Podcast appearances and mentions of dan they

In this episode of Welcome to Cloudlandia, I chat with Dan about his recent journey to Buenos Aires for stem cell therapy on his knee. After living with an injury since 1975, he shares how advancements in medical technology are providing new solutions for pain and mobility. We discuss the challenges of recovery and the impressive potential of these therapies, along with vivid stories from his experience in this vibrant city. We also touch on the role of AI in our modern landscape, questioning its reliability and pondering whether it enhances creativity or simply recycles existing ideas. As we explore the implications of AI, we consider how it can assist in achieving desired outcomes without requiring individuals to develop new skills themselves. Sullivan emphasizes the importance of meaningful work and the balance between utilizing technology and fostering genuine human creativity. Our conversation wraps up by highlighting the ongoing journey of personal growth and the need for continuous improvement in an ever-evolving world. SHOW HIGHLIGHTS Dan shares his personal journey to Buenos Aires for stem cell therapy to rejuvenate his knee cartilage, highlighting advancements in medical technology and the promising future of these treatments. We explore the historical significance of technological revolutions, from steam power to the creation of the alphabet and Arabic numbers, and their impact on communication and societal progress. The discussion delves into the rapid advancements in AI technology, questioning its role in creativity and entrepreneurship, and examining its potential for convenience and efficiency. Dan and I consider the distinction between ability and capability, reflecting on how current technological advancements like AI have amplified capabilities while individual aspirations may lag. We discuss the integration of AI in creative processes, highlighting how it can enhance productivity and creativity without diminishing human input. The conversation touches on the importance of efficiency and prioritization in personal growth, exploring strategies for optimizing tasks and delegating effectively. We conclude by reflecting on the ongoing nature of personal and technological growth, emphasizing the value of continuous improvement and collaboration in achieving success. Links: WelcomeToCloudlandia.com StrategicCoach.com DeanJackson.com ListingAgentLifestyle.com TRANSCRIPT (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors) Dean: Mr. Sullivan. Dan: Mr Jackson, it's been a while, it's been a while. Dean: And yet here we are. Like no time has passed. Dan: Yes. Dean: Because it's now. Dan: But I've put on a lot of bear miles since I saw you last. Dean: Yeah, tell me about your journeys. Dan: Yeah well, buenos Aires. Yep Just got back yesterday and am in considerable pain. Oh really what happened. Well, they give you new stem cells. So now, they're going after. They're going still on the knee, but now they're going after tendons and ligaments, yeah, and so this may seem contrarian, but if you're in pain, it means that they're working. Dean: Oh, okay. Dan: How's that? For a compelling offer If you feel really bad about this, it means that what I'm offering you is a great solution. Dean: Yeah, with a name like Smuckers, it's got to be good, right yeah? What was that cough syrup that was known to taste so bad? Buckley's, buckley's. Dan: Tastes so bad. Tastes awful Works great. Dean: Yeah, that's right. That's the perfect thing. Tastes awful, works great. So were they completely pleased with your progress. Dan: it's, yeah, I think that the from what I can tell from they. They show you pictures of other complete cartridges. You know, okay, with other people and my left this is my left knee an injury from 1975. 1975, uh-huh, so 50 years, and it progressively wore down. It was a meniscus tear and in those days they would remove the torn part of the meniscus, which they don't do anymore. They have new surgical glue and they just glue it back together again. But this is the. This is one of the cost of living in over a period of history where things get better and so, as a result, I have a cartilage today which is equal and capability as it was before I tore it in 1975. However, all the adjustments my left leg and my head to make, 50-year period of adjusting to a deteriorating capability in my left there was a lot of calcification and stresses and strains on the tendons. So now that they can see the complete cartilage back, they can know exactly what they have to do with the otherons. So now that they can see the complete cartilage back, they can know exactly what they have to do with the other things. So they still reinforce it. So I get new stem cells for the cartilage because it has to be reinforced and so it's a good thing. I'm planning to live another 75 years because I think every quarter over that period I'm going to be going to Argentina. Dean: Oh boy, this is great. Dan: Or Argentina, is coming to me. They're going through their FDA phases right now and he's getting the doctor scientist who created this is getting his permanent resident card in the United States. So I think probably five years five years it'll be available to others. You know they don't have to make the trip. Dean: Well, that's great so now you've got the knee cartilage of a preteen Swedish boy. We were bouncing around the mountains. Dan: Yeah, something like that, yeah, something like that, something like that it's interesting that it wasn't 1975 when the $6 million man started out. Dean: That's what you're going to end up as the $6 million man. We can rebuild. We'll see. Dan: Yeah, but I had. While we were there, we had a longtime client from Phoenix was down. He was working on knees and rotator cuffs in his shoulders. Dean: And. Dan: I was able to say does it hurt? And he says yes, it does, and I said that means it's working. Dean: That means it's working. Dan: Yeah, and I said. He said you didn't tell me about the pain part before you encouraged me to come down here and I said, well, why? You know? Why, pull around with a clear message. Dean: And I said well, why, you know why fool around with a clear message, Right, I remember when Dave Astry had he had, like you know, a hundred thousand dollars worth of all of it done, all the joints, all the like full body stuff, and he was just in such pain afterwards for a little while. But how long does the pain last? Dan: Imagine it's like getting well, if I go by the previous trips, which were not equal in intensity to this one, there was about three or four days. Three or four days and then you know, you're, you're up and around. Yeah, as a result of this, I'm not going to be able to make my Arizona trip, because this week for genius Right, because? I'm going to have to be in wheelchairs and everything. And if there's one place in the world you don't want to be not able to walk around, it's Phoenix. Because, it's all walking. That's the truth. Yeah, up and down. So we're calling that off for now, and yeah, so anyway, and anyway. But they're really thriving down there. They're building a new clinic in a different part of the city, which is a huge city. I never realized how big Buenos Aires is. It's along the same size as London, you know London. Dean: England. Yeah right, you know how big London is. How long are you go on each trip? How long are you there? Dan: We arrive on a Sunday morning and we leave on a Friday night. Okay, so the whole week. Yeah, yeah, it's about eight days, eight travel days, because on Saturday we have to go to Atlanta to catch the next plane. Dean: Yeah. Dan: That's either a dog or a monkey. Which do you have there? Dean: That was a dog, my neighbor's. I'm sitting out in my courtyard. That was my neighbor's dog. It's an absolutely beautiful Florida morning today, I mean it is room temperature with a slight breeze. It's just so peaceful out here in my courtyard aside from working out Well. Dan: you're close to the Fountain of Youth. That's exactly right. How many? 100 miles? 100 miles to the north, st Augustine, that's right. That's exactly right. Dean: Yeah, this whole. Just look at. Dan: The De Leon. That's right yeah. Dean: This whole just look at the day. Leon, yeah, I know my I think we're going to look back at this time. You know like what? You are on the leading edge of big advantage of these treatments. You know the things that are available medically, medical science wise to us, and you realize how. I was having a conversation with Charlotte this morning about the I want to layer in you know the benchmarks technologically around the things that we've been talking about in terms of text and pictures and audio and video and seeing them as capabilities where it all started. You know, and it's amazing that really all of it, aside from the printing press with gutenberg, is really less than 150 years old, all of it, because she asked about the benchmarks along the way and if you went from Gutenberg to different evolutions of the press, to the typewriter, to the word processors in personal computing and digital, you know PDFs and all of that stuff and distribution has really only started. You know full scale in 150 years, along with the phonograph in the mid-1800s, the, you know, photography and moving pictures all kind of happened in that one 1850 to 1900 period. You know, but the big change of course, yeah, 1900 to 1950. Dan: Well, you know it's interesting because it's built like the question of what are the tallest mountains on the planet, and the answer is not Mount Everest. The tallest mountains on the planet are the Hawaiian Islands. Dean: Oh, okay. Dan: You know, the big one, the big island, I think the top peak there, Mauna Loa. I think Mauna Loa is a name of it and it's about 30,. Everest is 20, 29,000 and change, but Mauna Loa is around 32,000. Dean: Is that right yeah? Dan: but it's. You know that's an island that goes right down to the ocean floor and I think the same thing with technology is that we look back and we just take it back to sea level. We take technology back but we don't see the massive, you know, the mass amount of growth that was. That was over tens of thousands of years. That was before you could actual changing technology. I think probably have the perception maybe you know 150 or 200 years where we can see changes in technology over a decade. You know it would be a tremendous thing. It's the perception of change that I think has suddenly appeared on the planet. You know, and I think that the big one, there were three right in a row it was steam power, it was electricity and it was internal combustion. You had those three multiplier technologies Steam 18, no 1770s, 17,. You know it was fully developed probably right at the time of the American Revolution 1776. You had really, dependably, certain steam power right around then. You had to have that multiplier. You had to have that multiplier for there to be significant, frequent technological jumps. You had to have this. Before that, it was slavery. It was animals and slavery that got you, and that didn't change. Dean: Yeah, I mean because the steam. That's what really was. The next big revolution in the printing press was the steam powered printing Steam powered presses. Dan: Yeah, steam presses. Dean: That allowed the newspapers to really take off then yeah. Dan: Yeah, it's fascinating. Dean: You know that you have Charlotte in my who knows all of that. Dan: You better explain that, you better explain that. Dean: I think all of our for the new listeners. Well, there may be new people. There may be new people today. Dan: You know, yes, I don't want my reputation. Dean: That's so funny. Well, even that you know having an AI that we have named Charlotte, my chat GPT buddy, to be able to bounce these ideas off and she gets it. I mean, she sees the thing, ideas off and she gets it. I mean, she sees the thing. But you know, it's really what you said about the islands. You know the sea floor right, the bedrock, the level all the way down is where that is. And I think if you look at, even before Gutenberg, the platform that was built on, for there to be movable type, there had to be type, that had to be the alphabet, the alphabet had to be. And it's just amazing when you think about what would have been the distribution method and the agreement that this was the alphabet. This is what this, this is what we're all gonna do and these are the words. Dan: And I'm fascinated by that whole, that whole development, because all that, yeah, yeah, it's really interesting because, as far as we can tell, it's it's roughly about 3 000 years ago. The alphabet eastern mediterranean is basically, but where it really took on that we notice a historical impact is with the Greeks. Their alphabet and ours isn't all that different. I think it's got a few letters different using our set of ABC. It's like 80%, 80%, 85% similarity between that and the. Greek alphabet. And the other thing is did the culture, or did the country, if you will, that? Had it, did they have any other powers? I mean, were they military powers, were they? Maritime powers and the Greeks had it. The Greeks were, they had military power. They had, you know, they were you know they weren't an island, but they had a lot of ports to the Mediterranean. And did they have ideas to go along with the alphabet? Did they have significant, significant ideas? Powerful because they were that's where the spotlight was for new thinking about things at the same time that the alphabet appeared. So they could, you know, they could get this out to a lot of different people and but it's not. It's not very old in terms of time on the planet. Right when you think about the big picture, yeah, yeah, and you could see how the countries that the civilizations, countries, cultures that did not have the alphabet, how they didn't make the same kind of progress. Dean: Yeah, that's. Dan: I mean, it's really and then the Arabic numbering system was huge, where you had zero, you had nine, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, and you had zero, and zero made all this. Nothing made all the difference in the world. Nothing made all the difference. Dean: oh, that's funny, I heard a comedian talking about the Greek salad. It was such a. It gave us so much so early. But really all we've gotten in the last few hundred years is the salad, the Greek salad they've kind of been resting on their laurels, you know. Dan: Yeah, don't forget souvlaki. Dean: Oh yes, souvlaki, Exactly. Dan: Souvlaki is a very big contribution to human progress. Dean: Uh-huh and baklava, Baklava yeah. Yes, that's so funny. I had an interesting thought the other day. I was talking with someone about where does this go? You start to see now the proliferation of AI being used in content creation poll. You know 82% of people don't trust any content that's created to be. You know whether it's authentic or whatever, or real compared to. Dan: AI created and yeah, of course I don't trust that poll. Dean: Right, exactly. Dan: None of that. How could you possibly get a poll? Dean: I know. Dan: I mean how you know your hundred closest friends. Dean: I mean, is that what I mean exactly? Dan: I think that whole thing 82 out of my hundred closest friends who's? Got a hundred close. Who's got a hundred closest friends? You know, like that yeah and you know I mean so. It's ridiculous. What we know is that it's pervasive and it's growing. Dean: Yes, that's true, I can tell. Dan: And you know I was really struck by it, like if I go back two years, let's say, you know the spring of 23. Dean: Yeah. Dan: And yeah, and I'm having my connector calls, especially with the raise owners, and you know so maybe there's 15 people on the call two years ago and maybe one of them is one of these lead scouts. He does things technological, you know, it could be Lior Weinstein or Chad Jenkins, like that, or Mike Koenigs might be Mike Koenigs, and of course they're into it and they're into it and they're making very confident predictions about where this is all going, and I go to three weeks ago, when I had two FreeZone podcasts day after each other, tuesday and Wednesday, and there might have been a combined 23 different people. A couple of people appeared twice, so 23 people and every one of them was involved in some way with AI. That had happened over a two-year period and there wasn't any, what I would say, wonder about this. There wasn't any sense. Of you know, this is amazing or anything. They're just talking about it as if it's a normal thing. So fundamental capability has gotten into the entrepreneurial marketplace and is now considered normal. Dean: Yeah, Just the way like yeah. And Wi-Fi is, you know, internet. We take that for granted. Yeah, I worry, though, that I think like, generationally, where does this head? I'm saying that it just seems like a proliferation of intellectual incest is where we're headed with that, that if all the new you know, generative ai are just regurgitating, assembling stuff that already exists, who's creating the new thoughts in there? Dan: you know, well you say you're worried I'm not worried. Dean: I don't, I mean you're not worried, I'm not worried, I'm just, you're like one of those people who says they're curious, but they actually don't care. I don't, I don't really care. You're right, they want to be seen as caring. Dan: You want to be seen as worrying. Dean: Yeah, thanks for calling me out. Dan: You're not worried at all. Dean: Yeah, that's it. I need you to keep me in check. Dan: Actually, you're luxuriating in your inequality. Dean: Yes, exactly Because I know I'm coming up with original ideas. That's right. Well, has it changed at all? No, I think that's the thing. I'm just observing it. I'm really starting to see. I think I mentioned years ago, probably when we first started the Joy of Procrastination podcast I read an article about the tyranny of convenience and I thought that was really interesting. Right, that convenience is kind of an unrated driver of things. We're like on the, you know, at the we're on the exponential curve of convenience now that there's very little need to do anything other than decide that's what you want, you know, and I think, riding on that level, I just see, like, where things are going now, like, if you think about it, the beginning of the 1900s we were, if you wanted to go anywhere, it was with a horse right. And we're at a situation now I've had it my the new tesla self-driving, they've got the full self-driving thing is, I was, I went to meet with Ilko in Vero Beach, which is about an hour and a half away, hour and 15 minutes away, and I pulled out of my driveway not even out of my driveway, I just pulled out of my garage and I said you know, navigate to the restaurant where we were meeting in Vero Beach, and then I, literally, dan, did not touch the wheel as we pulled into the restaurant All the way. The entire drive was done by Tesla and to me. You know, you see now that we're literally one step away from hopping in the backseat and just waking up when you get there, kind of thing. We're inches away from that now because functionally, it's already happening and I have 100% confidence in it. It's you, it's. It's an amazing advancement and I just think about every single thing, like you know, every possible thing that could be done for you is that's where we're moving towards. Do you know, dan Martell? Have you met dan? Dan: no, I heard his name, so he's a really cool guy. Dean: He wrote a book recently called buy back your time, but his, you know, he's made his name with sas companies, he had a sas academy and he's a investor and creates that. But he said the modern, the new modern definition is, you know, instead of software as a service, it's we're moving into success as a service, that it's delivering the result to people, as opposed to the tool that you can use to create the result. And I think that's where we're going with AI more than I don't think people learn how to use the tool as much as people organizing the tool to deliver popular results that people are going to want. And I think that that's really what you know. Electricity, if you go all the way back, like if you think about that's probably on the magnitude of the impact, right, but even way beyond that. But if you think about it, wasn't just electricity, it was what that capability, the capability of electricity, opened up, the possibility for the ability to have constant refrigeration. You know some of the application of that core capability and lighting, and lighting exactly. Dan: Lighting, lighting, yeah. Dean: So I think that's where we're yeah, looking back you know you know. Dan: The thing that strikes me, though, is it all depends on the aspirations of the individual who has these things available and my sense is, I don't see any increase, relatively speaking, in people's aspiration you don't see any increase in people's aspiration. I don't think people are any more ambitious now than when I started coaching, so they have I'll just quote you back a distinction which you made, which I think is an incredibly important distinction the ability, the difference between an ability and a