.” –Erik Smith   RESOURCES MENTIONED:  Schedule a time to talk with Erik. Find Erik on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter "Power Of Zero" by David McKnight

OVERVIEW: In this episode of Fitness & Finance, Claire Harrison, Entrepreneur, Business Owner, Exec Area Manager and Independent Consultant of Arbonne, Ex-Police Detective, and Mother of Two, talks to your host Erik Smith about her battle with bad health. Claire talks about the steps she took to shift her health, what she has learned about nutrition products and the benefits she has experienced.   EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: Claire Harrison talks about how her health has been upgraded.        What were the benefits that Claire had when she improved her diet?      How can people help their health with The 30-Day Plan?     Eat healthily and cook in large batches so you can reheat it and have leftovers.    What led to her decision to go full vegan?    How did Claire’s body make the adjustment?   Has Claire’s vegan lifestyle been difficult?   Claire discusses a recipe that she enjoys.    What are some alternatives to beans?   What is the milk alternative ripple?     What was Claire’s experience like singing at the MGM Grand for 16,000 people?  What has contributed to Claire Harrison’s growth journey? How long did this journey take and how was she intentional with it?  How does Claire Harrison help people on their journeys?   You are in business for yourself, but not by yourself?   What advice does she have for people starting a non-traditional business?     KEY POINTS: Your stomach is your second brain.    Surrender to what the universe is putting in your path. Learn from it and accept it.       TWEETABLE QUOTE: “If you can actually improve your gut health, improve everything that is going in there, and stop your body having to overprocess everything in your stomach, you are going to improve everything” –Claire Harrison   “The whole purpose of The 30-Day Plan is to remove the toxins and get into an alkaline state and allow your body to make itself well. So, you are reducing the chances of things like diabetes, heart conditions, even auto-immune diseases.” –Claire Harrison   RESOURCES MENTIONED:  Schedule a time to talk with Erik. Find Erik on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter Find Claire Harrison on Facebook and Twitter Arbonne: arbonne.com/pws/claireharrison/tabs/about-me.aspx 

OVERVIEW: Erik talks about not waiting until January in order to change your health habits or starting to workout. Just make the changes now.  EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: Most people are waiting until the new year/new decade in order to change their fitness and finance habits and goals.         Those who are successful do not follow the masses and start now instead of waiting.    It does not matter your fitness level because if you have not exercised in months or years, we all have to start somewhere. Even if we exercise daily we can improve as well.    TWEETABLE QUOTES: “Just start with a 5-10min walk in your neighborhood.” –Erik Smith  “Get your family involved, as your children will not do what you say, but do what you do.” –Erik Smith   “Be that example to your children and your spouse and when you get results your spouse will want to make the changes too.” –Erik Smith RESOURCES MENTIONED:  Schedule a time to talk with Erik. Find Erik on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter

OVERVIEW: In this episode of Fitness & Finance, Claire Harrison, Entrepreneur, Business Owner, Exec Area Manager and Independent Consultant of Arbonne, Ex-Police Detective, and Mother of Two, talks to your host Erik Smith about going from working in law enforcement to starting her own business. Claire Harrison also discusses balancing her family life with her personal development journey and the health and nutrition changes she has made in her life.  EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: Claire Harrison talks about her upbringing in England.         What got Claire Harrison involved in law enforcement initially?      How did police work affect her emotions and marriage?    Claire talks about the changes in her life, including getting remarried and leaving police work.    What did joining Arbonne do for Claire Harrison’s life?     What does redundancy mean in the UK and how did it influence her employment?   Claire shares specific mindset shifts she had that benefitted her life.   What was the moment that made Claire Harrison change her life? What steps did she take in her growth journey?   Follow the path of those that have already done what you want to do.   What did Claire’s health and nutrition journey look like? Were there reasons why it took so long for Arbonne’s nutrition products to reach the UK?       KEY POINTS: Her transformational journey included personal development, health, growth leadership skills, the people she got to surround herself with and a shift in mindset.   Have gratitude. If you can’t manage what you have, how can you attract more?      TWEETABLE QUOTE: “You really have to look inside the person that you are to the person you want to be to make those shifts to become and achieve what you want to achieve in life, and really dig deep to those original goals and dreams as a child.” –Claire Harrison   “If you want stuff to change, you have to make a change, and it’s now about educating my children that there is way more in life.” –Claire Harrison   RESOURCES MENTIONED:  Schedule a time to talk with Erik. Find Erik on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter Find Claire Harrison on Facebook and Twitter Arbonne: arbonne.com/pws/claireharrison/tabs/about-me.aspx  Book: You Are a Bad Ass by Jen Sincero  Book: The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy   Book: The Invaluable Laws of Growth by John C. Maxwell 

OVERVIEW: Erik shares some things to consider with it being Black Friday and what we are doing by spending money and paying someone else.    EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: Instead of not spending money on black friday because of all the deals, lets match that same amount to pay ourselves. Do a dollar for dollar match because we are paying other companies, so we should do the same and pay ourselves. KEY POINTS: Along those lines when people are opening an IRA to reduce their taxes owed as told to do so by their tax professional but people need to know where their money is going and what it is invested in.  TWEETABLE QUOTE: “Just know what you have and where it is.” –Erik Smith   “People know exactly how much they spend on their cable bill…but they don’t know how much of where your money is going.” –Erik Smith  “Figure out how much risk you're willing take and make sure your investments reflect that too.” –Erik Smith  RESOURCES MENTIONED:  Schedule a time to talk with Erik. Find Erik on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter

OVERVIEW: In this episode of Fitness & Finance, Mo Shah, Entrepreneur, Coach and Investor, talks to your host Erik Smith for part two of this interview about how he has helped thousands of families achieve their financial goals. Mo also discusses why conventions have been such a huge benefit to him, how to get the most out of attending industry conventions, and what it takes to keep new energy and momentum going in your business.   EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: Personal development should not be treated like a chore you don’t feel like doing.        What types of resources are most beneficial for Mo Shah?      How would Mo coach people that like going to conventions but need to apply what they are learning?    What has Mo Shah learned about putting on events?      How does Mo determine if an event made the desired impact that he was aiming for?     How does Mo view what momentum is? How can you avoid reaching a plateau and become stagnated?     How can new energy create a positive explosion in your business and how can you channel that?       What advice would Mo give to business owners getting started with similar goals?      KEY POINTS: Personal development is a daily lifestyle to improve yourself and continually gain value from your activities.      What are you doing on a monthly basis to spike up the momentum of your business’ core foundation?        TWEETABLE QUOTE: “Knowledge is powerful. But only if you apply it.” –Mo Shah   “When you go to conventions, look at the person who is speaking and ask yourself, ‘Can I be that person? How far off am I from becoming that person?‘” –Mo Shah  RESOURCES MENTIONED:  Schedule a time to talk with Erik. Find Erik on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter Find Mo Shah on Instagram & Twitter 

OVERVIEW: Erik shares about the importance of breathing when it comes to exercising.  EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: When we exercise a lot of times we hold our breath whether it is when we strength train, play sports, and/or on the treadmill.       It is important to control our breath because it helps with the blood flow and getting oxygen to the different parts of our body.   KEY POINTS: Erik described times when working with a trainer and how he would hold his breath throughout different strength training exercises and after each exercise he would not feel as though he performed as well. Once he became intentional with his breathing throughout the exercises he was able to perform the exercises better. This applies to the rest of our lives too because the more intentional we are the better we perform.  TWEETABLE QUOTE: “When we are intentional with our breath we perform better.” –Erik Smith   “I am not as tired, if I am constantly breathing in and out.” –Erik Smith  “You’ll get to the point when you don’t have to think about it.“ –Erik Smith  RESOURCES MENTIONED:  Schedule a time to talk with Erik. Find Erik on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter

OVERVIEW: In this episode of Fitness & Finance, Mo Shah, Entrepreneur, Coach and Investor, talks to your host Erik Smith about how he has helped thousands of families achieve their financial goals. Mo talks about how putting his family first has had a motivational impact in his life, the correlation between basketball and business, and how to turn achievement into a lifestyle.   EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: Mo Shah discusses his upbringing and early career choices.        What was required for him to be responsible on behalf of his two younger brothers?    Were there other people that Mo Shah looked up to as his leaders?  Is Michael Jordan the reason why Mo got involved with basketball so heavily?     How has he used the teamwork of basketball to excel in business? What is one thing Mo Shah learned when he got into business?  What was his mindset early on?   Which sacrifices has Mo made to succeed?    Think permanently and long-term instead of having an immediate gratification mindset.   How has Mo Shah helped people not make bad decisions when they are down? We often perceive things to be worse than they actually are.   What are some of the health-related decisions that Mo Shah made that may have been not so good when he was building his business?  Mo Shah is always open-minded about improving his health.  How does Mo have to be intentional on a daily basis to plan his day properly?   Busy people get things done and busy people that are structured with proper planning get things done effectively.    KEY POINTS: Intentionally become the type of person you need to be to have the life that you want.   Be coachable and make the necessary sacrifices to make your dreams come true and not let excuses get in your way.     TWEETABLE QUOTE: “One of my first wise reasons why I was doing the business was to retire my mom. We were able to do that for my mom at an early age. Every time I talk to her she is just so excited about just being able to do what she wants to do.” –Mo Shah   “The two things I took from basketball on the coaching perspective is that you have to have a solid system and you have to have great leadership.” –Mo Shah  RESOURCES MENTIONED:  Schedule a time to talk with Erik. Find Erik on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter Find Mo Shah on Instagram & Twitter 

OVERVIEW: Erik talks about how at the Build Your Network Live Event, one of the sponsors Daniel Blue, posed a question of whether taxes will go up in the future.  EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: Do most people think taxes are going up in the future?       We have a lot of debt as a country at over $22 Trillion, not counting unfunded liabilities. Most believe that taxes will go up, yet they are putting their money for retirement in plans where they do not pay taxes now but pay them in the future.    KEY POINTS: This is like having a business partner who can decide at any time when they want to increase their ownership percentage and we do not have a say in it. We are also restricted in the access and are required to take the money out and if we do not then we pay penalties.   TWEETABLE QUOTE: “If we think taxes are going to go up in the future especially if we are not getting a match from our employer into something where we would get taxed more in the future …” –Erik Smith   “Why would we put our money into a vehicle where the buying power is going to be less?” –Erik Smith “Free money is the best money.”  –Erik Smith  RESOURCES MENTIONED:  Schedule a time to talk with Erik. Find Erik on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter

OVERVIEW: In this episode of Fitness & Finance, Travis Chappell, Founder and Host of Build Your Network, Super Connector and Real Estate Investor, talks to your host, Erik Smith, about how he went from being athletic, to gaining a lot of extra weight and rebounding back with fitness. Travis also talks about growing up in a tight-knit Christian community and building his Build Your Network brand. EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: Travis Chappell discusses his upbringing and early career moves.       How were Travis’ life changes being responded to by family and his peers? Travis describes his discovery process of figuring out who he was becoming as a man.  Why did Travis go the door-to-door sales route?    How was fitness factoring into Travis Chappell’s lifestyle? What was the moment like when Travis realized he had gained a lot of weight?   What pushed Travis Chappell towards personal development?     How did Travis move into podcasting?   Money is the ultimate accountability partner.   What was it like trying to get guests on his show in the early days?   Travis talks about weight gain while his wife has been pregnant.   How has having his son affected his life?   What other advice does Travis have for listeners to take away?   KEY POINTS: It is often necessary to have time alone to find clarity without outside influences. Drinking a half-gallon to a gallon of quality water was the first step when getting back into physical health.   TWEETABLE QUOTE: “That time alone by myself without outside influences I think was really necessary for me to be able to come to a conclusion by myself to say that this isn’t something for me and this is something for me.” –Travis Chappell   “You are the sum of everything that has been told and taught to you since you were 1, 2, 3-years-old.” –Travis Chappell  RESOURCES MENTIONED:  Schedule a time to talk with Erik. Find Erik on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter Travis Chappell on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Linkedin  Travis Chappell’s Website – TravisChappell.com  Build Your Network Live

OVERVIEW: Erik talks about really knowing who we are as people through the process of self-discovery and self-awareness. Knowing who we are will impact the decisions we make in all aspects of our lives.  EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: Looking inward helps us understand who we are as people and our core values as to why we do things we do in every area of our lives. The decisions we make are based on those core values and our identifiers help us understand what we do.   KEY POINTS: The podcast has helped Erik understand the guests on the show and how our stories are intertwined and connected, as what we share with each other impacts us. When we discover who we are to the core we can be more intentional in living the life we so desire to play to our strengths.  Have you thought about who you are as a person in the process of discovering how to develop your strengths and the decisions you make to improve your life?    TWEETABLE QUOTE: “We can’t settle.” –Erik Smith  “We can make the decision to pursue other opportunities out there...”  –Erik Smith   RESOURCES MENTIONED:  Schedule a time to talk with Erik. Find Erik on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter

OVERVIEW: In this episode of Fitness & Finance, Kerry Gough, Practicing Therapist and a ‘Practicing Person’ talks to your host Erik Smith about having mindful awareness and balance when striving for health and fitness. Kerry shares tips on how to check in with yourself to address your personal needs, how to feel more connected to others, and the power in vulnerability.  EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: Kerry Gough discusses her upbringing    What led Kerry to pursue higher learning for psychology?  What was Kerry’s father’s reaction when she made her career shift?   In what ways are our stories all intertwined?   What does vulnerability mean to Kerry?    What has been Kerry’s experience with people feeling isolated because of social media and so much of life happening online?   Many people get involved in fitness because of body image fears and not with an awareness of health.   What is a tip to figure out if we are engaging in fitness to know if we are trying to look a certain way or because want to be healthy?   Kerry shares some prevention tools and ways to invest in staying healthy.  What can being present at the moment look like for people?   Does she have an idea of what is leading to older generations seeking counsel?   KEY POINTS: The risk to show up authentically with others where the deep connection can happen with others on a profound and enriching level.   Are there are draining things you can part ways with? Do you have any areas of improvement? What are you doing daily to address your biological needs?  Are you doing things that bring you joy?   TWEETABLE QUOTE: “As we share ourselves, we can often see ourselves in others in shared experiences, in shared pains, and in shared joys.” – Kerry Gough  “A lot of these images that we are being fed aren’t even attainable or realistic because they are altered digitally.” – Kerry Gough  RESOURCES MENTIONED:  Schedule a time to talk with Erik. Find Erik on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter Find Kerry Gough on Instagram  Visit KerryGough.com 

OVERVIEW: Erik talks about how the wind can affect us by blowing us off the path we are looking to take. When we are intentional and take action quickly then the wind does not affect us as much.  EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: Taking action with speed and intention limits the effects of outside forces that may keep us from our goals and dreams.   If we slow down, limit our action, and/or do not fully commit then we do get to where we want to go and achieve the results we want when it comes to our health and finances.  Erik also talks about what the most expensive thing is, as it is a closed mind.   He gives the example of Blockbuster video not being open to Redbox and Netflix which has changed the way we watch movies and TV in our homes. As a result they are no longer in business.  Erik also mentions that the best investment we can make is in ourselves as we can improve our business, finances, and health by purchasing a program that will give us the tools or access we did not have which shorten the amount of time it will take to achieve our goals and dreams TWEETABLE QUOTE: “The most expensive thing we can have is a closed mind.” –Erik Smith “The best investment we can make is in ourselves.“ –Erik Smith  RESOURCES MENTIONED:  Schedule a time to talk with Erik. Find Erik on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter

OVERVIEW: In this episode of Fitness & Finance, Kris Levy talks to your host Erik Smith about pursuing his passions of fitness, travel, and wine, the importance of working with coaches in your self-improvement process, and the many benefits of traveling and taking yourself out of your comfort zone.   EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: Kris Levy grew up in Texas and has been in the military for about nine years now.   Traveling more extensively impacted Kris on how to improve himself.   Kris had a back injury while in the military that put him out for several months. What was the first step that Kris took towards changing his life?   The first area of Kris’s life that he wanted to improve was self-awareness and self-assessment.   How did Kris put systems in place to become more self-aware?   What various countries and environments has Kris traveled to?   Kris talks about how traveling has benefited his fitness and nutritional habits.   Where is Kris’s favorite place to work on something creative?   How did Kris’ body adapt to different types of foods?   Kris has coaches for fitness and areas that he wants to get better in.   How does Kris train and have fitness workouts when he is traveling abroad?   Where does Kris Levy see himself in the next five years?   If you're not genuinely happy with what you have now, how will you be happy when you have more?   KEY POINTS: Turn something you are passionate about into a creative outlet so you can express yourself.     We are all leaders or aspiring to be leaders and adaptability is a key element of being a great leader.   TWEETABLE QUOTE: “I realized for me, that traveling affected all the other aspects of my life. And not so much the traveling, but being put in uncomfortable situations.” –Kris Levy  “Your best days, your best years, your best moments, your best experiences are in front of you, not behind you, and that is what you should be going for.” –Kris Levy  RESOURCES MENTIONED:  Schedule a time to talk with Erik. Find Erik on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter Kris Levy on Instagram  