capability. People have enormous capability, exponential capability, but I don't see their abilities getting any better. Right, I agree. Yes. So it doesn't mean that everybody can do anything. Actually only a very small few of people can do anything yeah. And so I think people's ability to be in the gap has gone up exponentially because they're not taking advantage of the capabilities that are there. So they feel actually, as things improve, they're getting worse. That's why the drug addiction is so high. Drug addiction is so high and addiction is so high is that people have a profound sense that, even though the world around them is getting better, they're not. Dean: Yeah, I just thought. As you're saying, all that you know is thinking about that capability and ability. That's a profound distinction. I think so, yeah. Dan: But also the the thing I'll write it down, and I'll write it down and send to you to know that. Dean: I'm serious about it, okay, but the thing people's desire for the things that ability can provide, you know, is I think there's a opportunity there in if you have the capability to, if you have the ability to apply a capability to get somebody a result that they want and value without having to go and develop the ability to create it, I think there's an opportunity there. That's kind of along the lines of that success as a service. Dan: No on an individual basis yes. But nothing's changed between the inequality of certain individuals and other individuals. Dean: Nothing's changed there. No, I think you're right, it's still distribution. Dan: Except that I think people are feeling it's still distribution, Except that the people who I think people are feeling more unequal. Dean: Yeah, yeah, but the ability to and I think AI gives people, you know, the ability to do create content at scale that they wouldn't have the ability to do otherwise. You know, even though it's mediocre, I think that's really the thing we're going to be able to have a, you know, an onslaught of no, I think it magnifies who you are to begin with. Dan: If you're mediocre, I think you get exponential mediocrity I guess. Dean: Thank you, I don't think. Dan: I don't think it takes a poor writer and makes them into a great writer. No, it does not. Dean: That's what I'm saying. Dan: Because they don't have the discernment between what's good writing and bad writing to start with. Well, how would they know when to get the AI back? I mean grammatically, I mean if they're bad at grammar, correct spelling, but that's not meaning, that doesn't have anything to do with meaning. So, yeah, so you know, I'm noticing. I mean I've normalized it already. I mean I put everything through perplexity. I read a whole paragraph and I run it through and then I'll add context to it, I'll add dimensions to it and I think but I'm the one coming up with the prompts, I doing the prompts, it's not prompting. It doesn't prompt me at all right you know, yeah, it doesn't impress me. Till the day I start in the morning, says Dan, while you were sleeping, while you were having, you know, reading and everything else. I've been doing some thinking on your behalf and I've thought this through. Now I'm impressed. Dean: I wonder how far we are away from that. Dan: I mean infinity away, uh-huh right, because that's not what it does. That's what we do. Yeah, yeah. Where do you think the desire comes from? Where do you think the desire because I see it almost as a desire is that we're completely replaceable? Where do you think that desire comes from? Dean: The desire for that people have. I think if you go down to the that technology can completely replace me. Dan: I mean, it seems to me to be an odd aspiration. Dean: I wonder what the I heard. I saw somebody let me see if I get the words right saying that I don't want to. I don't want AI to create art and writing so that I can do the dishes. I want AI to do the dishes and cook so that I can create art and music. Which is so yeah, I mean, when you look at the fundamental things like why does anybody do anything? What drives desire? I think, if you go back to the core thing, like the life that we live right now is so far removed from the life of ancestors. You know, in terms of the daily, you know, if you just look at what even going to Maslow's needs right of the if everybody we want to have a nice house, we want to have a car to drive around in, we want to have food, meals that are plentiful and delicious, and money to do the things that we want to do, but I think that most people would be content with those things. I think it's a very rarefied exception of people that are ambitious beyond their comfort requirements. Like you look at, why does somebody who you know you look at those things that once somebody reaches economic freedom kind of thing or whatever, it's very it's not uncommon that the people who don't need to continue doing stuff continue to do stuff. You know that can, like you're baked in ambition and I think score right if you look at the things that you're beyond, you don't need that at 80. Dan: I like being fully occupied with meaningful work. Dean: Right. Dan: In other words, I like working, I really do like working. Yeah, and there's no difference between the amount of time working at age. I am 80, almost 81. Dean: Yeah. Dan: At age. I am 80, almost 81. And there's no difference between the amount of hours. If you measure me by a day a week, there's no difference in the number of hours that I'm working which qualifies under work. You know it's a focus day kind of work. There's no difference now than when I was 50. How I'm going about it is very different. What I'm surrounded by in terms of other capabilities, other people's capabilities, is very different. I'm surrounded with it by. Technology is very different, okay, but it's still the same. I have sort of a measure of quality. You know that the work is. I like doing the work I'm good at. The work is meaningful. I like doing the work I'm good at. The work is meaningful, I find the work energizing, I find the work rewarding stays exactly the same and that's what I'm always. So when ai comes along, I said does it affect the amount of meaningful work that I do? And so far it hasn't changed anything and it's actually increased it. It's like I would say it. Actually I find and I can just measure it in projects that I'll start and continue work through until the project is completed. It's gone up considerably since I've had perplexity yeah, oh, that's interesting. Dean: So what would you say, like, what are the top few ways that you like? Integrate perplexity to an advantage like that for you, then? Because? Dan: you're basically, you're an observer of what you know and you're thinking about your thinking that hiring with Jeff Madoff and Jeff is working on the part of the book that involves interviews with people in show business and people who really understand the concept of casting rather than hiring, and the people who've built their businesses on a theater approach. So Jeff's doing that and we have our team supporting him. They're setting up the interviews, we're recording the interviews and we're putting them into print form for him. But the interesting thing about it is that I'm just working on the tool part of the book, the four-by-four casting tool, which is actually going to be five chapters. It's actually five chapters of the book Because the entire psychology of having people create their own roles inside your company is the essence of what casting, not hiring, really means is that you're not giving people job descriptions. You're what a completed project looks like, what a completed process looks like and everything else, but how they go about it they create for themselves. They actually create it. So they're not automatons. We're not creating robots here. We're creating people and we want them to be alert, curious, responsive and resourceful. What does? that mean we want things to happen faster, easier, bigger and better. What does that mean? We want them to create projects with a sense of commitment, courage and capability and confidence. So we're laying this out, so it's like a human being's brain manual, basically, as we're putting together that when you're involved in teamwork, what it looks like like. So what I'll do is I'll write a paragraph on my own time, just on word. I write in maybe a hundred word paragraph and what's going to be the context of this, and then I'll immediately go to perplexity and I said now I want you to take the this hundred word paragraph and I want you to come. I want you to divide it into three 50 word paragraphs and stressing these, and have one distinct idea for each paragraph. But I want the meaning of the three paragraphs to integrate with each other and reinforce each other. But there's a distinctly new thought. So I just give it all directions, I press the button and out it comes. So I said okay now looking at the essence of each of the three paragraphs, I'd like you to give each one of them a really great punchy subhead thing. I got my subheads, but I'm really engaged with, I'm sort of in real teamwork. I'm teamwork with this other intelligence and that feels yeah, really terrific, that feels really terrific. Dean: That feels really terrific, that's great. So you're using it to, you're the. You know I heard somebody talk about that the 10, 80, 10 situation where you're the beginning 10% of something, then let it create, expand that, create the 80%, and then you're the final 10 on weaving, yeah, together and except I would have about five, ten, eighty tens for the complete right. Dan: You know, yeah, and, like in perplexity, you just have the ask me line. I'll go through five or six of those and right in the course of producing what I you know, and I end up totally. I'll probably end up with about 200 words and you know it's broken down and some of them are bullet points and some of them are main paragraphs and everything, but I enjoy that. And then at the end I say now rewrite all of this in the concise, factual, axiomatic style of strategic coach Dan Sullivan. Use a maximum of Anglo-Saxon words, a maximum of active passive verbs, everything in the second person singular. You voice Helvetica and then Helvetica, please, Helvetica new standard Helvetica. Dean: New standard Exactly yes so funny, right, yeah I love that. Dan: But here's the thing, the whole question, I think, in all human experience, when you experience something new, how long is it that before amazing becomes normal and expected? Dean: yeah, yeah, and not long, no, not long. Once we get the hang of something, I think what you've had three expectations that's a good way to think about it. Actually, the way you're using it is very that's very useful yeah, and I don't keep my prompts either. Dan: I don't keep my prompts because then I'm becoming a bit of an automaton, right? So every time I start I go through the prompt, you know. And you know, I kind of have it in my head what the prompts are, but I want to see each time. Maybe I'll make a change this time and I don't want to cut myself out from the change, right, yeah, but my sense is that you went back and you could actually observe yourself learning the alphabet, you know first grade for me or learning the numbering system first grade for me. I bet the Dan who's going through this AI experience at 80 isn't much different from the. Dan at six years old, going through learning how to read and write and doing arithmetic. I bet I'm following pretty much the same pattern and that's a capability, that's a yeah, that is a really capability. Dean: Isn't that funny. It's like I remember I still remember like vividly being in kindergarten in january of 1972 and learning that something happened over the Christmas break there that we switched to, we had a new year and now it's not 1971, it's 1972. I remember just. I'm just. It's so funny how that made such an impression on me that now I knew something new. You know this is. Dan: I don't, you know how you just have total unawareness of something. Dean: And then all of a sudden now I know it's 1972, I know my place in time here yeah, yeah, I used to, I, when I was coaching. Dan: You know the first year of strategic coach program and I would talk about how long things took to get a result. You know. Dean: Yeah. Dan: So I said you know you know. I said the big difference that you're going to find being a coach is that you're essentially you're going from a time and effort economy to get a result just getting a result and shortening the amount of time it takes you to get a result. I said that's the big change that's going to take in the program. And I said, for example, I've noticed because I had a lot of really top life insurance agents in the program in the 1970s and 1980s insurance agents in the program in the 1970s and 1980s and they would talk about the big cases. You know the big cases, you know where they would get paid in those days. They get paid $100,000 for life insurance policy and they say you know those big cases, they can take two or three years. You know, take two or three years before them. And I said, actually, I said they were instantaneous. Actually, you got the sale instantaneously. And they said well, what do you mean? No, I put two. No, I said it took two or three years not getting Getting the case was actually instantaneous. It's just that you spend a lot of time not getting the case. What? if you just eliminated the amount of time not getting the case. What if you just eliminated the amount of time not getting the case and just got the case? Then the results would be instantaneous. I think that's really what we're after. Dean: Yes, I agree. I was just talking with somebody about that today. I didn't use those words, but the way you describe it is. You know that people spend a long time talking about realtors in specific. You know that they're getting the listing happens right away, but they do spend a lot of time not getting the listing here. Dan: Yeah, yeah, I remember. First I think it was certainly in the first five years I had a guy from Alberta who was apparently the top residential real estate. You know he was the top agent for the year. He had 240 sales in one year. And people say how does he do that? You can't do that number of presentations in a year, you just can't do that. I said, well, he doesn't do any presentations, he's got trained actors who do presentations. Right, he said a lot of actors spend 90% of their career unemployed. They've got to be waiters or they've got to do this and that. And he just found really great presenters who put on a great theatrical performance and they would do five or six of five or six of them a day, and he had a limousine driver. He had a limousine service that picked them up he would even have the limousine pick up the people to come for the presentation and they said yeah, but look at the cost. I said what cost? what cost indeed, but there you find the divide line between a mediocre person is the cost. He didn't think it was the cost at all. It was just an investment in him not doing presentations. And then he had an accountant who did all the you know he had a trained accountant who did all the. You know the paperwork. Dean: Yes, yeah, I think that's amazing Duplicating. Somebody has the capability to do a presentation, an actor. They're armed with the right script. They have the ability now to further somebody's goal. I meant to mention Dan. You've got a big day in Ohio this weekend. You got Shadur Sanders, went to the Browns in the NFL draft. Dan: I think they've made some bad moves, but I think that one's going to turn out to be one of their good ones. Dean: Yeah, I think so too. Dan: Especially for the coach he's getting. If you're a pocket quarterback, you do Stefanski, you know. I mean, yeah, he's a good coach. Dean: I forget whether are you a Browns or Bengals. Bengals. Cincinnati they're part of the Confederacy. Dan: They're part of the Confederacy, you know we don't yeah. They're a little bit too south. You know Cleveland. Actually, the first game I ever saw was with Jim Brown breaking the rushing record. His rookie year he broke one game rushing record. That was the first year. Dean: I ever saw a game. Dan: Yeah and yeah, yeah. It's in the blood, can't get rid of it. You know everything. Dean: Yeah, but anyway, but I rid of it, you know everything. Dan: Yeah, but anyway. But I think this is. You know we're zeroing in on something neat here. It's not getting anything you want. It's the result you want. How long does it take you to get it? I think that's really the issue. Dean: Yeah, yeah and people are vastly different in terms of the results that they were but I think that there's a difference too, that you mentioned that there's a lot of room for the gap, and I think there's a big gap between people's desires and what they're able to actually achieve. You know that I think people would love to have six-pack abs if they didn't have to go through the work of getting them. You know if there's a bypass to that, if you could just have somebody else do the sit-ups and you get the six-pack. That's what I think that AI and I mean the new, that amplified kind of capability multiplier is, but it requires vision to attach to it. It's almost like the software, yeah. Dan: Yeah, Meaning, making meaning, actually creating meaning. One of my quarterly books was you Are Not a Computer you know where. I just argue against the case that the human brain is just an information processor and therefore machines that can process information faster than human beings, then they're smarter. Dean: And. Dan: I said, if human beings were information processors. Actually I don't think we're very good information processors from the standpoint of accuracy and efficiency. I think we're terrible. Actually, I think we're terrible. We want to change things like repeat this sentence. It's got 10 words in it. We get about two words, seven or eight. We said yeah, I think I'm gonna go change one of the words right, you know very easy see what happens here, and I think what we're looking for is new, interesting combinations of experiences. I think we really like that. I think we like putting things together in a new way that gives us a little, gives us a little jolt of dopamine. Dean: I think that's true. That's like music, you know. It's like every. All the notes have already been created, but yet we still make new songs, some combination of the same eight notes in an octave, you know, yeah I think it would be. Dan: Uh, what was that song for that celine dion's name from the titanic? You know they were. The two lovers were in front of the boat and then yes, the wind blowing them in there. Seeing the sun interesting song the first time you heard it. But you're in a cell by yourself and there it plays every three minutes, 24 hours a day. You'd hang yourself. Dean: Absolutely yeah. Dan: That's the truth. Yeah, what'd you get? What's a pickup from the day. Dean: I like your approach of you know, of using the way you're using perplexity. I think that's a big planting for me to think about over the next week. Here is this using capabilities to create an ability bypass for people that they don't need to have the ability to get the result that they want. You know, because that's kind of the thing, even though people they would have the capability to create a result but they don't have an ability, comes in many different ways. You know, I think that the technical know-how, the creative ability, the executive function, the discipline, the patience, all those things are application things and if we can bypass all of that, I the that kind of blends with this idea of results but it's being in the process of constantly being in the action and the activity of making something faster and easier. Dan: I don't think. I think it's the activity of making things easier and faster, and bigger and better. I think that's what we love. We love that experience of doing that. And once we've done it once, we're not too interested in doing it the next time. Dean: We're looking for something else to do it with, I think who, not how, fits in that way right of doing you see what, you see what you want, and not having that awareness, even your, you know your checklist of can I get this without doing anything? Yeah, you know, or what's the least that I mean and the answer is never. Dan: No, right, almost never. Dean: Never, yes, right. Dan: Yeah, what happens is I identify just the one thing I have to do. I just have to do this one thing. Then the next question is what's the least I can do to get it? And I say this one thing Can I get it faster or easier? Okay, and then the third thing is then who's somebody else who can do that faster, easier thing for you? And then you're on to the next thing. But I think it's a continual activity. It isn't. It's never a being there you know, because then you're in the gap that's right yeah, yeah, anyway, always delightful dan another, uh, one hour of sunday morning well spent. Dean: Yeah, absolutely that's exactly right, always enjoyable. Are we on next week? Dan: yes, I believe yes, we are perfect, all right, okay here, okay, thank you thanks dan bye okay, bye.