OVERVIEW: Erik shares things he has learned from Jim Rohn and other successful individuals of the journey to become financially free. It is a shift in mindset that could seem simple but can compound for years. EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: While exercising his body Erik also shares ways to exercise his mind as he listens to audios on how to improve themselves and change their thinking.  Erik also describes techniques to use when we are in stressful situations to improve our performance and shift our minds to look at the circumstances in a more calm and relaxed manner. When we try too hard we often do not perform as well.  KEY POINTS: When we are in stressful situations we need to be in a relaxed state in order to perform better. In order to do this we have to visualize more and/or go to a familiar place because we are not thinking about what we are doing or are worrying about others or what they are thinking.  TWEETABLE QUOTE: “Most who are financially free pay themselves first before they pay anyone else.” –Erik Smith “When your passive income exceeds your expenses you are financially free.” –Erik Smith RESOURCES MENTIONED: Psycho-Cybernetics by Dr. Maxwell Maltz  Schedule a time to talk with Erik. Find Erik on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter

OVERVIEW: In the final part of a 3-part episode, Sofia Shah (CEO, Dynasty Leadership) talks to your host Erik Smith about how building a strong foundation in whatever you do is what will set you up for long-term success.  EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: Sofia experimented with her diet and how it affected her health, becoming vegan after growing up vegetarian, but her body didn’t react well to veganism especially with bodybuilding and running marathons.  As a result, she had to start eating meat, and her body reacted incredibly well to it.  She has to eat 6 meals a day to support her bodybuilding, but people look at her and often think she barely eats.  Sofia views bodybuilding as art, but the art is your body.  The long-term mindset, focusing on the bigger picture, is unusual in today’s world of instant gratification.  The biggest thing you need is accountability.  People often say they want to do something but they “can’t,” and if that’s the story you’re telling yourself, it becomes self-fulfilling.  Finding a good coach gives you a perspective on your progress that you could never have for yourself alone.  She has decided not to compete yet because she wants to focus on being consistent and properly building a bodybuilding foundation.  Despite all of her success, Sofia still felt unfulfilled and like she wasn’t good enough, and in reading about it she learned that often women, no matter how successful, have been taught to be less confident.  Sofia had an event for women to impart what she had learned about confidence.  Sofia’s business is about financial services and teaching people how money works and how to make more informed choices with the money they have.  She’s passionate about this because she knew that for the type of life she wants, she needed a strong financial foundation to allow her to work with trainers and to eat the way she eats.  KEY POINTS: Having a long-term mindset helped her understand the importance of every small day-to-day decision she makes to build a strong foundation. Self-improvement includes awareness and accountability to your own level of confidence and learning to cultivate a confident mindset.  TWEETABLE QUOTE: “What could be better than art on a body, like you becoming the art that you want to create?“ –Sofia Shah “What I’m looking to do is to be undeniable. So I don’t just want to compete, I want to dominate. I know at this stage it would be lofty to think that I can do that, so I’m just going to work & work & work until I get to the point where I am going to be undeniable." –Sofia Shah RESOURCES MENTIONED: Schedule a time to talk with Erik. Find Erik on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter Sofia Shah on Instagram  The Confidence Code

OVERVIEW: Erik shares how his experience the second time around with 75 Hard has helped him build strength after the initial soreness the first few weeks.  EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: When we hit certain physical and mental challenges along with constant punishment over time we end up developing more strength that allows us to perform better.  The description of Erik’s experience in his adult soccer league is detailed and how over the past couple of weeks he has gotten stronger and started to perform better after initially playing less than 100%.  Over time in life the struggle gives us strength in everything we do. KEY POINTS: Callouses on our body become sources of strength whether it is physical, mentally, or emotionally.  Sometimes when we go through certain obstacles or storms we do not know when it will end but when come out on the other side there is a blessing.  TWEETABLE QUOTE: “My speed was coming back. I didn’t feel so tired or sore.“ –Erik Smith “I am only going to get stronger from what I am putting my body through.“ –Erik Smith RESOURCES MENTIONED: Schedule a time to talk with Erik. Find Erik on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter

OVERVIEW: In the second part of a 3-part episode, Sofia Shah (CEO, Dynasty Leadership) talks to your host Erik Smith about managing stress and her health while growing her business.  EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: Sofia and her husband decided they wanted to build something for themselves instead of putting all of their energy and effort into the vision of a CEO they would never meet.  Your mindset and expectations going into something are going to determine the outcome, especially the understanding that you will struggle and have to do things you are bad at and what you dislike in order to reach success.  The idea of health is generic and means different things to different people.  While building her business, Sofia was being healthy to the best of her ability, but it was difficult to prioritize or focus on, and she felt the effects of it.  Her health was most affected by the stress of starting her business, and she didn’t know how to deal with it.  She responded by jumping into a lot of fitness bootcamps, but by overdoing it she only made herself more run down and eventually had to learn to let herself recover.  Sofia’s rock bottom was where she was having difficulty functioning due to stress and exhaustion, even developing an ovarian cyst, so she decided to focus on listening to her body beginning with cutting out caffeine. KEY POINTS: If you don’t accept and expect the negatives of being an entrepreneur, you won’t have the correct mindset for success. Be wary of overcompensating because that can worsen health problems.  TWEETABLE QUOTE: “That struggle is necessary for life and to have perspective because you can’t feel the good without feeling the bad.” –Sofia Shah “I’m going to do things to push the limits of my body and mind, and that’s how I live.” –Sofia Shah RESOURCES MENTIONED: Schedule a time to talk with Erik. Find Erik on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter

OVERVIEW: Erik Smith talks about giving people enough value and sometimes they do not take action because they did not see the value.  EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: People often convince themselves that they plan on working for the rest of their lives even though they may not love their work. It is often because they have not set themselves up financially to where they no longer have to work for money.  Erik gives an example of working with someone who he was looking to help financially but did not take immediate action because he said he could not afford it and had to figure it out. Fortunately he did not close the door and set an appointment to follow up and determine whether he could take action to pay himself instead of just other obligations. We have to learn from the situations we are in and always trust our gut when things are not on the right track. KEY POINTS: Make sure that you really convey your message to where the other person sees no other alternative but to agree with you or take action on what have shown them that is in their best interest.  One thing not mentioned was that do need to see things from the other person’s perspective and speak their language. Seek to understand.  TWEETABLE QUOTE: “People have their goals/results or their excuses. You can’t have both.“ –Erik Smith “Find an excuse to win!“ –Erik Smith RESOURCES MENTIONED: Schedule a time to talk with Erik. Find Erik on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter

OVERVIEW: In the first part of a 3-part episode, Sofia Shah (CEO, Dynasty Leadership) talks to your host Erik Smith about her origins.    EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: Moving to the US from Peru when she was 4 years old, not knowing any English, taught her to acclimate quickly to new environments.  Health was always a priority in Sofia's household growing up, including a vegetarian diet and playing soccer.  Sofia always wanted to identify as an athlete because she loved the competition and admired the discipline and eventually became a runner in high school because it was the least expensive sport to participate in.  She got onto a cross country team in college but had to leave the team due to health issues, but after that in order to keep up her fitness, she started running shorter races and found herself winning.  Growing up, she had always assumed she would end up working for someone else until she read about Sam Walton founding Walmart and Sam’s Club.  Sofia turned down scholarships to graduate school in order to go into business for herself and tried real estate when she graduated college at age 20, but it didn’t stick because of the market crash.  When the real estate market crashed, she found a stable job at Verizon Wireless, and to distract herself from how much she hated it, she started working out more regularly.  With her coworker (who later became her husband), they grew their Verizon store to number one in the franchise.  When Sofia found the financial services business she is now in, she knew immediately that’s what she wanted.  KEY POINTS: Nobody starts off great at what they do.  Be open to ending up where you never expected.  TWEETABLE QUOTE: “The store that we worked at, the Verizon in Irvine, when we both started to really care and work, we brought that store to the top, number one store.“ –Sofia Shah RESOURCES MENTIONED: Schedule a time to talk with Erik. Find Erik on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter

OVERVIEW: Erik Smith talks about how people need security in their jobs and gets to an understanding of what security really means.    EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: This episode is for those who are thinking about taking the leap into business but feel they have their secure job that will take care of them. Sometimes we believe that we will always be employed but lay offs happen all the time. It is time for people to realize that when our livelihood is in someone else’s hands there is no such thing as security.  We are programmed into thinking we have that security with our job but we never know what can happen.  3 KEY POINTS: You can give everything to a company, sacrifice time with your family and then one day find out that your services are no longer needed. Then what?  In order to have true security in our jobs and/or businesses we have to bring tremendous value.  It’s time to really understand what true security means. TWEETABLE QUOTES: “Be so good they can’t ignore you.” –Erik Smith “If you leave it in the hands of another individual is that really secure?” –Erik Smith RESOURCES MENTIONED: Schedule a time to talk with Erik. Find Erik on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter

OVERVIEW: Jennie Lynn talks to your host Erik Smith about exercising your conscious mind, mentorship, and coaching.    EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: We operate consciously and unconsciously at the same time, and the unconscious mind has the ability to override the conscious mind with a stress response.  This is called the “terror barrier.”  Jennie was given a speaking opportunity, and she was scared to do public speaking but decided to overcome the terror barrier live.  Jennie trained herself to be highly disciplined and carefully cultivated habits so that, for example, she makes a decision to go to the gym and doesn’t take any time to think about it, she just does it.  Jennie recommends an hour a day to exercise your body and an hour a day to exercise your mind.  Jennie struggled with an autoimmune condition, hormone imbalances, and body image issues but overcame them partially through the concepts of the law of attraction and the secret.  Most of what we do is habitual and unconscious, and we have to train yourself to have conscious discipline.  There’s a fine line between pushing yourself and working hard to meet your goals, and going too far and burning out.  After a friend of hers committed suicide, she felt she hit rock bottom and had to reach out to a mentor to help her see the big picture to move past it.  The same thing applies to finances, because we were not taught to study or cultivate wealth.  Imagination is the most powerful mental faculty we have.  People often use their imagination negatively, to imagine worst-case scenarios, but instead you can exercise the muscle to visualize our goals.  3 KEY POINTS: The biggest factor in her success has been finding a mentor.  Self-love and self-care are crucial to achieving your potential.  You can think your way into the results you want.  TWEETABLE QUOTES: “I felt so powerful after that. I said, damn it, if I can get over most people’s number one fear, my number one fear, what is there to be afraid of?“ –Jennie Lynn  “If you don’t make time for health, you’re going to have to make time for disease.‘” –Jennie Lynn  RESOURCES MENTIONED: Schedule a time to talk with Erik. Find Erik on Instagram and Facebook Email Jennie at jennielynn@jennielynn.com  Visit www.magneticlove.com  Subscribe to Jennie’s YouTube channel Bob Proctor: https://www.proctorgallagherinstitute.com 