In this episode of Welcome to Cloudlandia, we start by unraveling the intriguing concept of global time zones. We humorously ponder the idea of a unified world clock, inspired by China's singular time zone. The discussion expands to how people in countries like Iceland adapt to extreme daylight variations and the impact of climate change narratives that often overlook local experiences. We then explore the power of perception and emotion in shaping our reactions to world events. The conversation delves into how algorithms on platforms shape personal experiences and the choice to opt out of traditional media in favor of a more tailored information stream. The shift from curated media landscapes to algorithm-driven platforms is another key topic, highlighting the challenges of navigating personalized information environments. Finally, we tackle the critical issue of government financial accountability. We humorously consider where vast sums of unaccounted-for money might go, reflecting on the importance of financial transparency. SHOW HIGHLIGHTS In the episode, Dan and I explore the concept of a unified global time zone, drawing inspiration from China's singular time zone. We discuss the potential advantages and disadvantages of such a system, including the adaptability of people living in areas with extreme daylight variations like Iceland. We delve into the complexities of climate change narratives, highlighting how they often lack local context and focus on global measurements, which can lead to stress and anxiety due to information overload without agency. The power of perception and emotion is a focal point, as we discuss how reactions are often influenced by personal feelings and past experiences rather than actual events. This is compared to the idealization of celebrities through curated information. Our conversation examines the shift from curated media landscapes to algorithm-driven platforms, emphasizing how algorithms shape personal experiences and the challenges of researching topics like tariffs in a personalized information environment. We discuss the dynamic between vision and capability in innovation, using historical examples like Gutenberg's printing press to illustrate how existing capabilities can spark visionary ideas. The episode explores the complexities of international trade, particularly the shift from tangible products to intangible services, and the challenges of tracking these shifts across borders. We address the issue of government financial accountability, referencing the $1.2 trillion unaccounted for last year, and the need for financial transparency and accountability in the current era. Links: WelcomeToCloudlandia.com StrategicCoach.com DeanJackson.com ListingAgentLifestyle.com TRANSCRIPT (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors) Dean: Mr Sullivan. Dan: Yes, and I forgot my time zones there almost for a second. Are you in Chicago? Yeah, you know. Why can't we just all be in the same time zone? Dean: Well. Dan: I know that's what China does. Yeah, Well, that's a reason not to do it. Then you know, I learned that little tidbit from we publish something and it's a reason not to do it. Dean: then that was. You know I learned that little tidbit from. We publish something and it's a postcard for, you know, realtors and financial advisors or business owners to send to their clients as a monthly kind of postcard newsletter, and so every month it has all kinds of interesting facts and whatnot, and one of them that I heard on there is, even though China should have six time zones, they only have one. That's kind of an interesting thing. Imagine if the. United States had all one time zone, that would be great. Dan: Yeah, I think there would be advantages and disadvantages, regardless of what your time system is. Dean: Well, that'd be like anything really, you know, think about that. In California it would get light super early and we'd be off a good dock really early too we'd be off and get docked really early too. Yeah, I spent a couple of summers in Iceland, where it gets 24 hours of light. Dan: You know June 20th and it's. I mean, it's disruptive if you're just arriving there, but I talked to Icelanders and they don't really think about it. It's, you know, part of the year it's completely light all day and part of the year it's dark all day. And then they've adjusted to it. Dean: It happens in Finland and Norway and Alaska. We're adaptable, dan, we're very adaptable. Dan: And those that aren't move away or die. Dean: I heard somebody was talking today about. It was a video that I saw online. They were mentioning climate change, global warming, and that they say that global warming is the measurement is against what? Since when? Is the question to ask, because the things that they're talking about are since 1850, right, it's warmed by 0.6 degrees Celsius since 1850. We've had three periods of warming and since you know, the medieval warming and the Roman warming, we're actually down by five degrees. So it's like such a so when somebody says that we're global warming, the temperature is global warming and the question is since when? That's the real question to ask. Dan: Yeah, I think with those who are alarmist regarding temperature and climate. They have two big problems. They're language problems, Not so much language, but contextual problems. Nobody experiences global. That's exactly right. The other thing is nobody experiences climate. What we experience is local weather. Dean: Yes. Dan: Yeah, so nobody in the world has ever experienced either global or climate. You just experience whatever the weather is within a mile of you you know within a mile of you. That's basically and it's hard to it's hard to sell a theory. Dean: That, you know. That ties in with kind of the idea we were talking about last week that the you know, our brains are not equipped, we're not supposed to have omniscience or know of all of the things that are happening all over the world, of all of the things that are happening all over the world, where only our brains are built to, you know, be aware of and adapt to what's happening in our own proximity and with the people in our world. Our top 150 and yeah, that's what that's the rap thing is that we're, you know, we're having access to everybody and everything at a rate that we're not access to everybody and everything at a rate that we're not supposed to Like. Even when you look back at you know, I've thought about this, like since the internet, if you think about since the 90s, like you know, my growing up, my whole lens on the world was really a, you know, toronto, the GTA lens and being part of Canada. That was really most of our outlook. And then, because of our proximity to the United States, of course we had access to all the US programming and all that stuff, but you know, you mostly hear it was all the local Buffalo programming. That was. They always used to lead off with. There was a lot of fires in Tonawanda, it seemed happening in Buffalo, because everything was fire in North Tonawanda. It still met 11. And that was whole thing. We were either listening to the CBC or listening to eyewitness news in Buffalo, yeah. But now, and you had to seek out to know what was going on in Chicago, the only time you would have a massive scale was happening in Chicago. Right, that made national news the tippy top of the thing. Dan: Yeah, I wonder if you said an interesting thing is that we have access to everyone and everything, but we never do it. Dean: It's true we have access to the knowledge right Like it's part of you know how, when you I was thinking about it, as you know how you define a mess right as an obligation without commitment that there's some kind of information mess that we have is knowledge without agency? You know we have is knowledge without agency. You know we have no agency to do anything about any of these bad things that are happening. No, it's out of our control. You know what are we going to do about what's happening in Ukraine or Gaza or what we know about them? You know, or we know, everybody's getting stabbed in London and you know you just hear you get all these things that fire off these anxiety things triggers. It's actually in our mind, yeah that's exactly right, that our minds with access to that. That triggers off the hormone or the chemical responses you know that fire up the fight or flight or the anxiety or readiness. Dan: Yeah, it's really interesting. I've been giving some thought to well, first of all, the perception of danger in the world, and what we're responding to is not actual events. What we're responding to is our feelings. Yes, that's exactly right, yeah. You've just had an emotional change and you're actually responding to your own emotions, which really aren't that connected to what actually triggered your emotions. You know it might have been something that happened to you maybe 25 years ago. That was scary and that memory just got triggered by an event in the world. Dean: Yeah. Dan: Yeah, and the same thing with celebrity. Celebrity because I've been thinking about celebrity for quite a long time and you know, each of us you and I, to a certain extent are a celebrity in certain circles, and what I think is responsible for that is that they've read something or heard something or heard somebody say something that has created an image of someone in their mind, but it's at a distance, they don't actually meet you at a distance. And the more that's reinforced, but you never meet them the image of that person gets bigger and bigger in your mind. But you're not responding to the person. You're responding just to something that you created in your mind. Dean: I think part of that is because you know if you see somebody on video or you hear somebody on audio or you see them written about in text, that those are. It's kind of residue from you know it used to be the only people that would get written about or on tv or on the radio were no famous people yeah, famous, and so that's kind of it. I think that the same yeah, everybody has access to that. Now Everybody has reach. You know to be to the meritocracy of that because it used to be curated, right that there was some, there were only, so somebody was making the decision on who got to be famous. Like that's why people used to really want to own media. Like that's why people used to really want to own media. That's why all these powerful people wanted to own newspapers and television and radio stations, because they could control the messaging, control the media. You know? Dan: Yeah, it's really interesting. Is it you that has the reach, or someone else has reach that's impacting you? Dean: Yeah, I mean I think that we all have it depends on whether you're on the sending end or the receiving end of reach. Yeah, like we've seen a shift in what happens, like even in the evolution of our ability to be able to consume. It started with our ability to consume content, like with all of those you know, with MP3s and videos, and you know, then YouTube was really the chance for everybody to post up. You know you could distribute, you had access to reach, and in the last 10 years, the shift has been that you had to in order to have reach, you had to get followers right. That were people would subscribe to your content or, you know, like your content on Facebook or be your friend or follower, and now we've shifted to every. That doesn't really matter. Everything is algorithmic now. It's like you don't have to go out and spread the word and gather people to you. Your content is being pushed to people. That's how Stephen Paltrow can become, can reach millions of people, because his content is scratching an itch for millions of people who are, you know, seeking out fertility content, content, and that is being pushed to you. Now, that's why you're it's all algorithm based, you know, and it's so. It's really interesting that it becomes this echo chamber, that you get more of what you respond to. So you know you're get it. So it's amazing how every person's algorithm is very different, like what shows up on on things, and that's kind of what you've really, you know, avoided is you've removed yourself from that. You choose not to participate, so you're the 100%. Seek out what you're looking for. It's not being dictated to you. Dan: Not quite understanding that. Dean: Well you have chosen that you don't watch news. You don't participate in social media. You don't have an Instagram or anything like that where they're observing what you're watching and then dictating what you see next. You are an active like. You go select what you're going to watch. Now you've chosen real clear politics as your curator of things, so that's the jump. Dan: Peter Zion. Dean: But you're self-directing your things by asking. You're probably being introduced to things by the way. You interact with perplexity by asking it 10 ways. This is affecting this or the combination of this and this. Dan: Yeah, I really don't care what perplexity, you know what it would want to tell me about. Dean: You just want to ask, you want to guide the way it responds. Yeah yeah, and that's very it's very powerful. Dan: It's very powerful. I mean, I'm just utterly pleased with what perplexity does for me. You know like you know, I just considered it. You know an additional capability that I have daily, that you know I can be informed in a way that suits me, like I was going over the tariffs. It was a little interesting on the tariff side because I asked a series of questions and it seemed to be avoiding what I was getting at. This is the first time I've really had that. So I said yeah, and I was asking about Canada and I said what tariffs did Canada have against the United States? I guess you can say against tariff, against before 2025. And it said there were no retaliatory tariffs against the United States before 2025. And I said I didn't ask about retaliatory tariffs, I asked about tariffs, you know. And that said, well, there were no reciprocal tariffs before 2025. And I said, no, I want to know what tariffs. And then this said there was softwood and there was dairy products, and you know. I finally got to it. I finally got to it and I haven't really thought about it, because it was just about an hour ago that I did it and I said why did it avoid my question? I didn't. I mean, it's really good at knowing exactly what you're saying. Why did it throw a couple of other things in there? Dean: Yeah, misdirection, right, or kind of. Maybe it's because what, maybe it's because it's the temperature. You know of what the zeitgeist is saying. What are people searching about? And I think maybe those, a lot of the words that they're saying, are. You know, the words are really important. Dan: Not having a modifier for a tariff puts you in a completely different, and those tariffs have been in place for 50 or 60 years. So the interesting thing about it. By the way, 50 countries are now negotiating with the United States to remove tariffs how interesting. And he announced it on Wednesday. Dean: Yeah. Dan: He just wanted to have a conversation with you and wanted to get your attention. Dean: Yeah, wanted to get your attention. Yeah, have your attention, yeah, okay, let's talk about this. Dan: Yeah and everything. But other than that, I'm just utterly pleased with what it can do to fashion your thoughts, fashion your writing and everything else. I think it's a terrific tool. Dean: I've been having a lot of conversations around these bots. Like you know, people are hot on creating bots now like a Dan bot. Creating bots now like a Dan bot. Like oh Dan, you could say you've got so many podcasts and so much content and so many recordings of you, let's put it all in and train up Dan bot and then people could ask they'd have access to you as an AI. Dan: Yeah, the way I do it. I ask them to send me a check and then they could. Dean: But I wonder the thing about it that most of the things that I think are the limitations of that are that it's not how to even take advantage of that, because they don't know what you know to be able to, of that. Because they're bringing it, they don't know what you know to be able to access that you know and how it affects them you know. I first I got that sense when somebody came. They were very excited that they had trained up a Napoleon Hill bot and AI and you can ask Napoleon anything and I thought, thought you know, but people don't know what to ask. I'd rather have Napoleon ask me questions and coach me. You know like I think that would be much more useful is to have Napoleon Hill kind of ask me questions, engage where I am and then make you know, then feed me his thinking about that. If the goal is to facilitate change, you know, or to give people an advantage, I don't know. It just seems like we're very limited. Dan: I mean, you know, my attitude is to increase the engagement with people I'm already engaged with. Yeah, like I don't feel I'm missing anyone, you know? I never feel like I'm missing someone in the world you know, or somehow my life is deficient because I'm not talking to 10 times more people that I'm talking to now, because I'm not really missing anything. I'm fully engaged. I mean, eight different podcast series is about the maximum that I can do, so I don't really need any. But to increase the engagement of the podcast, that would be a goal, because it's available. I don't. I don't wish for things, that is, that aren't accessible you know, and it's very interesting. I was going to talk to you about this subject, but more and more I've got a new tool that I put together. I don't think you have vision before you have capability. Okay, say more Now. What I mean by that is think of a situation where you suddenly thought hey, I can do this new thing. And you do the new thing and satisfy yourself that it's new and it's useful, and then all of a sudden your brain says, hey, with this new thing, you can do this, you can do this, you can do this, do this, you can do this, you can do this. And my sense is the vision of that you can do this is only created because you have the capability. Dean: It's the chicken and the egg. Dan: Yeah, but usually the chicken is nearby. In other words, it's something you can do today, you can do tomorrow, but the vision can be yours out. You know the vision, and my sense is that capabilities are more readily available than vision. Okay, and I'm making a distinction here, I'm not seeing the capability as a vision, I'm seeing that as just something that's in a very short timeframe, maybe a day, two days, you know, maximum I would say is 90 days and you achieve that. You start the quarter. You don't have the capability. You end the quarter you have the capability. Dean: And once you have that capability. Dan: all of a sudden, you can see a year out, you can see five years out. Dean: I bet that's true because it's repeatable, maybe out. Dan: I bet that's true because it's repeatable, maybe, so my sense is that focusing on capability automatically brings vision with it. Dean: Would you say that a capability? Let's go all the way back to Gutenberg, for instance. Gutenberg created movable type right and a printing press that allowed you to bypass the whole scribing. You know, economy or the ecosystem right, all these scribes that were making handwritten copies of things. So you had had a capability, then you could call that right. Dan: Well, what it bypassed was wood printing, where you had to carve the letters on a big flat sheet of wood and it was used just for one page containers and you could rearrange the letters in it and that's one page, and then you take the letters out and you rearrange another page. I think what he did, he didn't bypass the, he didn't bypass the. Well, he bypassed writing, basically you know because the monks were doing the writing, scribing, inscribing, so that bypassed. But what he bypassed was the laborious process of printing, because printing already existed. It's just that it was done with wood prints. You had to carve it. You had to have the carvers. The carvers were very angry at Gutenberg. They had protests, they had protests. They closed down the local universities. Protests against this guy, gutenberg, who put all the carvers out of work. Yeah, yeah, so, yeah. Dean: So then you have this capability and all of a sudden, europe goes crazy take vision and our, you know, newly defined progression of vision from a proposition to proof, to protocol, to property, that, if this was anything, any capability I believe has to start out with a vision, with a proposition. Hey, I bet that I could make cast letters that we could replace carving. That would be a proposition first, before it's a capability, right. So that would have to. I think you'd have to say that it all, it has, has to start with a vision. But I think that a vision is a good. I mean capabilities are a good, you know a good catalyst for vision, thinking about these things, how to improve them, what else does this, all the questions that come with a new capability, are really vision. They're all sparked by vision, right? Yeah, because what would Gutenberg? The progress that Gutenberg have to make is a proposition of. I bet I could cast individual letters, set up a little template, arrange them and then duplicate another page, use it, have it reusable. So let's get to work on that. Dan: And then he proved. Dean: The first time he printed a page he proved that, yeah, that does work. And then he sets up the protocol for it. Here's how we'll do it. Here's how. Here's the way we make these. Here's the molds for all these letters. He's created the protocol to create this printing press, the, the press, the printing press, and has it now as a capability that's available yeah well, we don't know that at all. Dan: We don't know whether he first of all. We have no knowledge of gutenberg, except that he created the first movable type printing press. Dean: Somebody had to have that. It had to start with the vision of it, the idea. It didn't just come fully formed right. Somebody had to have the proposition. Dan: Yeah, yeah, we don't know. We don't know how it happened. He know he's a goldsmith, I mean, that was so. He was used to melding metals and putting them into forms and you know, probably somebody asked him can you make somebody's name? Can you print out? You know, can you print a, d, e, a and then N for me? And he did that and you know, at some point he said oh, oh, what if I do it with lead? What if? I do it with yeah, because gold is too soft, it won't stand up. But right, he did it with lead. Maybe he died of lead poisoning really fast, huh yeah, that's funny, we don't know, yeah, yeah, I think the steel, you know iron came in. You know they melted iron and everything like that, but we don't know much about it. But I'll tell you the jump that I would say is the vision is that Martin Luther discovers printing and he says you know, we can bypass all the you know, control of information that the Catholic Church has. Now that's a vision. That's a vision Okay. That's a vision, okay, but I don't think Gutenberg had that. I mean, he doesn't play? Dean: Definitely yeah, yeah, I know I think that any yeah, jumping off the platform of a capability. You know what my thought is in terms of the working genius model, that that's the distinction between wonder and invention. That wonder would be wonder what else we could do with this, or how we could improve this, or what this opens up for us. And invention might be the other side of creating something that doesn't exist. Dan: I mean, if you go back to our London, you know our London encounter, where we each committed ourselves to writing a book in a week. Dean: Yes. Dan: You did that, I did that. And then my pushing the idea was that I could do 100 books in 100 quarters. Dean: Yeah, exactly. Dan: Yeah, I mean, that's where it came from. I says, oh, you can create a book really fast to do that. And then I just put a bigger number and so I stayed within the capability. I just multiplied the number of times that I was going to do the capability. So is that a vision, or is that? What is that? Is that a vision? A hundred books, well, not just a capability right. Dean: I think that the fact that you, we both had a proposition write a book and we both then set up the protocols for that, you set up your team and your process and now you've got that formula. So you have a capability called a book, a quarter for 25 years you know that's definitely in the, that that's a capability. Now it's an asset your team, the way that you do it, the formatting, the everything about it. But the vision you have to apply a vision to that capability. Hamish isn't going to sit there and create cartoons out of nothing. Create cartoons out of nothing. You've got to give the idea. The vision is I bet I could write a book on casting, not hiring, how I'm planning on living to 156. So you've got your applying vision against that capability, yeah. Dan: It's interesting because I don't go too far out of the realm of my capabilities when I project into the future. Yeah, so, for example, we did the three books with Ben Hardy, you know and great success, great success. And then we were going further and Hay House, the publisher, started to call us, you know, after we had written our last book in 23, around the beginning of 20, usually six months after. They want to know is there another book coming? Because they're filling up their forward schedule and they do about 90 books and they do about 90 books a year. And so they want to know do we have another one from you? And we said no not really. But then when I did Casting Not Hiring as a small book, and I did Casting Not Hiring as a small book to write a small book, in other words, I'd committed myself to 100 books and this was number 38. I think this was in the 38th quarter. And then Jeff Madoff and I were talking and I said you know, I think this Hay House keeps asking us for another book. I think this is probably it and we sent it to them. I think it was on a Thursday. We had a meeting with them the next Wednesday, which is really fast. It's like six days later I get a meeting and they love it, and about two weeks later the go-ahead came from the publisher that we were going to go with that book. Two weeks later, the go-ahead came from the publisher that we were going to go with that book. And so I've developed another capability that if you write a small book, it's easy to get a big book. Yeah. So that's where the capabilities develop now. Now when I'm writing a new quarterly book, I'm saying is this a big book? Is this a big book? Is this the yeah? Dean: well, I would argue that you know that you've established a reach relationship with Hay House. Dan: Yeah, yeah, because they're a big multiplier. Dean: That's exactly right. So you've got the vision of I want to do a book on casting, not hiring. I have the capability already in place to do the little book and now you've established a reach partnership with Hay House that they're the multiplier in all of this right Vision plus capability, multiplied by reach. And so those relationships that you know, those relationships that you have, are definitely a reach asset that you have because you've established that you know and you're a known quantity to them. You know. Dan: Yeah, well, they are now with the. You know the success of the first three books, yeah, but it's really interesting because I I don't push my mind too much further than that which I can. Actually, you know, like now I'm working on the big book with jeff jeff nettoff and with the first draft, complete draft, to be in a 26, and we're on schedule. We're on schedule for that. You know. So you know. But I don't have any aspirations. You know you drop this as a sentence. You know you want to change things. I actually don't want to change things. I just want to continue doing what I'm doing but have it more productive and more profitable. Is that a vision? I guess that's a vision. Dean: Yeah, I mean that's certainly, certainly. I think that part of this is that staying in your unique ability right, you're not fretting about what the you've made this relationship with a house and that gives you that reach, but there's nothing you're and they were purchased. Dan: They were purchased by random house, so they have massive bar reach. Dean: Wow yeah. Dan: I don't know what the exact nature of their relationship is but things take a little bit slower backstage at their end now, I've noticed as we go through, because they're dealing with a monstrous big operation, but I suspect the reach is better. Yeah, once it happens, right. Dean: And resources. Yeah, yeah, cash as capability, that's a big, you know that was a really good. That's been a big. Distinction too is the value of cash as a capability. Cash for the c, yeah, a lot, as well as cash for the k. But cash for the c specifically is a wonderful capability because with cash you can buy it solves a lot of problems. You can buy all the vision, capability and reach. That was a lot of problems. It really does. Dan: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I was out at dinner last night with Ken and Nancy, harlan you know, you know Ken, and and we were talking. He was talking about he's. He's 30, 33rd year and coach and he started in 92. And coach, and he started in 92 and and he he was just talking about how he has totally a self-managing company and you know he has great free days, and you know he just focuses on his own unique ability. You know so a lot of strategic coach boxes to check off there and he was talking and he was saying that he's been going to some other 10 times workshops. You know where people are and he spoke about someone who's actually a performer musical performer and he just saw himself as back in 1996 or 1997 as the other person spoke, and and, and he asked me the question he says when is the crossover when you stop being a rugged individualist and then you actually have great teamwork around you? Dean: And I said it's a really interesting question. Dan: I said it's when it occurs to you, based on your experience, that trusting other people is a lot less expensive than not trusting them. Dean: Right, that's a good distinction, right. That people often feel like I think that's the big block is that nobody trusts anybody to do it the way they would do it or as good as they can do it or they don't have it. You know, I think, even on the vision side, they may have proof of things, but they're the only one that knows the recipe. They haven't protocol and package to, you know, and I think that's really, I think, a job description or a you know, being able to define what a role is, you know, I think it's just hiring people isn't the answer, unless you have that capability, that new person now equipped with a, with a vision of what they, what their role is. Dan: You know yeah, yeah, I said it's also been my experience that trust comes easier when the cash is good. I think that's true right? Dean: Yeah, but they're not. I think that's really. Dan: I think the reason is you have enough money to pay for your mistakes. Dean: Yes, exactly, cash confidence. Yeah, it goes a long way. Dan: Yeah, I was thinking about Trump's reach. First of all, I think the president of the United States, automatically, regardless of who it is, has a lot of reach. Yes, for sure. Excuse me, sir, it's the president of the United States phoning. Do you take the call or don't take the call? I think you're right, yeah, absolutely. Take the call or don't take the call. I think you're right, yeah, absolutely. He says he's just imposed a 25% tariff on all your products coming into the United States. Dean: Do you care about that or do you not care about it? I suspect you care about it. I suspect. Imagine if he had a, you know if yeah, there was a 25% tariff on all strategic coach enrollments or members. Dan: Yeah Well, that's an interesting thing. None of this affects services. Dean: Right. Dan: Yeah, Because it's hard to measure Well first of all, it's hard to detect and the other thing, it's hard to measure what actually happened. This is an interesting discussion. The invisibility of the service world. Dean: Yeah, it's true, right. And also the knowledge you know like coming into something, whatever you know, your brain and something going across borders is a very different. Dan: Yeah it's very interesting. The Globe and Mail had an article it was in January, I think it was and it showed the top 10 companies in Canada that had gotten patents and the number of patents for the past 12 months, and I think TD Bank was 240, 240. And that sounds impressive, until you realize that a company like Google or Apple would have had 10,000 new patents over the previous 12 months. Dean: Yeah, it's crazy right. Dan: Patent after patent. Dean: Yeah. Dan: And my sense is, if you measure the imbalance in trade let's say the United States versus Canada there's a trade deficit. Trade. Let's say the United States versus Canada there's a trade deficit. Canada sells more into the United States than the United States sells into Canada, but that's only talking about products. I bet the United States sells far more services into Canada than Canada does into the United States. I bet you're right. Yeah, and I bet the services are more profitable. Yeah so for example, apple Watches, the construction of Apple Watches, which happens outside of the United States. Nobody makes a profit. Nobody makes a profit. They can pay for a job, but they don't actually make a profit. All they can do is pay for jobs. China can only pay for jobs, thailand, all the other countries they can only pay. And when it gets back, you know you complete the complete loop. From the idea of the Apple Watch as it goes out into the world and it's constructed and brought back into the United States. All the profit is in the United States. All the profit is in the United States. The greatest profit is actually the design of the Apple Watch, which is all done in the United States. So I think this tariff thing is coming along at an interesting period. It's that products as such are less and less an important part of the economy. Dean: Yeah Well, I've often wondered that, like you know, we're certainly, we're definitely at a point where they were in the economy, where you could get something from. You know. You know I mean facebook and google and youtube. You know all of these companies there's. No, they wouldn't have anything that shows up on any balance sheet of physical goods. You know, it's all just ones and zeros. Dan: Yeah. I mean it doesn't happen anymore, but because we have. You know, nexus, when Babs and I crossed the border, we have trusted, trusted traveler coming this way which also requires us that we look into a camera and then go and check in to the official and he looks at us and all he wants to know is how many bags do you have that have? Dean: been in. Dan: And we tell him. That's all we tell him. He doesn't tell us anything we're bringing into the United States and he doesn't tell us anything we're bringing into the United States. And then, when we come back to Canada, we just have our Nexus card which goes into a machine, we look into a camera and a sheet of paper comes out. And the customs official or the immigration official, just you know, puts a red pen to it, which means that he saw it, and then you go out there. But you know, when we started, coach, we would have to go through a long line. We'd have our passport, and then the person would say what are you bringing? And then we'd have to fill in a card are you bringing this back into canada? Dean: exactly, yeah, you remember the remember and what's the total. Dan: You know the total price of everything that you purchased, everything. Dean: And I used to think. Dan: I said you know, I was in Chicago and I just came up with an idea. It's a million dollar idea. Do I declare that I had the good sense not to declare my million-dollar idea because then they would have taken me in the back room. You know, if I had said that, what are you? Why are you trying to screw around? Dean: with our mind. You'll have to undergo a cavity search to. Dan: So what I'm saying is that what's really valuable has become intangible more and more so just in the 30 years or so of so of coach you know that and it's like the patents. Dean: you know we've had all the patents appraised and there's an asset value, but yeah, because this is an interesting thing that in the or 30 years ago you had to in order to spread an idea. You had to print booklets and tape. I remember the first thing what year did you do how the Best Get Better? That was one of the first things that you did, right? Dan: Right around 2000 or so. In fact, you're catching me in a very vulnerable situation. That's okay. Dean: I mean it had to be. Dan: Okay. Dean: But I think that whole idea of the entrepreneurial time system and unique ability, those things, I remember it being in a little container with the booklet and the cassette. Dan: You know crazy, but that's but yeah, because I think it was. I think it was, was it a disc or a cassette, cassette? So yeah, well, that would have mid nineties. Dean: Yeah, that's what I mean. I think that was my introduction to coach, that I saw that. Dan: but amazing, right, but that just the distribution of stuff now that we have access yeah well, it just tells you that the how much the entire economy has changed in 30 years. From tangible to intangible, the value of things, the value of what do you? Value and where does it come from? Dean: And yeah. Dan: I think all of us in the thinking business. The forces are on our side, I agree. Dean: That's such a great talking with Chad. Earlier this morning I was on my way to Honeycomb and I was thinking, you know, we've come to a point where we really it's like everything that we physically have to do is being kind of taken away. You know that we don't have to actually do anything. You know, I got in my car and I literally said, take me to Honeycomb, and the car drives itself to Honeycomb. And then, you know, I get out and I know exactly what I want, but I just show them my phone and the phone automatically, you know, apple Pay takes the money right out of my account. I don't have to do anything. I just think, man, we're moving into that. The friction between idea and execution is really disappearing. I think so. So the thing to be able to keep up, it's just collecting capabilities. Collecting capabilities is a. That's the conduit. You know, capabilities and tasks. Dan: Well, it's yeah and it's really interesting. But we're also into a world where there's two types of thinking world. There is there's kind of a creative thinking world, where you're thinking about new things, and there's another world thinking about things, but you're just thinking about the things that already already exist yeah, my feeling is and usually that requires higher education college education you know, and all my feel is that they're the number one targets of AI is everybody who does a lot of thinking, but it's not creative thinking. Ai will replace whatever they're doing. And my sense is that this is why the Doge thing is so devastating to government. I mean, I'll just test this out on you. Elon Musk and his team send every federal employee and at the start of the year there were 2.4 million federal government employees and that excludes the, the military. So the military is not part of that 2.4 million and the post office is not part of those are excluded from. Everybody else is included in there. And he sent out a letter he says could just return by return email. Tell us the five things that you did last week. And it was extraordinarily difficult for the federal employees to say what they did last. That would be understandable to someone who wasn't in their world. And I think the majority of them were meetings and reports, uh-huh. Yes, about what? About meetings and reports, uh-huh. Dean: Yes, about what? About meetings and reports yeah, we had the meeting about the report. Dan: Yeah, and then scheduled another meeting To discuss the further follow-up of the report. Dean: Yeah, At least in the entrepreneurial world the things are about you know, yeah. Dan: I mean if you said I sent the memo to you and said, dean Jackson, please tell me it would be interesting stuff that you wrote back. I mean the stuff that you wrote back and you say just five, just five. You know, I can tell you 15 things I did last week, you know, and each of them would be probably an interesting subject. It would be an interesting topic is the division between that bureaucratic world. The guess coming out of the Doge project is if we fired half of federal government employees, it wouldn't be noticed by the taxpayers. Dean: Right, it's like a big Jenga puzzle. Dan: How many can? Dean: we pull out before it all crumbles. Dan: Yeah, because there's been virtually no complaints, like all the pension checks came when they should. All the you know everything like that. The Medicare, everything came. Dean: But what? Dan: they found and this is the one, this is the end joke here that they just went to the Small Business Administration and they examined $600 million worth of loans last year and 300 million of them went to children 11 years or younger who had a Social Security number. Dean: Is that true? Dan: Yeah, and 300 million went to Americans older than 120 who had an active Social Security number. Dean: Wow, now, that's just. Dan: Yeah, but that $600 million went to somebody. 0:48:51 - Dean: Yeah, it went somewhere. Dan: right, they were checks and they went to individuals who had this name and they had Social Security number. We had this name and they had social security number and those individuals don't those individuals. The person receiving the check is not the individual who it was written to. So that's like 600 million. Yeah, and they're just finding this all over the place. These amazing amounts of money and the Treasury Department last year couldn't account for $1.2 trillion. Dean: They couldn't account for where it went.2 trillion, you know. Dan: You know, that seems dr evo's one trillion exactly. Yeah, well, it's going somewhere, and if they cut it off, I bet those people are noticed yeah, I bet you're right, I think there's. This is the great audit we're in the age of the great. We're in the age of the great audit. Anyway, I have daniel white waiting for me, okay this was a good one, daniel yeah, it was good, this was a good one. This tangibility thing is really an interesting subject and intangibility Absolutely. Dean: All right, thank you, dan. Say hi to Daniel for me Next week. Dan: I'm booked socially all day, so take a two-week break.

In this episode of Welcome to Cloudlandia, we start by discussing the unpredictable nature of Toronto's weather and its amusing impact on the city's spring arrival. We explore the evolution of Formula One pit stops, highlighting the remarkable advancements in efficiency over the decades. This sets the stage for a conversation with our guest, Chris Collins, who shares his insights on balancing fame and wealth below the need for personal security. Next, we delve into the intricacies of the VCR formula—proposition, proof, protocol, and property. I share my experiences from recent workshops, emphasizing the importance of transforming ideas into intellectual property. We explore cultural differences between Canada and the U.S. in securing property rights, highlighting the entrepreneurial spirit needed to protect one's innovations. We then examine the role of AI in government efficiency, with Elon Musk's technologies revealing inefficiencies in civil services. The discussion covers the political and economic implications of misallocated funds and how the market's growing intolerance for waste pushes productivity and accountability to the forefront. Finally, we reflect on the transformative power of technological advancements, drawing parallels to historical innovations like the printing press. SHOW HIGHLIGHTS We discussed the VCR formula—proposition, proof, protocol, and property—designed to enhance communication skills and protect innovations. This formula is aimed at helping entrepreneurs turn their unique abilities into valuable assets. We touch on the unpredictable weather of Toronto and the humor associated with the arrival of spring were topics of discussion, offering a light-hearted start to the episode. Dan and I share insights on the evolution of Formula One pit stops, showcasing human innovation and efficiency over time. We examined the challenges faced by entrepreneurs in protecting their intellectual property and explored cultural contrasts between Canada and the U.S. regarding intellectual property rights. The episode delved into the implications of AI in improving government efficiency, highlighting how technologies reveal civil service inefficiencies and drive accountability. We reflected on the transformative power of historical innovations such as the printing press and electricity, drawing parallels to modern technological advancements. The conversation concluded with reflections on personal growth, including insights from notable figures like Thomas Edison and Peter Drucker, and a preview of future discussions on aging and life experiences. Links: WelcomeToCloudlandia.com StrategicCoach.com DeanJackson.com ListingAgentLifestyle.com TRANSCRIPT (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors) Dean: Mr Sullivan. Dan: That feels better. Dean: Welcome to Cloudlandia, yes. Dan: Yes indeed. Dean: Well, where in the world? Dan: are you? Dean: today, toronto. Oh, you're in Toronto. Okay, yeah, where are you? Yeah? Dan: where are you? Dean: I am in the courtyard at the Four Seasons Valhalla in my comfy white couch. In perfect, I would give it 73 degree weather right now. Dan: Yes, well, we're right at that crossover between middle winter and late winter. Dean: You never know what you're going to get. It could snow or it could be. You may need your bikini, your Speedo or something. Dan: I think spring in Toronto happens, I think somewhere around May 23rd, I think somewhere around. May 23rd, and it's the night when the city workers put all the leaves on the trees. Dean: You never know what you're going to get. Until then, right, it just might snow, and they're stealthy. Dan: They're stealthy and you know, I think they rehearse. You know, starting in February, march, april, they start rehearsing. You know how fast can we get all the leaves on the trees and they do it all in one night they do it and all. I mean they're faster than Santa Claus. I mean they're. Dean: Have you seen, Dan? There's a wonderful video on YouTube that is a comparison of a Formula One pit stop from the 1950s versus the 2013 Formula One in Melbourne, and it was so funny to show. Dan: It would be even faster today. Dean: It would be even faster today. Oh yeah, 57 seconds it took for the pit stop in the 50s and it was 2.7 seconds at Melbourne it was just amazing to see. Dan: Yeah, mark young talks about that because he's he's not formula one, but he's at the yeah, he's at the level below formula one right, every, uh, every minute counts, every second counts oh, yeah, yeah, and uh, yeah, he said they practice and practice and practice. You know it's, it's, if it can be measured. You know that there's always somebody who's going to do it faster. And yeah, yeah, it's really, really interesting what humans do. Dean: Really interesting what humans do. I read something interesting or saw a video and I've been looking into it. Basically, someone was saying you know, our brains are not equipped for omniscience, that we're not supposed to have omniscient knowledge of everything going on in the world all at once. where our brains are made to be in a local environment with 150 people around us, and that's what our brain is equipped for managing. But all this has been foisted on us, that we have this impending. No wonder our mental health is suffering in that we have this impending when you say our, who are you referring to? Society. I think you know that's what they're. Dan: Yeah, that's what they're saying like across the board. Dean: Who are they? Yes, that's a great question. Dan: You know I hear this, but I don't experience any of it. I don't feel foisted upon. I don't feel overwhelmed. Dean: You know what I? Dan: think it is. I think it is that people who feel foisted upon have a tendency to talk about it to a lot of other people. Dean: But people who don't feel foisted upon. Dan: Don't mention it to anybody. Dean: It's very interesting. Do you know Chris Collins? Do you know Chris Collins? Dan: He wrote the really great book collection called I Am Leader. Dean: It's really something. He's a new genius. He's a new Genius Network member. Dan: Oh, Chris, oh yeah, oh yeah, chris, yeah, does he have repair shops? His