OVERVIEW: Erik Smith talks about how sometimes people don’t have a lot of time to workout and could be overwhelmed by going to the gym.    EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: This episode is for the people who may have 10 minutes to workout or do not want to be in the gym for a long time but want to maximize their workouts. There are different bodyweight exercises people can do using an app that allows the to keep track of their progress and times their workout. Freeletics is a great app to use that can be used with a coach if you want to go that route or different pre set exercise programs that can be done with minimal or no equipment. I have you have only 5 minutes no problem, there is a program for you. It is important to start somewhere without thinking you have to spend hours in the gym.  Another way is to time yourself and do a certain number of repetitions such as 10 pushups, 10 squats, and 10 sit-ups then rest and resume once you hit a certain minute marker.    3 KEY POINTS: Just start somewhere and there is no excuse about not having enough time. Just make the time and 5 minutes daily can add up.  There are resources available that do not require a gym membership or thousands of dollars spent on equipment.  Make your workouts flexible and maximize the time you have.  TWEETABLE QUOTES: “If you only have 5 minutes, great you can workout in 5 minutes. Just start somewhere.“ –Erik Smith “If you are don’t want to spend the money on a trainer no problem there are ways to have pre set programs without spending money.” –Erik Smith  RESOURCES MENTIONED: Freeletics the app can be found in your App store (and there is a coaching option, if you want to use it) Schedule a time to talk with Erik about your thoughts on the app and the workouts through it. Find Erik on Instagram and Facebook

OVERVIEW: Laurell Hector talks to your host Erik Smith about how a healthy lifestyle is the key to her sustaining her business for over 18 years.    EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: Laurell was raised by her mother as the youngest of five children in a very health-conscious, active family.  Schools in the UK incorporate nutrition education and mandatory physical activity, unlike in the US where kids are often able to avoid PE.  She ended up in the business world after doing a work experience program at age 14 doing human resources at a bank.  She started her business with no contacts and now has clients all over the world with zero marketing—just word of mouth.  Laurell loves running her own business because it has allowed her the flexibility to raise her children that she believes she wouldn’t have had at a traditional 9-5 job.  In the UK, you’re taught to be extremely loyal to your employer, so Laurell never even thought of diversifying her work until she began questioning what her goals were and what she wants to leave her children.  To find the additional stream of income she decided she needed, Laurell began drinking and selling Arbonne protein shakes.  When you’re running a business, you need to feed your mind as well as your body.  Laurell has published a book about how employees can cope with redundancy and all the practical steps you can take to find a new job if that happens to you.  She is now working on a second book about how to manage people better.  3 KEY POINTS: Healthy habits that will support every aspect of your adult life begin in childhood.  There are major differences between how people in the UK/Europe versus the US approach work and employment.  Prioritizing her physical and mental well-being has allowed Laurell to maintain multiple businesses and rigorous travel commitments for years.  TWEETABLE QUOTES: “Unless there’s a medical condition, you can move yourself. And it’s as simple as that.” –Laurell Hector  “It’s learned behavior. So I always say to my children, ‘What you do at home, you’ll do outside.’” –Laurell Hector  RESOURCES MENTIONED: Schedule a time to talk with Erik. Find Erik on Instagram and Facebook Redundancy: Caring for Yourself and Others by Laurell Hector  Find Laurell Hector on LinkedIn

OVERVIEW: Erik Smith talks about whether people should save and invest when they have credit card, debt, student loan debt or other debt.    EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: This episode was inspired by a common question most people have now a days since many people have debt especially with student loans; Many are unsure whether they should pay off their debt first then save or save and pay off their debt later.   It is important to start the habit of paying ourselves first because we are more important than the institutions that we owe money to and have to prepare for our financial futures while thinking long term. Most of us have a habit of spending money on something that will not benefit us compared to saving/investing. Some examples are Starbucks and smoking. In the case of smoking it actually damages our health so we end up spending more money on medical care. If we even limit the habit and not necessarily eliminate it we can still start small and build the habit that serves.  3 KEY POINTS: Pay ourselves first then pay the other institutions. Start small as it helps us build confidence and the habit of taking care of us.  In order to take care of others and/or our debts we have to put on our financial mask first.  TWEETABLE QUOTES: “If I am the one that’s going to pay these other bills then I should pay myself first because I am more important than these other companies.” –Erik Smith “We can start somewhere to build that habit.” –Erik Smith RESOURCES MENTIONED: Schedule a time to talk with Erik about your experience and what you are going through. Find Erik on Instagram and Facebook

OVERVIEW: Malcolm "Mr. Just 2 Nice" Marable talks to your host Erik Smith about thinking about your goals long-term.    EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: The more you do in life, the more you figure out what you like, until you find your purpose.  He used his popularity as a college athlete and money he got from financial aid to fund the first version of his business.  Because his marketing options were limited as an NCAA athlete, he had to rely on word-of-mouth to grow his business.  When he was moved from running back to corner on his college football team, he had to learn how to approach that with a positive attitude and make the decision to see his goal of graduating through.  He has always managed to think about how a choice will affect his life in a few hours, a few days, a few weeks, months, years, which has given him a long view and great perspective on how to achieve his goals.  He noticed that personal trainers he was seeing work didn’t have the knowledge to back their work up, so he decided to read a lot about teaching and fitness to become a personal trainer himself with the goal of teaching people to use their bodies healthily.  He grew up skinny and has always had a fast metabolism, but you still have to pay attention to what you eat.  Investing is useful to help build generational wealth.  Whatever is going on in your life, it is temporary.   3 KEY POINTS: If you identify what your ultimate goal is, you’ll be better equipped to make choices that align with that goal.  Learning to invest to build wealth is important, especially when you come from a background without a lot of money.  Think long-term.  TWEETABLE QUOTES: “I knew that this is my life, and I can BS because I’m mad at the coach, but at the end of the day this is my life… So once he said give yourself a chance, that’s exactly what I did. I started going hard at corner, and things ended up a lot better for me.” –Mr. Just 2 Nice RESOURCES MENTIONED: Schedule a time to talk with Erik about your experience. Find Erik on Instagram and Facebook Vist www.just2niceclothing.com today!