main business is auto Auto. Dean: Yeah, oh yeah, chris, yeah, he does. He have repair shops His main business is auto, auto, auto dealership. Dan: He does auto dealerships. Dean: Yeah, that's right. Dan: Yeah, chris was in. Chris was in the program way back with 10 times around the same time when you came 10 times. He was in for about two years oh okay, interesting. Yeah and yeah, he was at the last Genius you know, and he's got a big, monstrous book that costs about $300. Dean: Yes, I was just going to talk about that. Yeah. Dan: We got one, but I didn't have room in my bags, you know. Dean: I budget. Dan: You know how much. Dean: I'm going to take and how much I'm going to bring back, and that was just too, much so, yeah, so yeah, yeah. He's very bothered. Oh, is he? Okay, yeah, I don't know him, I just I saw him. Dan: I got that what he talked about was this massive conspiracy. You know that they are doing it to them or they're doing it to us interesting interesting I don't experience that. What I experience is mostly nobody knows who I am. Dean: That's the best place to be right. Dan: They only know of you. Somebody was saying a very famous person showed up at a clinic in Costa Rica and he had eight bodyguards, eight bodyguards and I said yes, why is that expensive? That must be really expensive, having all those bodyguards. I mean, probably the least thing that was costly for one is having is having himself transformed by medical miracles. But having the bodyguards was the real expense. So I had a thought and I talked to somebody about this yesterday. Actually, I said my goal is to be as wealthy and famous just to the point where I would need a bodyguard. But not need the bodyguard just below where I would need a bodyguard, but not need the bodyguard Just below, where I would need a bodyguard, and I think that would be an excellent level of fame and wealth. Not only do you not have a bodyguard, but you don't think you would ever need one. That's the big thing, yeah. Dean: I love that. Dan: That that's good yeah that's a good aspiration yeah, yeah, so far I've succeeded yes, so far you are on the uh. Dean: Yeah, on the cusp of 81 six weeks seven weeks to go yeah, getting close. That's so good. Yeah, yeah, this. How is the new book coming? Dan: Yeah, good, well, I've got several because I have a quarterly book. Dean: Yeah, I'm at the big casting, not hiring. Dan: Yeah, really good. Each of us is delivering now a chapter per week, so it's really coming along. Great, yeah, and so we'll. Our date is may 26th for the everything in um before their editing can start, so they will have our, our draft will be in on may 26th and then it's over to the publisher and you know there'll be back and forth. But Jeff and I are pretty, jeff Madoff and I are pretty complete writers, you know. So you know it doesn't need normal. You know kind of looking at spelling and grammar. Dean: Right, right, right. Is that how you? Are you writing as one voice or you're writing One voice? One voice, one voice. Dan: Yeah, but we're writing actually in the second person, singular voice, so we're writing to the reader. So we're talking about you this and you this, and you this and you this, and that's the best way to do it, because if you can maintain the same voice all the way through, that's really good. I mean, jeff, we have a different style, but since we're talking to the reader all the way through, it actually works really well so far, and then we'll have you know, there'll be some shuffling and rearranging at the end. Dean: That's what I wondered. Are you essentially writing your separate, are you writing alternate chapters or you're writing your thoughts about one chapter? Dan: We have four parts and the first three parts are the whole concept of businesses that have gone theatrical, that have gone theatrical and we use examples like Ralph Lauren, Four Seasons. Hotel Apple. You know who have done Starbucks, who have done a really great job, and Jeff is writing all that because he's done a lot of work on that. He's, you know, he's been a professor at one of the New York universities and he has whole classes on how small companies started them by using a theatrical approach. They differentiated themselves extraordinarily in the marketplace, and he goes through all these examples. Plus he talks about what it's like to be actually in theater, which he knows a great deal about because he's a playwright and a producer. The fourth part is on the four by four casting tool and that's got five sections to it and where I'm taking people, the reader, who is an entrepreneur, a successful, talented, ambitious entrepreneur who wants to transform their company into a theatrical-like enterprise with everybody playing unique roles. So, that's how I've done it, so he's got the bigger writing job than I do but, mine is more directive. This is what you can do with the knowledge in this book. So we're writing it separately, and we're going to let the editor at the publishing house sort out any what goes where. Dean: Put it all together. Dan: Yeah, and we're doing the design on it, so we're pretty steadily into design projects you know, producing a new book. So we've got my entire team my team's doing all the backstage arrangements. Jeff is interviewing a lot of really great people in the theater world and you know anything having to do with casting. So he's got about. You know probably to do with casting. So he's got about probably about 12 major, 12 major interviews that he'll pull quotes from and my team is doing all the setup and the recording for him so so. Jeff. Jeff showed up as Jeff and I showed up as a team. That's great. Oh, that's great, that's awesome yeah, yeah, in comes, but not without six others, right, right with your. Dean: You know, I had a friend who used to refer to that as your utility belt. Right that you show up and you've got strapped on behind you. Dan: You've got your design, got it writing got it video, got it your whole. Yeah, strapped on behind you, you've got your design Got it Right. Dean: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Dan: And capability crew. Yeah, and to a certain extent I'm role modeling the, the point of the book, you know, and the way we're going about this and and you know, and more and more so, I find probably every quarter my actual doing um of production and that gets less and less and I'm actually finding um, I'm actually finding my work with perplexity very useful because it's getting me better at prompting my team members yes yeah, with perplexity, if you don't give it the right prompt, you don't get the right outcome. You know, yeah, and more and more I'm noticing I'm getting better at giving really, really, really great prompts to my artists, to the writers who are working with me, the interviewers, everything so, um, yeah, so it's been very, very helpful. I I find uh, just in a year of perplexity, I've gotten much more uh precise about exactly what I want. Dean: Yeah. Dan: Yeah. Dean: Yeah, defining right. I mean that's pretty. Yeah, yeah, that's really great. And knowing that, a lot of it, so much of that prompting, that's the language that's been adopted for interfacing with AI, chat, gpt and perplexity. Dan: The prompts that you give are the things. Dean: But there's so much of that. That's true about team as well, right? Oh yeah, being a better AI prompter is a better team prompter. Yeah yeah, being a better AI prompter is a better team prompter. Dan: Yeah, yeah, and you know I have a book coming out Now that I'm talking to you about it it may be the next book that would start in June and it's called Technology Coaching Teamwork and it has like three upward arrows that are, uh, you know, in unison with each other. There are three and I said that I think in the 21st century all businesses really have three tracks to them. They have a technology track, they have a teamwork track and they have a coaching track in the middle and that um in the 20th century, we considered management to be the basis. You know, management is the basis for business but. I think management has actually been um superseded, um by um superseded by electronics, you know actually it's the electronics are now the management, the algorithms are now the management and then you have the people who are constantly, you know, creating new technology, and you have human teamwork that's creating new things, because it's ultimately humans that are knocking off everything you know right. And then in the middle is coaching, and coaching goes back and forth between the teamwork and the technology. Technology will always do a really shitty job of coaching yes, I bet that's true, and teams will always do a sort of shitty job of uh knowing how to use technology and there has to be an interface in the middle, that's a human interface and it's a coaching, because coaching takes in a lot of factors, not just action factors or planning factors, but it takes in aspirational factors. It takes in learning factors. It takes in, you know, all sorts of transformational factors and that's a, that's a mid role. Yeah. Dean: Yes, yeah. Dan: And if you look at what you do best, it's probably coaching. Dean: Yeah, I wonder. I mean that's kind of. Dan: Joe Polish. It was Joe Polish, where he probably does best. He's probably a great coach. Dean: Yeah, I think that's true. Yeah, I think that's true. I've really been getting a lot of insight around going through and defining the VCR formula. You know proposition, proof, protocol and property. That's a. I see the clarity that. You know. There's a different level of communication and intention between. Where my I really shine is between is propositions and proof, like getting something knowing, guessing. You know we were. I was going to talk today too about guessing and betting. I've been really thinking about that. That was a great exercise that we did in our workshop. But this idea that's really what this is is guessing. I seem to have this superpower for propositions, like knowing what would be the thing to do and then proving that. That's true. But then taking that proof and creating a protocol that can be packaged and become property is a. That's a different skill set altogether and it's not as much. It's not as much. My unique ability, my superpower zone, is taking, you know, making propositions and proving them. I'm a really good guesser. Dan: That's my strength yeah. Yeah, I think the what I'm doing because it's, um, I'm really thinking a lot about it based on the last, um, uh, free zone workshop, which I did on monday and, uh, you know, monday of the week before last in toronto, where you were yeah, and and then I did it on Thursday again and I reversed the whole day oh really I reversed the whole day. I started off with guessing and betting and then indecision versus bad decision. And then the afternoon I did the second company secret and it worked a lot better. The flow was a lot better. Company secret and it worked a lot better. The flow was a lot better. But the big thing is that people say well, how do I? Um, I I just don't know how I you know that. Um, I'm telling them and they're asking me. So I'm telling them every time you take your unique ability and help someone transform their DOS issues, you're actually creating perspective. Intellectual property. And they said, well, I don't see quite how that works. I don't see how that works, so I've been, you know, and I'm taking them seriously. They don't see how that works. So I said, well, the impact filter is actually the solution. Okay, because you do the DOS question with them. You know, if we were having this discussion a year from now and you were looking back over the year, what has to have happened for you to feel happy with your progress? Okay, and specifically, what dangers do you have that need to be eliminated, what opportunities do you have that need to be captured, and what strengths do you have that need to be maximized? And there's a lot of very interesting answers that are going to come out of that, and the answers actually their answers to your question actually are the raw material for creating intellectual property the reason being is that what they're saying is unique and how you're listening to it is unique because of your unique ability so the best thing is do it, do an impact filter on what your solution is. So the best solution is best result solution is this. Worst result solution is this. And then here are the five success criteria, the eight success criteria that we have to go through to achieve the best result and that is the basis for intellectual property. Dean: What you write in that thing. Dan: So that's where I'm going next, because I think if we can get a lot of people over that hump, you're going to see a lot more confidence about what they're creating as solutions and understanding that these solutions are property. Dean: Yes. Dan: That's what I'm saying, that's what I'm thinking. Dean: Yeah, that's your guessing and betting yeah yes I agree and I think that that uh you know, I mean, I've had that to me going through this exercise of thinking, through that vision, column you know that the ultimate outcome is property, and once you have that property, it becomes it's a capability. Dan: It's a capability. Now right, that's something that you have. If it's not property, it's an opportunity for somebody to steal something ah right exactly. Yeah, I just think there's an inhibition on the part of entrepreneurs that if they have a really neat solution but it's not named and packaged and protected, um, it isn't going to really do them any good because they're going to be afraid. Look, if I say this, I'm in a conference somewhere and I say this, somebody's going to steal it. Then they're going to use it, then I I can't stop them from doing that. So the way I'm going to stop people from stealing my creativity is not to tell people what I'm creating. Right, it's just, it's just going to be me in my basement. Dean: Yeah, I bet no. Dan: I bet the vast majority of creative entrepreneurs they're the only ones who know they're creative because they're afraid of sharing their creativity, because it's not distinct enough that they can name it and package it and project it, getting the government to give you a hand in doing that Right yeah. Yeah, and I don't know maybe it's just not a goal of theirs to have intellectual property. Maybe it's you know it's a goal of mine to have everything be intellectual property, but maybe it's just not the goal of a lot of other people. Dean: What do? Dan: you think. Dean: I think that once you start to understand what the practical you know value, the asset value of having intellectual property, I think that makes a big difference. I think that's where you're, I mean you're. It's interesting that you are certainly leading the way, you know. I found it fascinating when you mentioned that if you were, you know, were measured as a Canadian company, that it would be the ninth or something like that. Dan: Yeah, during a 12-month period 23 to 24,. Based on the research that the Globe and Mail Toronto paper did, that the biggest was one of the big banks. They had the most intellectual property and if our US patents counted in Canada because I think they were just, they were just counting Canadian government patents that we would have been number nine and we're. you know, we're a tiny little speck on the windshield, I mean we're not a big company, but what I notice when I look at Canada very little originality is coming out of Canada and, for example, the biggest Canadian company with patents during that 12-month period was TD Bank. Yeah, and they had 240. 240, I mean that might be how many Google send in in a week. You know that might be the number of patents. That wouldn't be necessarily a big week at Google or Amazon or any of the other big American, because Americans are really into Americans are really, really into property. That's why they want Greenland. Dean: And Panama. Dan: And Alberta. Dean: Panama, alberta and Greenland. Dan: And the Gulf of America, yeah, the Gulf of America and property. Dean: Even if it's not actual. They want titular property. Dan: Yes. Dean: Yeah, yeah. Dan: And I haven't seen any complaints from Mexico. I mean, I haven't seen any complaints. Maybe there have been complaints, but we just haven't seen them. No, no, from now on it's the Gulf of America, which I think is rather important, and when Google just switches, I mean, google hasn't been a very big Trump fan and yet they took it seriously. Yeah, now all the tech's official. It's interesting talking to people and they say what's happening? What's happening? We don't know what's happening. I say, well, it's like the end of a Monopoly game. One of the things you have to do when you end one Monopoly game is all the pieces have to go back in the box, like Scrabble. You play Scrabble, all the pieces go back in the box at the end of a game. And I said, this is the first time since the end of the Second World War that a game is ending and all the pieces are going back into the box, except when you get to the next step. It's a bigger box, it's a different game board, there's more pieces and different rules. So this is what's happening right now. It's a new game the old game is over, new game is starting and, um, if you just watch what donald trump's doing, you're getting an idea what the new game is. Yeah, I think you're right, and one of the new game is intellectual property. Intellectual property I think this is one of the new parts of the new game. And the other thing is it's all going to be one-to-one deals. I don't think there's going to be any more multi-party deals. You know, like the North American Free Trade Act, supposedly is the United States, canada and Mexico In Europe. If you look at it, it's Canada and Mexico, it's Mexico and the United States and it's the United States and Canada. These are separate deals. They're all separate deals. That's what I think is happening. States, Canada and these are separate deals. They're all separate deals. Oh, interesting, yeah, and that's what I think is happening. It's just one-to-one. No more multilateral stuff it's all one-to-one. For example, the US ambassador is in London this week and they're working out a deal between the UK and the United States, so no tariffs apply to British, british products oh interesting yeah and you'll see it like the European Union. I was saying the European Union wants to have a deal and I said European Union, where is the European Union? You know where is? That anyway, yeah yeah, I mean, if you look at the United Nations, there's no European Union. If you look at NATO, there's no European Union. If you look at the G20 of countries, there's no European Union. There's France, there's Germany. You know, there's countries we recognize. And I think the US is just saying if you don't have a national border and you don't have a capital, and you don't have a government, we don't think it exists. We just don't think it exists. And Trump often talks about that 28 acres on the east side of Manhattan. He says boy, boy. What we could do with that right, oh, what we could do with that. You know they should. Just, you know who can do that. Who can do? United Nations, switzerland, send it to Switzerland. You know that'd be a nice place for the send it to there, you know like that and it just shows you that that was all. All those institutions were really a result of the Second World War and the Cold War, which was just a continuation of the Second World War. So I think that's one of the really big things that's happening in the world right now. And the other thing I want to talk to you about is Doge. I think Doge is one of the most phenomenally big breakthroughs in world history. What's happening with Elon Musk and his team. Dean: Yeah, I know you've been really following that with great interest. Tell me what's the latest. Dan: It's the first time in human history that you can audit government, bureauc, audit government, bureaucratic government, the part of government. You don't see Millions and millions of people who are doing things but you don't know what they're doing. There's no way of checking what they're doing. There's no way for them. And it was proven because Musk, about four weeks ago, sent out a letter to every federal employee, said last week, tell me five things that you did. And the results were not good. Dean: Well, I think the same thing is happening when people are questioned about their at-home working accomplishments too. Yeah, but that's the Well, lamar Lark, you know. Dan: Lamar. I don't think you've ever met Lamar. He's in the number one Chicago Free Zone workshops, so we have two and a quarter and he's in the first one. And he has all sorts of interesting things. He's got Chick-fil-A franchises and other things like that, okay, and he created his own church, which is a very I have met Lamar yeah, which is a very American activity. Dean: It creates your own church, you know yes yes, yeah. Dan: That's why Americans are so religious is because America is the first country that turned religion into an entrepreneurial activity. Got yourself a hall. You could do it right there in the courtyard of the Valhalla. How many chairs could you? If you really pushed it, how many chairs could you get into the courtyard? Let's see One, two three, four, five, not like the chair you're sitting on. No, I'm kidding. Dean: I'm just envisioning it. I could probably get 50 chairs in here. Dan: You got yourself, you know and set it up right, Get a good tax description yeah, you got yourself a religion there. That's great. And you're kind of tending in that direction with the word Valhalla, that's exactly right. Dean: Yes, would you. Dan: I'd pay to spend an hour or two on Sunday with you. Dean: But here's the big question, Dan Would you be committed enough to tithe? Dan: Oh yes, oh yes. Dean: Then we'd really be on to something you know. We could just count on you for your tithe to the church. That would be. Dan: That would really get us on our feet, but anyway, I was telling this story about Lamar. So he and his wife have a friend, a woman, who works for the federal government in Chicago, and so they were just talking over dinner to the person and they said, well, what's your day work, what's your day you know when do you go into the? office. When do you go into the office? When do you go into the office? And she says, oh, I haven't been to the office since before COVID. No, I know we are the office. And so they said, well, how does your home day work? And she says, well, at 830, you got to. You got to check in at 830. You check in at 830, you go online and then you put your j in at 8.30. Dean: You check in at 8.30, you go online and then you put your jiggler on Jiggler, exactly I've heard about this and they said what's the jiggler? Dan: Well, the jiggler moves. Your mouse keeps checking into different. It keeps switching to different files, positions, yeah, yeah, files. And that's the only thing that they can record from the actual office is that you're busy moving from one file to the other. And he says, well, what are you doing while that's happening? She said, well, I do a lot of shopping, you know I go out shopping and we have you know, and they come back and it goes from. You know it'll stop because there's coffee time, so we'll stop for 10 minutes for coffee and then it'll stop for lunch and stop for afternoon coffee. And then I checked out and I always check in five minutes early and I always check five minutes late, that's amazing, isn't it? that's what that's what elon Elon Musk is discovering, because Elon Musk's AI can actually discover what they did, and then it's hard for the person to answer what were the five things you did last week? You know, and the truth is that I think I'm not saying that all civil servants are worthless. I'm not saying that at all. You have it right now. It's recorded here. Your mechanism is recording that. I'm not saying that all civil servants are worthless but I do think it's harder and harder for civil servants to prove their value, because you may have gone to five important meetings, but I bet those meetings didn't produce any result. It's hard for any civil servant and you can say what you did last week. I can say what I did last week, but you were basically just meeting with yourself. Yeah, that's I saw somebody and you produce something and you made a