OVERVIEW: Erik Smith talks about people who quit on their health, fitness and financial journeys right before a successful breakthrough in their lives.    EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: This episode was inspired by a story in Think And Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill where a gentlemen decide to dig for gold and told his family and bought equipment and found some gold but did not find the millions he had hoped for. He decided to quit and sold the equipment to someone who got help from experts and found all the gold literally 3 Feet from where the person quit.  While many focus on that fact he quit while the few finish the story of how he learned from that failure and made the decision to never quit again when he set out to accomplish his goals and became a very successful life insurance salesman selling millions of dollars per year in insurance. He decided that no matter the obstacle he would push through.  We can apply this to areas of our lives when we do not see results right away whether it is based on our fitness or financial journey but as long as we continue we will reach success.  3 KEY POINTS: Learn from our mistakes/failures so we do not repeat them and can become successful. Even though we may not see results right away as long as we are making the best choices we will reach those goals long term if we stay consistent.  Remember not to compare our journey to that of others no matter how difficult it is. TWEETABLE QUOTES: “There is no one in the world like you that has ever existed and lived the life you live so your path is your path.” –Erik Smith “As long as you do the little things everyday consistently toward your goals you will see the results.” –Erik Smith   RESOURCES MENTIONED: Schedule a time to talk with Erik about your experience and what you are going through. Find Erik on Instagram and Facebook

OVERVIEW: Lionheart Laquinn talks to your host Erik Smith about cultivating the mentality that led to his success.    EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: Laquinn joined the military in order to provide for his son after becoming a father at age 17, and it taught him structure and leadership. We think about success selfishly, instead of viewing other people’s success as part of our own. There is a difference between a mindset and a mentality: a mindset is short-term, a mentality is long-term.  Laquinn gives an example where he takes on a mindset before a boxing match that he’s going to destroy his opponent to amp himself up, but acknowledges it can’t be his mentality or he would be an angry, violent person.  He calls his mentality a 100% Mission Accomplished Mentality.  Most people don’t look inside themselves to become more successful because they don’t believe success is there for them in the first place, which comes from inferiority complexes that develop over a lifetime.  The mindset of abundance means understanding that you already have everything you need and are therefore successful, it’s just a matter of deciding upon the level of success you want.  He has an equation to define happiness for himself: Mind + Body + Spirit = True fulfillment and happiness, incorporating each of those areas into his morning routine.  Investing in personal development is always worth it.  He uses G.R.I.N.D. to stand for multiple acronyms, like “Get Real, I’m Never Done.”  The G.R.I.N.D. Academy is happening September 28-29, 2019, a 2-day workshop for non-profit owners, motivational figures and life coaches.  3 KEY POINTS: A mindset is short-term and temporary to get you through a current struggle, but a mentality serves you in the long-term.  Cultivating a 100% Mission Accomplished Mentality and a mindset of abundance means believing you already have everything you need and are already successful, so your goal becomes self-improvement and serving others.  If you focus on the health of your mind, body, and spirit, you will find more happiness and fulfillment in all areas of your life.  TWEETABLE QUOTES: “Mindset is a temporary thing. It will get you over what you’re going through now. A mentality becomes more of a lifestyle, where you’re not only thinking about things that you could be doing, you’re thinking about how everything affects you in total.” –Lionheart Laquinn   “I’m no prodigy, I’m no enigma. I literally work for myself, year by year, to become who I am today and it’s a process. It’s worth it. Understand it’s worth it when you go and take the extra steps to develop yourself.” –Lionheart Laquinn   RESOURCES MENTIONED: The Seven Figure Grind  Visit LionheartLaquinn.com Find Lionhart Laquinn on Instagram – @thelionheartmovement_ Schedule a time to talk with Erik about your experience. Find Erik on Instagram and Facebook

OVERVIEW: Erik Smith talks about his experience with 75 hard and the journey throughout the 75 days that will transform your mind.    EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: 75 Hard is a program where certain tasks must be completed every day for 75 days and if not then the person has to start over at day 1.  The person must drink a gallon of water, take a progress picture, perform 2 workouts 45 min each where 1 has to be outdoors, stick to a particular diet with no cheat meals, no alcohol, and read 10 pages of personal development.  Different people have different challenges that could change each day, for some it’s the progress picture.  For others it could be the workouts or the water, it’s possible that all of the tasks could be a challenge.  This will test you mentally and Erik had different challenges he faced with his schedule that made certain things difficult.  3 KEY POINTS: Others may discourage you from the program because they are not striving for more out of life.  Keep going even though at times you will want to quit.  Know that in the end it will be worth it even though you may not see changes right away, think long term.  TWEETABLE QUOTES: “Why just survive when you can thrive.“ –Erik  “We only have one opportunity in this world so we should make the most of it.” –Erik  RESOURCES MENTIONED: Schedule a time to talk with Erik about your experience. Find Erik on Instagram and Facebook