decision and something got created and that's easy to prove. But I don't think it's easy in the civil service to prove the value of what you did the greatest raw resource in America for taking money that's being spent one way taking that money away and spending on something else. I think this is the greatest source of financial transformation going forward, because about 15 states all of them Republican states have gotten in touch with Elon Musk and say whatever you're doing in Washington, we want to do here, and I just he believes, according to his comments, that every year there's $3 trillion that's being badly spent $3 trillion you know, I got my little finger up to my mouth. $3 trillion, you know, this is that's a lot of you know, I'm at the point where I think a million is still a big deal. You know, trillion is uh, yeah, uh. Dean: I saw that somebody had invented a uh algorithm reader. They detected an algorithm in the like a fingerprint in the jiggler software. Oh that, yeah, so that you can overlay this thing and it would be able to identify that that's a jiggler that's a jiggler. Dan: That's a jiggler yeah, you got to because behind the jiggler is the prompter. Dean: The jiggler busters. Dan: Yes, exactly, he was on. He was interviewed, he and six members of his Doge team, you know, and how they're talking about them being 19 and 20 year olds, about them being 19 and 20 year olds. These were part. These were powerful people who had stepped away from their companies and their jobs just for the chance to work with the Elon. One guy had five companies. He's from Houston, he had five companies and he's taken leave from his company for a year. Just to work on the doge project. Yeah, and so that guy was talking and he said you know what we discovered? The small business administration, he said, last year gave 300 million dollars in loans to children under 11 years old wow to their to that a person who had their social security number, their social insurance number. Right, and during that same year, we gave $300 million in loans to people who were over 120 years old. Dean: Wow. Dan: That's $600 million. That's $600 million, that's almost a billion. Anyway, that's happening over and over. They're just discovering these and those checks are arriving somewhere and somebody's cashing those checks, but it's not appropriate. So I think this is the biggest deal. I think this changes everything, and I've noticed that the Democratic Party is in a tailspin, and has been especially since they started the Doge project, because the people doing the jiggling and the people who where the checks are going to the run I bet 90% of them are Democrats the money's going to democratic organizations, since going to democratic individuals and they're going to be cash strapped. You know that they've been. This isn't last year, this goes back 80 years. This has been going on since the New Deal, when the Democrats really took over Washington. And I bet this I bet they can track all the checks that went back 80 years. Dean: I mean, this is that's really something, isn't it? I was just thinking about yeah, this kind of transparency is really like. I think, when you really get down to it, we're getting to a point where there's the market does not support inefficiency anymore. It's not baked in. If you have workers for instance, most of the time you have salaried workers your real expectation is that they're going to be productive. I don't know what the actual stats are, do you know? But let's say that they're going to be actually productive for 50% of the time. But you look at now just the ability to, especially on task-related things or AI type of things um, collins, chris no, chris johnson's um, um, oh yeah um uh, you know the the ai dialers there, of being able, there's zero. Dan: They were doing, um, you know they were doing. Maybe you know the dialers were doing. You know, because some of the sometimes the other, the person at the other end they answered and they'd have a you know five minute call or something like that. So in a day in a day, like they have an eight hour thing they might do you know. 50, 50 call outs 50 or 60 calls yeah, his. Ai does 25,000 calls a minute. Dean: Exactly that's. What I mean is that those things are just that everything is compressed. Now there's no, because it's taken out all the air, all the fluff around it. What humans come with. You're right what you said earlier about all the pieces going back in the box and we're totally reset. Yeah, I think we're definitely that you know yeah and the thing thing about this. Dan: What I found interesting is that the request coming in from the states that they moved the doge you know the process department of government efficiency that I. I think he's putting together a vast system that can be applied to any government you know, it could be, and, uh, and, but the all the requests came in from republican states, not from Democratic states, waste and abuse and waste and fraud. probably for the over last 80 years, has been the party in the United States which was most invested in the bureaucracy of the government you know. And yeah, I mean, do you know anybody who works for the government? I mean actually, I mean you may have met the person, but I mean, do you know anybody who works for the government? I mean actually, I mean you may have met the person but I mean, I don't know. Do you do, do you know anybody who works for the government? I don't believe, I do, really, and I do, and I don't either right, I don't I don't, I don't, neither you know I mean, I mean everybody I know is an entrepreneur everybody I know is entrepreneurial. And yeah, the people who aren't entrepreneurial are the families. You know they would be family connections of the entrepreneurs. I just don't know anybody who works for the government. You know, I've been 50 years and I can't say I know anybody who works for the government but, there's lots of them. Yeah, yeah so they don't they. They're not involved in entrepreneurial circles, that's for sure. Dean: It's Ontario Hydro or Ontario Power Generation. Is that the government? No, that's the government, then I do. I know one person. I know one person that works for the government. Dan: All right, Send him an email and say what are five things you did last week? Yeah, what? Dean: did you do last week? Dan: Oh my goodness, that's so funny, impress me. Dean: Yes. Dan: Yeah. Dean: Yeah. Dan: I think it's a stage in technological development, I think it's a state, just where it has to do with the ability to measure, and this has been a vast dark space government that you can't really, yeah, and in fairness to them, they couldn't measure themselves. In other words, that they didn't have the ability, even if they were honest and forthright and they were committed and they were productive, they themselves did not have the ability to measure their own activities until now. And I think, and I think now they will, and I think now they will, and, but but anyway, I just think this is a major, major event. This is this is equal to the printing press. You know this is equal to to electricity. You can measure what government does electricity. You can measure what government does In the history of human beings. This is a major breakthrough. That's amazing. Dean: So great Look around. You don't want a time to be alive. Dan: Yeah, I mean depending on where you work I guess that's absolutely true. Dean: I've been listening to, uh I was just listening, uh just started actually a podcast about uh, thomas edison, uh this is a really great podcast, one of my great, one of my great heroes. Yes, exactly, the podcast is called Founders. Dan: Founders yeah. Dean: Founders. Yeah, david Sunra, I think, is the guy's name and all he does is he reads biographies and then he gives his insights on the biographies. It's just a single voice podcast. It's not like guests or anything, it's just him breaking down his lessons and notes from reading certain reading these biographies and it's really well done. But he had what turned me on he did. I first heard a podcast he did about Albert Lasker, who was the guy, the great advertising guy, the man who sold America and yeah, so I've been listening through and very interesting. But the Thomas Edison thing I'm at the point where he was talking about his first things. He sold some telegraph patent that he had an idea that he had created for $40,000, which was like you know a huge amount of money back then and that allowed him to set up Menlo Park. And then at the time Menlo Park was kind of out in the middle of nowhere and you know they asked why would you set up out there? And no distractions. And he created a whole you know a whole environment of where people were undistracted and able to invent and what you know. If they get bored, what are they going to do? They're going to invent something, just creating this whole environment. Dan: Well, he wasn't distractible because he was largely deaf. He had childhood injury, yeah, so he wasn't distracted by other people talking because he couldn't really make out. So you know, he had to focus where he could focus. And yeah, there is actually in my hometown, which his hometown is called Milan, ohio. I grew up two miles. I grew up I wasn't born there, but when I was two years old, we moved to a farm there. It was two miles from Edison. His home is there. It's a museum. Dean: Milan. Dan: Ohio and that was 1830s, somewhere 1838, something like that. I'm not quite sure. But there's a business in Norwalk, Ohio, where we moved from the farm when I was 11 years old Ohio, where we moved from the farm when I was 11 years old, and there's a business in there that started off as a dynamo company. Dynamo was sort of like an electric generator. Dean: Yeah, and we had dynamo in Georgetown. Dan: on the river, yeah, and that business continues since the mid-1800s, that business continues, and everything like that. My sense is that Edison put everything together that constitutes the modern scientific technological laboratory. In other words that Menlo Park is the first time you've really put everything together. That includes, you know, the science, the technology, the experimentation the creation of patents, the packaging of the new ideas, getting investment from Wall Street and everything. He created the entire gateway for the modern technological corporation, I think. Dean: I think that's amazing, very nice. I like to look at the. I like to trace the timelines of something right, like when you realize it's very interesting when you think and you hear about the lore and you look at the accomplishments of someone like Thomas Edison or Leonardo da Vinci or anybody, you look at the total of what you know about what they were able to accomplish, but when you granularly get down to the timeline of it, you don't, like you realize how. I think I remember reading about da vinci. I think he spent like seven years doing just this one uh, one period of projects. That was uh, um. So he puts it in perspective right of a of the, the whole of a career, that it really breaks down to the, the individual, uh chapters, that that make it up, you know, yeah, and it's funny, I've written about somebody, Jim Collins the good to great author. I heard him. His kind of hero was Peter Drucker and he remembers going to Peter Drucker and he had a bookshelf with all of his books. I think he had like 90 books or something that he had written, Peter Drucker, and he had them. Jim Collins set them up on his bookshelf and he would move a piece of tape that shows his current age against the age that Peter Drucker was when he had written those things and he realized that at you know, 50 years old, something like you know, 75% of Peter Drucker's work was after that age and even into his 80s or whatever. Dan: Yeah, most of my work is after 70. I was just going to say yeah, exactly, I look at that. You look at all of the things and then at 70, yeah, yeah, the actual stuff I've created is really yeah, that's when I really started to produce a lot after 70. Dean: Mm-hmm. Dan: Yeah, a lot of R&D. I did a lot of R&D. Dean: Right. Dan: Exactly, yeah, yeah, yeah. And you know, my goal is that 80 to 90 will be much more productive than 70 to 80. Yeah, I was talking to someone today interesting, very interesting physical fitness guy here in Toronto and he's a really great chiropractor so he's working. So I have I'm making great progress with the structural repair of my left knee. But there's all sorts of functional stuff that has to come along with it and he's my main man for doing this. But he was talking, he's 50, and he said you know, my goal is that 60 to 70 is going to be my most active part of my life, you know, from mountain climbing to all these different really high endurance athletics and sports, and so we got talking and I just shared with him the idea that the real goal you should have or which covers a lot of other areas is that, if you're like my goal for 90, I'm just going on 81, my goal for 90 is that I'm more ambitious at 90 than I am at the present. Dean: And. Dan: I said that's what that almost seems impossible, impossible well, well it is if you're just looking at yourself as a single individual yeah but if you're looking at yourself as someone who has an expand team, it's actually very possible. Dean: Yeah, yeah yeah, you're mine are those potato chips no, it's a piece of cellophane wrapped around something. That was the word right Retired. And they've been retired for about five years or so and I hadn't seen them in a couple of years. But it's really interesting to, at 72, the uh, you know the, just the level you can tell just physically and everything mentally, everything about them. They're on the, the decline phase of the thing they're not ramping up. You know, like just physically they are, um, you know they're, they're big, um cruisers. You know they've been going on cruises now every every six weeks or so, but, um, but yeah, no, no, uh, no more golf, no more. Like you see, they're intentionally kind of winding things down, resigning to the yeah. Dan: Yeah, it's very interesting. I don't know if you caught it in the news. It was, I think, right at the end of January. But you know the name Daniel Kahneman. Dean: I know the name. Yeah, thinking fast and slow. Dan: Fast thinking slow yeah, he committed suicide in Switzerland. Dean: I did not know that. When was that he? Dan: was 90 years old, I think it was January 28th. Dean: And it was all planned out. Dan: It was all planned out and he went to Switzerland to do it, because they have the legal framework where you can do that and everything else. And I found it so interesting that I did a whole bunch of perplexity searches and I said, because he was very influential, I never read his book, because I read the first five or 10 pages and it just didn't seem that interesting to me and it seemed like he had. You know that he's famous for that book and he's famous for it, and it seemed to be that he's kind of like a one trick pony. You know, he's got a great book that really changed things. And then I started looking. I said, well, what else did he do besides that one book? And it's not too much. And he did that, you know, 40 years ago. It was sort of something he did 40 years ago. Dean: Wow. Dan: And I just said gee, I wonder if he, you know, he just hasn't been real productive. Wonder if he, you know, he just hasn't been real productive, not not starting in january, but he hadn't been real productive over the last 20 or 30 years and he did that. Dean: Uh, and anyway, you know, I don't know. I don't know that I've been living under a rock or whatever. I didn't even realize that this was a real thing. I have a good friend in Canada whose grandfather is tomorrow scheduled for assisted. It's a big thing in Canada. Dan: Canada is the most leading country in incidents of people being assisted in committing suicide. Dean: Yeah, and. Dan: I have my suspicions. It's a way for the government to cut checks to old people. You know like assist them to leave. You know I mean it's just. What a confusing set of emotions that must bring up for someone you love. Confusing and disturbing about his committing suicide and it's really a big topic, you know, because he was saying you can always get on top of whatever you're experiencing and get useful lessons from it, right? Dean: and I said. Dan: I said, well, you must have reached an empty week or something. You know I I don't know what, what happened I, you know I mean right and uh, cause I I'm finding um the experience of being 80, the experience of being 70 and 80, very, very fruitful for coming up with new thoughts and coming up with new ideas right, you know and what, what is still important when you're uh, you know, still important when you're. you know what is even more important and what is even more clear when you're 80. That wasn't clear when you were 50 or 60. I think that's a useful thought. You know that's a useful thought, yeah, but it's really interesting. I never find suicide is understandable. Dean: I know, yeah, I get it. I see that you think about that too. I've had that. I've had some other people, my cousin, years and years ago was the first person kind of close to me that had committed suicide, and you know. But you always think it's just like you, I can't imagine that like I. I can imagine, uh, just completely like disappearing or whatever you know starting off somewhere else, like complete, you know, reset, but not something that that final, you know. Dan: You know, I can understand just extreme, intolerable pain you know, I mean. I can, I can, I can totally get that. Dean: Yeah, yeah. Dan: Yeah, I mean, it's just you. You just can't go through another day of it. I I just totally understand that but, where it's more of a psychological emotional you get a, got yourself in a corner and that, uh then, um, you know, I don't really, um, I don't really comprehend what's going on there. You know, I I obviously something's going on, but I you know, I, I obviously something's going on, but I, just from, I've never had a suicidal thought. I mean, you know, I've had some low points, I've had some, but even on my low points I had something that was fun that day you know Right Right, right Right. Or I had an interesting thought. Yeah, right. Dean: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, I'm yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, yeah. Dan: Well, I'm glad we hit on that topic because I said, you may think I know that the person doing it has a completely logical reason for doing it. It's just not a logic that can be explained easily to other people yeah, when you're not in that spot. I get it, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah anyway this was a good one. This was a good one. Yeah, now okay, wait actually yeah, I'll be calling from chicago next week. Dean: Okay, perfect I'll be here, yeah, um, yeah, I want to. I'd love to, um, if we remember, and if we don't, that's fine too, but if we remember, you brought up something the I would love to see and maybe talk about the difference between uh, you know, between 60, 70, 80, your thoughts of those things. Yeah, you're getting to that point I'm 22 years behind you, so I'm just turning 59 right before you turn 81. Dan: So that'd be something I'll put some thought to it. I love it. Dean: Okay. Dan: Perfect, thanks, dan. All right, okay, thanks, bye.

In this episode of Welcome to Cloudlandia, we reflect on how places, people, and experiences shape our perspectives. The conversation begins with casual observations, from warm weather making transitions easier to memorable encounters like “Spam Man,” a mysterious figure spotted at the Hazleton Hotel. We also explore the impact of changing landscapes, both physical and cultural. From real estate in Toronto to how cities evolve, we discuss how development can shape or diminish the character of a place. This leads to a broader conversation about timeless architecture, like Toronto's Harris Filtration Plant, and how thoughtful design contributes to a city's identity. Technology's role in daily life also comes up, especially how smartphones dominate attention. A simple observation of people walking through Yorkville reveals how deeply connected we are to our screens, often at the expense of real-world engagement. We contrast this with the idea that some things, like human connection and cooperation, remain unchanged even as technology advances. The discussion closes with thoughts on long-term impact—what lasts and fades over time. Whether it's historic buildings, enduring habits, or fundamental human behaviors, the conversation emphasizes that while trends come and go, specific principles and ways of thinking remain relevant across generations. SHOW HIGHLIGHTS In Phoenix, during a rooftop party, we witnessed a surprise appearance of a SpaceX rocket, which sparked our discussion on extraordinary events blending with everyday life. We explored the curious case of "Spam man," a local legend in Hazleton, whose mysterious persona intrigued us as much as any UFO sighting. We shared our fascination with the dynamic real estate landscape in Hazleton, discussing new constructions and their impact on scenic views. Our conversation touched on unique weather patterns at the beaches near the lake, emphasizing the influence of water temperatures on seasonal climate variations. We delved into the topic of warmer winters, reflecting on how both humans and nature adapt to milder temperatures, particularly during February 2024. Our discussion included insights from Morgan Housel's book, which inspired our reflections on nature's resilience and adaptation over millions of years. We highlighted local activities like windsurfing and kite skiing, noting the favorable wind conditions at the beaches, a rarity in Canada's cold-weather climate. Links: WelcomeToCloudlandia.com StrategicCoach.com DeanJackson.com ListingAgentLifestyle.com TRANSCRIPT (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors) Dean: Mr Sullivan. Dan: Mr Jackson. I hope you behaved when you were out of my sight. Dean: I did. I'll have to tell you something. I can't tell you how much I appreciate the arrangement of this warm weather. For me, it's made the transition much more palatable warm weather. Dan: for me it's made the transition much more palatable. Dean: I mean our backstage team is really getting good at this sort of thing, and you know when we were in. Dan: we were in Phoenix a couple of weeks ago and we had a rooftop party and right in the middle of the party we arranged for Elon Musk to send one of his rockets out. Dean: I saw that a satellite launch yeah. Dan: Yeah, can you imagine that guy and how busy he is? But just you know, just to handle our request he just ended up with, yeah, must be some money involved with that. Dean: Well, that's what happens, Dan. We have a positive attitude on the new budget. Dan: Yeah, and you think in terms of unique ability, collaboration, you know, breakthroughs free zone you know, all that stuff, it's all. Dean: it's the future. Dan: Yeah. So good Well he sent the rocket up and they're rescuing the astronauts today. Dean: Oh, is that right? How long has it been now since they've been? Dan: It's been a long time seven, eight months, I think, Uh-huh, yeah and Boeing couldn't get them down. Boeing sent them up, but they couldn't get them down. You know, which is only half the job, really. Dean: That was in the Seinfeld episode about taking the reservation and holding the reservation. Yeah. They can take the reservation. They just can't hold the reservation yeah. Dan: It's like back really the integral part. Back during the moonshot, they thought that the Russians were going to be first to the moon. Kennedy made his famous speech. You know we're going to put a man on and they thought the Russians, right off the bat, would beat him, because Kennedy said we'll bring him back safely and the Russians didn't include that in their prediction. That's funny. Dean: We had that. We're all abuzz with excitement over here at the Hazleton. There's a funny thing that happened. It started last summer that Chad Jenkins Krista Smith-Klein is that her name yeah, yeah. So we were sitting in the lobby one night at the Hazleton here and this guy came down from the residences into the lobby. It was talking to the concierge but he had this Einstein-like hair and blue spam t-shirts that's, you