OVERVIEW: Evan Stewart from Obsessed Academy and the Obsessed Podcast talks to your host Erik Smith about how to take your business to the next level, prioritize your life, and take action.   EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: Evan has always been very entrepreneurial and he learned the importance of earning early on.  Evan’s first business was in middle school doing landscaping.  This year on the brokerage side Even will do $35-$40 million.  The thread of consistency in his life has been to impact, improve, and inspire the lives of others.  Evan is most excited about Obsessed Academy right now.  Much of Evan’s work has been to bring clarity to ambiguous concepts.  We have areas of our lives that are needing to move forward in some way.  How to gauge comfort vs. discomfort.  Hosting a conference is like hosting a wedding but on a massive scale.  The first step to take with your calendar considering spiritual, family, and finances.  How can you use your professional “you” as a way to distribute your strengths and purpose.  Are there people in your life who don’t need to be there?  Motivation is good but action is most important.  Figure out what your dominant over-arching goal is.  Know your relative focus to push toward the dominant focus but be one degree removed and feed the parts of you that aren’t pursued by the dominant focus.  Have a necessary focus to avoid frustration with obligations.  How to get the momentum started in your business.  What skills do you have that you can work on and get paid for?  Who could be looking for the skills that you have?  Recognize that the identity and health of your business won’t exceed your personal identity and health.  Most places have options for something healthier on the go.  Don’t focus on the immediate, focus on the long game.  Commit first, figure it out later.  Stop thinking unilaterally and start thinking relationally.  The value you can expect from the Obsessed Conference.  3 KEY POINTS: When you impact someone’s life deeply they become a better version of themselves.  You need to fill your life with positive overwhelm.  Don’t give yourself permission to invalidate credibility with yourself.  TWEETABLE QUOTES: “I’m a big believer in the power of word of mouth.” –Evan  “We all have innate points of consistency that define our humanity.” –Evan  “You’re either overwhelmed because you can’t pay your bills or overwhelmed because your time is too full.” –Evan “What you should be doing and what you’re good at doing don’t always align.” –Evan   “If you suck at something, don’t pretend you’re great at it but if you’re good at something be honest with yourself.” –Evan  “I literally work better after I’ve been working out and eating healthy.” –Evan  RESOURCES MENTIONED: Schedule a time to talk with Erik  Find Erik on Instagram and Facebook Find Evan at @realevanstewart on all social media channels

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: The "Rule of 72" is a concept that Einstein called the 8th wonder of the world.  Considering how this concept explains interest.  Erik explains the compound interest rates and how it works money against you.  How credit cards can be a trap, but in certain cases can be useful.  Example of a situation that can be dangerous for your financial health.  When helping others in your family, make sure you are careful with your own wellbeing.  Financial situations can be dangerous when dealing with debt.  Explaining the worrying spiral of negative financial events.  Erik talks about the loss of pensions and the horrifying reality of life without social security.    3 KEY POINTS: Money is dangerous because when you spend it in the wrong way, it can become a double-edged sword.  Even though you may love and cherish your family, make sure you are always aware of your financial situation.  Be vigilant and maintain your credit and income flow, for the future is a dangerously random path.  TWEETABLE QUOTES: “It is being on an airplane, you need to put on your mask before you help someone else.” -Erik  “We are on a track to be worse off than our parents financially.” - Erik  RESOURCES MENTIONED: Schedule a time to talk with Erik  Find Erik on Instagram and Facebook

OVERVIEW: Phyllis Frempong from Nurse to Fitness and co-founder of Fit 4 the Soul talks to your host Erik Smith about her journey to fitness, why she became a vegan, and how to feel like the best version of yourself.   EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: Phyllis’ family is from Ghana and graduating high school, going to college and getting a good job was like your trophy.  She is the oldest of two and there was a high amount of pressure on her.  Phyllis went into nursing and moved away and stayed in that area for the majority of school.  She found out that she had high cholesterol and uterine fibroids.  Phyllis’ love of fitness started when she was able to release energy and stress.  Phyllis dropped weight and ended up on stage only months later.  Lack of confidence and self-doubt stemmed from her childhood.  What fibroids are and how they affect you.  Why Phyllis is a vegan and how that helps with her fibroids.  How Phyllis’ lifestyle contributes to her health.  Many women don’t have any symptoms with fibroids and some have severe symptoms.  How Phyllis’ energy levels have changed since becoming vegan.  If you’re looking to become vegan set up a budget for supplementation and make a plan.  Why you may want to cut out soy.  Why Phyllis decided to be a fitness coach.  How Phyllis’ parents feel about the path she has taken in life.   Why sharing your story makes you feel like the best version of yourself. 3 KEY POINTS: Don’t settle on bad advice, get a second opinion and do your own research.  Self-awareness plays a key role in knowing there is more to life. Keep getting better and be your best self.  TWEETABLE QUOTES: “My love for fitness started when I was able to release that bed of energy on stage.” –Phyllis “One thing about me, if it’s not anything else, I was driven.” –Phyllis “If you give your body what it needs it will heal itself.” –Phyllis RESOURCES MENTIONED: Schedule a time to talk with Erik  Find Erik on Instagram and Facebook Connect with Phyllis on Instagram – @nurse2fitness or @fit4thesoul2019

OVERVIEW: So many dads are out of shape, but your host Erik Smith is determined not to be one of them. Find out why Erik chose to be in shape for his kids and to take better care of himself from a health perspective.   EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: How Erik’s dad not being able to keep up with him inspired him to be a fit dad.  Erik quit optometry school to pursue business.  Erik knew that his health would impact his relationship with his child and his child’s relationship with health.  During stressful times like after the birth of a new child, it can be easier to exercise at home.  How Erik continued to improve and push himself.  What Erik will be talking about in upcoming episodes.  3 KEY POINTS: Your choices can determine your health and longevity.  Your personal health impacts your children. You need proper sleep, nutrition, and fitness. TWEETABLE QUOTES: “I want to be around for a while for my kids, and I want to be healthy.” –Erik “Feeling results with my body gave me much more confidence.” –Erik “When you get confidence you feel more excited to continue on that journey.” –Erik RESOURCES MENTIONED: Schedule a time to talk with Erik  Find Erik on Instagram and Facebook