know, like the can spam thing on it and pink, pink shorts and he was, you know, talking to the concierge. And then he went. Then he went back upstairs and this left such an impression on us that we have been, you know, lovingly referring to him as Spam man since the summer, and we've been every time here on alert, on watch, because we have to meet and get to know Spam man, because there's got to be a story behind a guy like that in a place like this. And so this morning I had coffee with Chad and then Chad was going to get a massage and as he walked into the spa he saw Spamman and he met him and he took a picture, a selfie, with him and texted it. But I haven't that. His massage was at 10 o'clock, so all I have is the picture and the fact that he met Spamman, but I haven't that. His massage was at 10 o'clock, so all I have is the picture and the fact that he met Spam man, but I don't have the story yet. But it's just fascinating to me that this. I want to hear the story and know this guy now. I often wonder how funny that would appear to him. That made such an impression on us last summer that every time we've been at the Hazleton we've been sitting in the lobby on Spam man. Watch, so funny. I'll tell you the story tomorrow. I'll get to the bottom of it. Dan: It's almost like UFO watchers. They think they saw it once and they keep going back to the same place you know hoping that'll happen again, yeah. Dean: Is there a? Dan: spot. Is there a spot at the Hazleton? Dean: There is yeah. Dan: Oh, I didn't know that. Dean: So there's some eclectic people that live here, like seeing just the regulars or whatever that I see coming in and out of the of the residence because it shares. Dan: There's a lot, you know, yeah that's a that's pretty expensive real estate. Actually, the hazelton, yeah for sure, especially if you get the rooftop one, although they've destroyed I I think you were telling me they've destroyed the value of the rooftop because now they're building 40-story buildings to block off the view. Dean: I mean that's crazy. Right Right next door. Yeah, yeah, but there you go. How are things in the beaches as well? Dan: Yeah. You know it's interesting because we're so close to the lake it's cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter, you know. Dean: Oh, okay. Dan: You know, because controlled by water temperatures. Dean: Water temperatures. Dan: Yes, exactly, I mean even you know, even if it's cold, you know the water temperature is maybe 65, 66. Dean: Fahrenheit, you know it's not frigid. Dan: It's not frigid. Dean: They have wintertime plungers down here people who go in you know during the winter yeah, but this is that you and babs aren't members of the polar bear club that would not be us um but anyway, uh, they do a lot of uh windsurfing. Dan: There's at the far end of our beach going uh towards the city. They have really great wind conditions there. You see the kite skiers. They have kites and they go in the air. It's quite a known spot here. I mean, canada doesn't have too much of this because we're such a cold-weather country. There isn't the water, it's pretty cold even during the summertime yeah exactly yeah, but the lake doesn't freeze, that's oh, it does, it does yeah, yeah we've had, we've had winters, where it goes out, you know, goes out a quarter mile it'll be. Dean: I didn't realize that Wow. Dan: Yeah, yeah, yeah, but not this winter. It never froze over this winter, but we have, you know, within the last two or three winters, we've had ice on the. We've had ice, you know, for part of the winter. Dean: It's funny to me, dan, to see this. Like you know, it's going gonna be 59 degrees today, so, yeah, it's funny to me to see people you know out wearing shorts and like, but it must be like a, you know, a heat wave. Compared to what? You had in the first half of march here, right, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah yeah, so that's good. Dan: Yeah, last February not this past month, but February of 2024, we had 10 days in February where it was over 70. Dean: And. Dan: I often wonder if the trees get pulled, the plants get pulled. Dean: It triggers them to like hey, oh my. Dan: God. But apparently temperature is just one of the factors that govern their behavior. The other one is the angle of the light. Dean: And that doesn't change the angle of the sunlight. Dan: Yeah, so they. You know I mean things work themselves out over millions of years. So you know there's, you know they probably have all sorts of indicators and you have 10 boxes to check and if only one of them is checked, that doesn't, it doesn't fool them. You know they have a lot of things that I sent you and I don't know if we ever discussed it or you picked it up after I recommended it was Morgan Housel, famous ever. Dean: Did you like that? Did you like that? Dan: book. I did, I loved. It was Morgan Housel famous ever. Did you like that? Did you like that book? Dean: I did, I loved it. I mean it was really like, and I think ever you know, very, very interesting to me because of what I've been doing, you know the last little while, as I described, reading back over you know 29 years of journals, picking random things and seeing so much of what, so much of what, the themes that go that time feels the last. You know 30 years has gone by so fast that I, when I'm reading in that journal, I can remember exactly like where I was and I can remember the time because I would date and place them each journal entry. So I know where I was when I'm writing them. But I thought that was a really, I thought it was a really interesting book. What stood out for you from? Dan: Yeah, I think the biggest thing is that really great things take a long time to create. Dean: Yeah. Dan: Because they have to be tested against all sorts of changing conditions and if they get stronger, it's like you know they're going to last for a long time. Dean: And. Dan: I'm struck by it because the book, the little book that I'm writing for the quarter, is called the Bill of Rights Economy and the Bill of Rights really started with the United States. It was December 15th 1791. So that's when, I think, washington was just inaugurated at that time as the first president. But, how durable they are, and you can read the newspaper every day of things going on in Washington and you can just check off the first 10 amendments. This is a Fifth Amendment issue. This is a second amendment you know and everything like that, and it's just how much they created such a durable framework for a country. They were about 3 million people at that time and now there are 300 and whatever probably upwards of 350 million. And basically, the country runs essentially according to those first 10 amendments and then the articles which say how the machinery of government actually operates. And it's by far the longest continuous governing system in the world. That's really interesting. But that's why you know I really like things that you know, that you know that have stood the test of time. I like having my life based on things that have stood the test of time. And then I've got, you know, I've got some really good habits which I've developed over the last 50 years of coaching. Got, you know, I've got some really good habits which I've developed over the last 50 years of coaching and you know they work. You know I don't fool around with things that work. Yeah Well, I want to bring in something. I really am more and more struck how there's a word that's used in the high technology field because I was just at Abundance 360. And it's the word disruption and it's seen as a good thing, and I don't see disruption as good. I don't really see it as a good thing. I see it as something that might happen as a result of a new thing, but I don't think the disruption is a good thing. Dean: Yeah, it feels like it's not. It seems like the opposite of collaboration. Yeah, it really is. It feels like the negative. You know the I forget who said it, but you know the two ways they have the biggest building. Dan: I really mean Chucky movie. Dean: Yeah, there was somebody said the two ways to have the biggest building in town, the tallest building is to build the tallest building or to tear down all the other buildings that are taller than yours, and that's what disruption feels like to see in the real estate industry is always one that is, you know, set up as the big fat cat ready for disruption. And people have tried and tried to disrupt the real estate industry and, you know, I came away from the first, the first abundance 360, realizing that, you know, perhaps the thing that same makes real estate possible is that you can't digitize the last hundred feet of a real estate transaction. You know, and I think that there are certain industries, certain things that we are, that there's a human element to things. Dan: That is very yeah, yeah, I mean, it's really interesting just to switch on to that subject. On the real, estate. If you take Silicon Valley, Hollywood and Wall Street, who are the richest people in the area Silicon? Dean: Valley. Dan: Hollywood and Wall Street. Who are the richest people in the area? Dean: Silicon Valley Hollywood and Wall Street. Dan: Who are the real money makers? Dean: Yeah, Wall Street. Dan: No, the real estate developers. Dean: Oh, I see, oh, the real estate developers. Oh yeah, yeah, that's true, right, that's true. Dan: I don't care what you've invented or what your activity is. I'll tell you the people who really make the money are the people who are into real estate. Dean: Yeah, you can't digitize it, that's for sure. Dan: Well, I think the answer is in the word. It's real. Dean: What was that site, dan, that you were talking about? That was is it real? Or is it Bach or whatever? Or is it Guy or whatever? What was? Or is it AI or Bach? Dan: Well, no, I was. Yeah, I was watching. It was a little, you know, it was on YouTube and it was Bach versus AI. Dean: So what they've? Dan: done. You know you can identify the. You know the building components that Bach uses to you know to write his music and then you know you can take it apart and you know you can say do a little bit of this, do a little bit of this, do a little bit of this. And then what they have? They play two pieces. They play an actual piece by Bach and then they play another piece which is Bach-like you know, and there were six of them. And there was a of them and there was a host on the show and he's a musician, and whether he was responding realistically or whether he was sort of faking it, he would say boy, I can't really tell that one, but I guessed on all six of them and I guessed I guessed right. Dean: I know there was just something about the real Bach and I think I think it was emotional more than you know that could be the mirror neurons that you know you can sense the transfer of emotion through that music, you know. Dan: Yeah, and I listen to Bach a lot I still get surprised by something he's got these amazing chord changes you know, and what he does. And my sense is, as we enter more and more into the AI world, our you know, our perceptions and our sensitivities are going to heighten to say is that the real deal or not? Dean: you know yeah sensitivities are going to heighten to say is that the real deal or not? You know, and yeah, that's what you know, jerry Spence, I think I mentioned. Dan: Jerry Spence about that that Jerry Spence said. Dean: our psychic tentacles are in the background measuring everything for authenticity, and they can detect the thin clank of the counterfeit. Yeah, and I think that's no matter what. You can always tell exactly. I mean, you can tell the things that are digitized. It's getting more and more realistic, though, in terms of the voice things for AI. I'm seeing more and more of those voice caller showing up in my news feed, and we were talking about Chris Johnson. Chris Johnson, yeah, yeah, chris Johnson. Dan: This is really good because he's really fine-tuned it to. First of all, it's a constantly changing voice. That's the one thing I noticed. The second version, first version, not so much, but I've heard two versions of the caller. And what I noticed is, almost every time she talks, there's a little bit of difference to the tone. There's a little bit, you know, and she's in a conversation. Dean: Is it mirroring kind of thing, Like is it adapting to the voice on the other end? Dan: Yeah, I think there's. I certainly think there's some of that. And that is part of what we check out as being legitimate or not, because you know that it wouldn't be the same, because there's meaning. You know meaning different meaning, different voice, if you're talking to an actual individual who's not you know, who's not real monotonic. But yeah, the big thing about this is that I think we get smarter. I was talking, we were on a trip to Israel and we were talking in this one kibbutz up near the Sea of Galilee and these people had been in and then they were forced out. In 2005, I think it was, the Israeli government decided to give the Gaza territory back to the Palestinians. But it was announced about six months before it happened and things changed right away. The danger kicked up. There was violence and you know, kicked up. And I was talking to them. You know how can you send your kids out? You know, just out on their own. And they said, oh, first thing that they learned. You know he said three, four or five years old. They can spot danger in people. You know, if they see someone, they can spot danger with it. And I said boy oh boy, you know, it just shows you the, under certain conditions, people's awareness and their alertness kicks up enormously. They can take things into account that you went here in Toronto, for example. You know, you know, you know that's wild. Dean: Yeah, this whole, I mean, I think in Toronto. Dan: The only thing you'd really notice is who's offering the biggest pizza at the lowest price. Dean: Oh, that's so funny. There's some qualitative element around that too. It's so funny. You think about the things that are. I definitely see this Cloudlandia-enhan. You know that's really what the main thing is, but you think about how much of what's going on. We're definitely living in Cloudlandia. I sat last night, dan, I was in the lobby and I was writing in my journal, and I just went outside for a little bit and I sat on one of the benches in the in front of the park. Oh yeah, in front of the hotel and it was a beautiful night. Dan: Like I mean temperature was? Dean: yeah, it was beautiful. So I'm sitting out there, you know, on a Saturday night in Yorkville and I'm looking at March. I'm just yeah, I'm just watching, and I left my phone. I'm making a real concerted effort to detach from my oxygen tank as much as I can. Right, and my call, that's what I've been calling my iPhone right, because we are definitely connected to it. And I just sat there without my phone and I was watching people, like head up, looking and observing, and I got to. I just thought to myself I'm going to count, I'm going to, I'm going to observe the next 50 people that walk by and I'm going to see how many of them are glued to their phone and how many have no visible phone in sight, and so do you. Dan: What was it? Nine out of 10? Dean: Yeah, it wasn't even that. Yeah, that's exactly what it was. It was 46, but it wasn't even 10. Yeah, it was real. That's exactly what it was. It was 46. Dan: It wasn't even 10%, it was 19. It wasn't even no, it was 19 out of 20. Dean: Yeah, I mean, isn't that something, dan? Like it was and I'm talking like some of them were just like, literally, you know, immersed in their phone, but their body was walking, yeah, and the others, but their body was walking. But it's interesting too. Dan: If you had encountered me. I think my phone is at home and I know it's not charged up. Dean: Yeah, it's really something, dan, that was an eye-opener to me. It's really something, dan, that was an eye-opener to me, and the interesting thing was that the four that weren't on the phone were couples, so there were two people, but of the individuals, it was 100% of. The individuals walking were attached to their phones. Dan: Yeah. Dean: And I think that's where we're at right now. Dan: No, yeah, I don't know, it's just that. Dean: No, I'm saying that's observation. Dan: It's like Well, that's where we are, in Yorkville, in front of Okay, right, right, right yeah. No, it's just that I find Yorkville is a peculiarly Are you saying it's an outlier? It's not so much of an outlier but it's probably the least connected group of people in Toronto would be in Yorkville because they'd be out for the. They don't live there. You know most don't live there, they're and they're somewhere. There's probably the highest level of strangers you know, on any given night in toronto would probably be in yorkville I think it's sort of outliers sort of situation. I mean, I mean, if you came to the beaches on a yeah last night, the vast majority of people would be chatting with each other and talking with each other. They would be on their phones. I think think it's just a. It's probably the most what I would call cosmopolitan part of Toronto, in other words it's the part of Toronto that has the least to do with Toronto. Dean: Okay. Dan: It's trying to be New York, yorkville is trying to be. Dean: New York. Dan: Yeah, it's the Toronto Life magazine version of Toronto. Dean: Yeah, you idealize the avatar of Toronto, right yeah? Dan: In Toronto Life. They always say Toronto is a world-class city and I said no. I said, london's a world-class city. Dean: New. Dan: York is a world-class city. Tokyo is a world-class city. You know how, you know they're a world class city. Dean: They don't have to call themselves a world class city. Dan: They don't call themselves a world class city. They just are If you say you're a world class city. It's proof that you're not a world class city. Dean: That's funny. Yeah, I'll tell you what I think. I've told you what really brought that home for me was at the Four Seasons in London at Trinity Square, and Qatar TV and all these Arab the Emirates TV, all these things, just to see how many other cultures there are in the world. I mean, london is definitely a global crossroads, for sure. Dan: Yeah yeah. And that's what makes something the center, and that is made up of a thousand different little non-reproducible vectors. You know just, you know, just, you know. It's just that's why I like London so much. I just like London. It's just a great wandering city. You just come out of the hotel, walk out in any direction. Guarantee you, in seven minutes you're lost you have the foggiest idea where you are and you're seeing something new that you'd never seen before. And it's 25, the year 1625. Dean: I remember you and I walking through London 10 years ago, wandering through for a long time and coming to one of these great bookstores. You know, yeah, but you're right, like the winding in some of the back streets, and that was a great time. Yeah, you can't really wander and wander and wander. Dan: Yeah, it was a city designed by cows on the way home, right, exactly. Yeah, you can't really wander and wander and wander. Dean: Yeah, it was a city designed by cows on the way home, Right exactly. Dan: Yeah, it's really interesting. You know, that brings up a subject why virtual reality hasn't taken off, and I've been thinking about that because the buzz, you know how long ago was it? You would say seven years ago, seven, eight years ago everything's going to be virtual reality. Would that be about right? Oh, yeah, yeah. Dean: That was when virtual reality was in the lead. Remember then the goggles, the Oculus, yeah, yeah, that was what, yeah, pre-covid, so probably seven years ago 17, 17. And it's kind of disappeared, hasn't it compared to you know? Dan: why it doesn't have enough variety in it. And this relates back to the beginning of our conversation today. How do you know whether it's fake or not and we were talking on the subject of London that on any block, what's on that block was created by 10,000 different people over 500 years and there's just a minute kind of uniqueness about so much of what goes on there when you have the virtual reality. Let's say they create a London scene, but it'll be maybe a team of five people who put it together. And it's got a sameness to it. It's got, you know, oh definitely. Dean: That's where you see in the architecture like I don't. You know, one of the things I always look forward to is on the journey from here to strategic coach. So tomorrow, when we ride down University through Queen's Park and the old University of Toronto and all those old buildings there that are just so beautiful Stone buildings the architecture is stunning. Nobody's building anything like that now. No, like none of the buildings that you see have any soul or are going to be remembered well and they're not designed. Dan: They're not really designed to last more than 50 years. I have a architect. Well, you know richard hamlin he says that those, the newest skyscrapers you see in Toronto, isn't designed to last more than 50 years. You know, and, and you know, it's all utilitarian, everything is utilitarian, but there's no emphasis on beauty, you know. There's no emphasis on attractiveness. There's a few but not many. Attractiveness there's a few but not many. And, as a matter of fact, my favorite building in Toronto is about six blocks further down the lake from us, right here. It's called the Harris Filtration Plant. Dean: Oh yeah, we've walked by there, right at the end of the building. Dan: Built in 19, I think they finished in 1936. Dean: Yeah. Dan: And it's just an amazing building. I mean it's on three levels, they have three different buildings and it goes up a hill and it's where the water. You know, at that time it was all the water in Toronto that came out of the lake and they have 17 different process. You know the steps. And you go in there and there's no humans in there, it's all machinery. You can just hear the buzz and that's the water being filtered. It's about a quarter of the city now comes through that building. But it's just an absolutely gorgeous building and they spared no cost on it. And the man who built it, harris, he was the city manager. They had a position back there. It was city manager and it was basically the bureaucrat who got things done, and he also built the bridge across the Down Valley on Bloor. Dean: Yeah, beautiful bridge Right. Dan: He built that bridge and he was uneducated. He had no education, had no training, but he was just a go-getter. He was also in charge of the water system and the transportation system. And you know he put in the first streetcars and everything like that, probably the greatest bureaucrat toronto ever had, you know in the history of toronto this is the finest what year is that building from? yeah, the filtration plant was started in 29 and it was finished in 36 and wow they yeah, they had to rip out a whole section. It was actually partially woods, partially, I think, you know they had everything there, but they decided that would be the best place to bring it in there. Dean: You know it's got a lot more than 100 years. Dan: Yeah, but it's the finest building it's it's rated as one of the top 10 government buildings in north america yeah, it's beautiful. Dean: And that bridge I mean that bridge in the Don Valley is beautiful too. Dan: Yeah, it was really interesting. He put the bridge in and the bridge was put in probably in the 30s too. I mean that was vital because the valley really kept one part of Toronto apart from the other part of Toronto. It was hard to get from one part of Toronto apart from the other part of Toronto. You know, it's hard to get from one part of Toronto to the next. And so they put that bridge in, and that was about in the 30s and then in the no, I think it was in the 20s, they put that in 1920, so 100 years. And in the 1950s they decided to put in their first subway system. So they had Yonge Street and so Yonge Street north, and then they had Buller and Danforth. So they budgeted that they were going to really have to retrofit the bridge. And when they got it and they took all the dimensions, he had already anticipated that they were going to put a subway in. So it was all correct. And so anyway, he saw he had 30 or 40 years that they were going to put up. They would have to put a subway in. So it was all correct and yeah and so anyway he saw I had 30 or 40 years that they were going to put up. They would have to put, they're going to put the subway and it had to go through the bridge and so so they didn't have to retrofit it at all. Yeah, pretty cool. Dean: What do you think we're doing now? That's going to be remembered in 100 years or it's going to be impacted in 100 years? Dan: Well, we're not going backwards with technology, so any technology we have today we'll have 100 years from now. So you know, I mean I think the you know. Well, you just asked a question that explains why I'm not in the stock market. Dean: Exactly. Warren Buffett can't predict what's going to happen. We can't even tell what's going to change in the next five years. Dan: I don't know what's going to happen next year. I don't know what's going to happen next year. Dean: Isn't it interesting? I think a lot of the things that we're at could see, see the path to improvement or expansion, like when the railroad came in. You know it's interesting that you could see that that was we. You know, part of it was, you know, filling the territory, connecting the territory with all the, with all this stuff, and you could see that happening. But even now, you know, this is why warren buffett, you know, again with the, probably one of the largest owners of railroad things in the states, him, yeah, and because that's not changed in 200, yeah, or whatever, 150 years anyway, yeah, yeah, yeah, most of the country probably, you know, 150 years at least. Yeah, and so all of that, all those things, and even in the first half of the 1900s, you know all the big change stuff, yeah, yeah. Dan: Yeah. Dean: So it's funny because it's like I can't even see what categories are the biggest. Dan: Well, I think they'll be more intangibles than tangibles. For example, I think all my tools work 100 years from now. Yeah, I think all my thinking tools work 100 years from now. Dean: Well, because our brains will still be the same in 100 years. Yeah, all that interaction, right, the human behavior stuff. Dan: yeah, yeah yeah I don't think human behavior, um I think it's really durable you know, and that it's very interesting, um, and there was a phrase being used at Abundance that was used about four or five times during the two days that we were becoming godlike, and I said, no, I don't think so. Dean: I guess are they saying in that we can do things because of technology, we can do things. Dan: And I said nah, it's just the next. It's just the next new thing. You know that we've created, but human nature is, you know, there's a scientist, Joe Henrich, and a really bright guy. He's written a book you might be interested in. It's called the Secret of Our Success. And he was just exploring why humans, of all the species on the planet, became the dominant species. And you wouldn't have predicted it. Because we're not very fast, we're not very strong, we don't climb particularly well, we don't swim particularly well, we can't fly and everything like that. So you know, compared with a lot of the other species. But he said that somewhere along the line he buys into the normal thing that we came from ape-like species before we were human. But he says at one point there was a crossover and that one ape was looking at another ape. And he says he does things differently than I. I do. If I can work out a deal with him, he can do this while I'm doing that and we're twice as well. Dean: I was calling that. Dan: I've been calling that the cooperation game but that's really and that's playing that and we're the only species that can continually invent new ways to do that, and I mean every most. You know higher level. And mammals anyway can cooperate. You know they cooperate with each other. They know a friend from anatomy and they know how to get together. But they don't know too much more at the end of their life than they knew at the beginning of their life. You know in other words. They pretty well had it down by the time they were one year old and they didn't invent new ways of cooperating really. But humans do this on a daily basis. Humans will invent new ways of cooperating from morning till night. And he says that's the reason we just have this infinite ability to cooperate in new ways. And he says that's the reason we just have this infinite ability to cooperate in new ways. And he says that's why we're the top species. The other thing is we're the only species that take care of other species. We're the only species that study and document other species. We're the only species that actually create new species. You know put this together with that and we get something. Yeah, yeah and so, so, so, anyway, and so that's where you begin the. You know if you're talking about sameness. What do we know 100 years from now? Dean: What we know over the 100 years is that humans will have found almost countless new ways to cooperate with each other yeah, I think that that's, and but the access to right, the access to, that's why I think these, the access to capabilities, as a, you know, commodity I'm not saying commodity in a, you know, I'm not trying to like lower the status of ability, but to emphasize the tradability of it. You know that it's something that is a known quantity you know yeah. Dan: But my sense is that the relative comparison, that one person, let's say you take 10 people. Let's take 100 people that the percentage of them that could cooperate with each other at high levels, I believe isn't any different in 2024 than it was in 1924. If you take 100 people. Some have very high levels to cooperate with each other and they do, and the vast majority of them very limited amount to cooperate with each other, but are you talking about. Dean: That comes down, then, to the ability to be versus capability. That they have the capability. Dan: Yeah, they have the capability, but they don't individually have the ability. Dean: Right. Dan: Yeah, and I don't think the percentage changes. Dean: Yeah, that's why this whole, that's why we're I think you know, the environment that we're creating in FreeZone is an ecosystem of people who are, who get this. Dan: Yeah, well, I don't think they, yeah, I don't think they became collaborative because they were in free zone. I think they were collaborative, looking for a better place to do it. Dean: Yes, yeah, it's almost like it's almost so, just with the technologies. Now, the one thing that has improved so much is the ability to seamlessly integrate with other people, with other collaborators. Dan: Yeah, now you're talking about the piano, you're not talking about the musicians, that's exactly right, but I think there really was something to that right. It's a good distinction. Dean: It's a really good distinction that you've created. Yeah, I should say yesterday at lunch you and I were talking about that I don't know that we've talked about it on the podcast here the difference, the distinction that we've discovered between capability and ability. And so I was looking at, in that, the capability column of the VCR formula, vision, capability, reach that in the capability column I was realizing the distinction between the base of something and the example that I gave was if you have a piano or a certain piece of equipment or a computer or a camera or whatever it is. We have a piano, you have the capability to be a concert pianist, but without the ability to do it. You know that. You're that that's the difference, and I think that everybody has access to the capabilities and who, not how, brings us in to contact with the who's right, who are masters at the capabilities? Dan: Yeah, you're talking about in. You know the sort of society that we live in. Yes, Because you know there's you know there's, you know easily, probably 15% of the world that doesn't have access to electricity. Dean: Yes exactly. Dan: I mean, they don't have the capability, you know, they just don't have yeah, yeah and yeah, it's a very, very unequal world, but I think there's a real breakthrough thinking that you're doing here. The fact that there's capability says nothing about an individual's ability. Dean: Right, that's exactly it. Yeah, and I think this is a very important idea, but I'm not going to write a book on it. Oh, my goodness, this is example, a right, I had the capability, with the idea of the capability and ability. Yeah, yeah, I didn't have the ability. Yeah, I've heard, do you know, the comedian Ron White? Dan: Yeah, I have the capability to write a book and I have the ability to write a book, but I'm not going to do either. Dean: So he talked about getting arrested outside of a bar and he said I had the right to remain silent, but I didn't have the ability that's pretty funny, right. But yeah, this is really like it's exciting. It's exciting times right now. I mean it really is exciting times to even projecting for the next, the next 30 years. I think I see that the through line, you know, is that you know that a brunch at the four seasons is going to be an appealing thing 30 years from now, as it is now and was 30 years ago, or three line stuff, or yeah, or some such hotel in toronto yes exactly right. Dan: Right, it may not be. Yeah, I think the four seasons, I think is pretty durable. And the reason is they don't own any of their property. Dean: You know and I think that's. Dan: They have 130 hotels now. I'm quite friendly with the general manager of the Nashville Four Seasons because we're there every quarter Four Seasons because we're there every quarter and you know it's difficult being one of their managers. I think because you have two bosses, you have the Four. Seasons organization but you also have the investor, who owns the property, and so they don't own any of their own property. That's all owned by investors. Dean: Right. Dan: Yeah. Dean: So go ahead. When was the previous? I know it's not the original, but when was the one on Yorkville here Yorkville and Avenue? When was that built? Was that in the 70s or the 60s? Dan: Well, it was a Hyatt. It was a Hyatt Hotel. Dean: Oh, it was, they took it over. Dan: Yeah, and it was a big jump for them and that was, you know, I think it was in the 60s, probably I don't know when they started exactly I'll have to look that up, but they were at a certain point they hit financial difficulties because there's been ups and downs in the economy and they overreach sometimes, and the big heavy load was the fact that they own the real estate. So they sold all the real estate and that bailed them out. Real estate and that bailed them out. And then from that point forward, they were just a system that you competed for. If you were deciding to build a luxury hotel, you had to compete to see if the Four Seasons would be interested in coming in and managing it. Okay, so they. It's a unique process. Basically, it's a unique process that they have. Dean: Yeah. Dan: It's got a huge brand value worldwide. You're a somebody as a city. If the Four Seasons come to your city, I think you're right. Ottawa used to have one. It doesn't have one now. Vancouver used to have one. It doesn't have one now. I think, calgary had one. Calgary doesn't Because now Vancouver used to have one, doesn't have one now I think Calgary had one. Calgary doesn't Because it was a Canadian hotel to start with. Dean: Yeah. Dan: And Belleville had one at one time. Dean: Oh, really yeah. Dan: I'm one of the few people who have stayed at the Belleville Four Seasons. Dean: Hotel the Belleville Four Seasons. Dan: Yeah, of all the people you know, dean dean, I may be the only person you know who stayed at the belleville four seasons now, what they did is they had a partnership with bell canada. Bell canada created the training center in belleville oh and uh, and they did a deal four seasons would go into it with them. So they took over a motel and they turned it into Four Seasons, so they used it as their training center. Okay, so you know, it was trainees serving trainees, as it turned out. Dean: I forget who I was talking to, but we were kind of saying it would be a really interesting experience to take over the top two floors of the hotel beside the Chicago Strategic Coach, there the Holiday Inn or whatever that is. Take over the top two floors and turn those into a because you've got enough traffic. That could be a neat experience, yeah. Dan: It wouldn't be us. Dean: Oh well, I need somebody. You know that could be a an interesting. I think if that was an option there would be. Dan: Probably work better for us to have a floor of one of the hotels. Dean: That's what I meant. Yeah, a floor of the the top two floors of the hotel there to get. Yeah, there's two of them. That's what I meant. Yeah, a floor of the top two floors of the hotel there to get. Dan: Yeah, there's two of them. There's two of them. Dean: Oh, yeah, yeah. Dan: There's the Sheraton, and what's Sinesta? Sinesta, right the. Dean: Sinesta is the one I'm thinking of. Dan: That's the closest one right, the one Scott Harry carries in the Right, right right. There you carries in them, right, yeah, well, it's an interesting, but it is what it is and we're, yeah, but we have almost one whole floor now and I mean those are that's a big building. It's got really a lot of square footage in the building. That's what. Is it cb re? Is it cb? You do know the nationwide. Dean: Oh yeah. Dan: Coldwood Banker. Oh yeah, yeah, coldwood Banker, that's who our landlord is. And they're good they're actually good, but they've gone through about three owners since we've been there. We've been there, 25 years, 26. This is our 26th year. Yeah, and generally speaking they've been good landlords that we've had. Yeah, it's well kept up. They have instant response when you have a maintenance problem and everything. I think they're really good. Dean: Yeah, well, I'm going to have to come and see it. Maybe when the fall happens, maybe between the good months, the fall or something, I might come and take a look. Dan: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Dean: Well, I'm excited and take a look yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah Well. Dan: I've been there. Yeah, we have our workshop. We have our workshop tomorrow here and then we go to Chicago and we have another one on Thursday and then the second Chicago workshop for the quarter is in the first week of April. Oh, wow, yeah, yeah, and this is working out. We'll probably be a year away, maybe a year and a half away, from having a fourth date during the quarter. Oh, wow. Dean: Yeah. Dan: Do we? Dean: have any new people for FreeZone Small? Dan: Don't know Okay. Dean: No one is back. Dan: Yeah, yeah, I don't really know, I don't really know, I think we added 30 last year or so it's. The numbers are going up. Yes, that's great. Yeah, I think we're about 120 total right now. That's awesome. That's awesome. Yeah, yeah, it's fun, though. It's nice people. Dean: Yeah, it's nice to see it all. It's nice to see it all growing. Very cool, all right well, enjoy yourself. Yes, you too and I will see you. Tonight at five. That's right, all right, I'll be there. Dan: Thanks Dan. Dean: Okay.

In this episode of Welcome to Cloudlandia, We take you through the fascinating evolution of media and communication technologies. We begin by tracing the journey of written communication from ancient Sumerian pictographs to Gutenberg's printing press. The narrative explores how each technological breakthrough transformed our ability to share information, from industrial-era steam presses to the digital revolution sparked by the first email in 1971. Our conversation delves into the parallels between historical technological adaptations and current innovations. We examine the story of a 1950s typesetter transitioning to digital technologies, drawing insights into how professionals navigate significant technological shifts. The discussion introduces the concept of "Casting, not Hiring," emphasizing the importance of finding meaningful experiences and team dynamics in a rapidly changing world. We explore the transformation of media consumption and advertising in the digital age. Traditional media platforms give way to digital giants like Facebook and Google, reflecting broader changes in how we create, distribute, and consume content. The conversation touches on audience dynamics, using examples like Joe Rogan's media presence and Netflix's market evolution to illustrate these shifts. SHOW HIGHLIGHTS In this episode, I explore the historical journey of media and communication, tracing its evolution from ancient scripts to modern digital technologies. I discuss the pivotal role of Gutenberg's printing press in revolutionizing media distribution and how it set the stage for the widespread use of newspapers and books. We delve into the transition from traditional typesetting to digital processes, drawing parallels between past innovations and current advancements in AI. The conversation highlights the importance of curiosity and effective communication in embracing new technologies, emphasizing the idea of "casting" for meaningful experiences rather than traditional hiring. We examine media consumption trends and the impact of big data on advertising, noting the shift from traditional platforms to digital giants like Facebook and Google. Our discussion includes an analysis of the historical impact of communication technologies, referencing figures like Edison and their influence on modern entrepreneurship. The episode concludes with a focus on the value of appreciation and growth, sharing insights on how recognizing value and excellence can lead to professional and personal breakthroughs. Links: WelcomeToCloudlandia.com StrategicCoach.com DeanJackson.com ListingAgentLifestyle.com TRANSCRIPT (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors) Dean: Mr Sullivan, and how are you? I am wonderful. Welcome to Cloudlandia, you are in the Chicago outpost. I am. Dan: I'm sitting in a very comfortable spot, noise-free. I just had. Have you ever done any IV where they pump you? Up with good stuff. Dean: I have yeah. Dan: Yeah, I just came from that, so I may be uncomfortably exuberant. Dean: Uncomfortably exuberant. That's a great word there, right there. Dan: Yeah, yeah, uncomfortable to you. Dean: That's the best. Dan: Yeah, yeah. So anyway, we have a good service. Dean: The only thing I miss about Chicago comfortable to you, that's the best, yeah, so anyway, we have a good service. The only thing I miss about Chicago. Dan is our Sunday dinners. Oh the Sunday roundtable. Dan: Yeah, it's a bit more informal now so we don't have a big gap. It's not like the Last Supper. Dean: Right, exactly. Dan: We have Mike Canix coming over and Stephen Paltrow. Dean: Okay, there you go. Dan: They'll be on straight carnivore tonight. Dean: Okay, good, I like everything about that. Dan: Yeah, it's a little bit of snow on the ground and snowing right now, but it's nice. Dean: Oh, that's awesome. Well it's winter here. It's like cool. Yeah, I almost had to wear pants yesterday, dan, it was that cold. Dan: I had to wear pants yesterday, Dan. Dean: It was that cold I had to wear my full-weight hoodie. But yeah, but it's sunny, it's nice. Dan: I was just in the hot tub before we got on the call the Chinese intelligence, who are listening to this phone call. They're trying to visualize what you just said. Dean: Yes, Well, I had a great conversation with Charlotte this morning and something happened. That is the first time I've done it. I literally I talked her ear off. I reached my daily limit of talk interaction. We were talking for about an hour. There's a limit. Yes, I pay $20 a month and I guess there's a limit of how long you can engage by advanced voice tech. Dan: I'd give her a raise. I'd give her a raise. Dean: So they were on her behalf demanding a raise. I'd give her a raise. So they were on her behalf demanding a raise from $20 a month to $200 a month, and I could talk to her all I want. I still think it's worth it. It really is. When you think about if we go through the personification again, if you think about what you're getting for 200 I mean, just the conversation I had with her this morning was worth more than 200, yeah, so you want to know what we were talking about. What were you talking? about well, I am such a big fan of this, the big change uh book that I got for you. That was oh yeah, by stuff like that. So I really have been thinking that the whole game has really been an evolution of our, of words, pictures, sound and the combination of words, pictures and sounds in videos, right, and if we take the big three the words and pictures and sound, that I, you know, we went all the way back to the very beginning and I told her I said, listen, what I'd love to do is I want to trace the evolution of each of these individually. I want to start from the beginning of how we let's just take text, you know, as an example for words, and so she's taking me all the way back to the ancient Sumerians and the invention of kind of the very first kind of visual depiction of words and language, and then all the way up to the hieroglyphics of Egyptians and then into what would now be what we know as the alphabet, with the Romans and Latin, Romans and Latin, and the way that they were distributed was through tablets and they would post posters and things to get things out there. And so I'll pause there and I'll tell you that the lens that I wanted to look at it through for her is to go back and find, just trace, the beginnings of the capability of it, right, the capability of text. So that meant we had to have language and we had to have the alphabet, and we had to have the tools, the mechanism to recreate these on tablets. And then the distribution of them. How were they distributed? The consumption of them, how were they received and popularized? And then how were they capitalized? Who turned business opportunities into? What did this new capability turn into business-wise? So, looking, those four, tracking those four things all the way through history, from the ancient Sumerians, all the way through, and so when we got to, you know, from the time the Romans created the thing, the first kind of commercialization was the scribe industry. That became a thing where people were employed as scribes to you know, to write things, things, and then it came into the monks. We haven't gone deep dive in these yet, we're kind of going through the surface level of them. But the scribes, you know, were the first kind of commercializing and distribution of the of the things. And then when Gutenberg came along, that sort of popularized and made it even more able to distribute things and on the back of that became newspapers and pamphlets and books. So those were the three primary things for hundreds of years. Until the 1800s we had steam presses which were large, just kind of mechanized, sped up Gutenberg presses, and then the roller presses which allowed to have long, continuous streams of printing, which that really led to the modern newspaper. You know we had almost a hundred years until things were digitized where the entire platform was built on that plateau of things. And then it turned into newspapers magazines were the dominant things and mail. Those were the big distribution elements for a hundred years and then, once it got digitized, we turned into email. The first email apparently was sent in 1971 or something, but it took 25 years for that to popularize to the level that everybody had email and it was the primary thing and that led to PDFs and eBooks and distribution on the internet. We talked about bloggers because, if you remember, in the early days of the internet the heroes were bloggers. Those were the sort of personalities pre-social media you know. And then she even used the words that once it became democratized with social media, that things like twitter and and you know those were big things. But she talked about Arianna Huffington and Perez Hilton and Matt Drudge as the kind of first real mainstream capitalizers of this digital kind of went full steam into only digital, when all the mainstream print media was still kind of holding on and and resisting the migration of free news coming through you know um, and then we get to the point now where all of that is completely available. You know medium and sub stack and you know email newsletters taking off as a thing, and then AI bringing into a situation where now the machines can create and distribute the content. And it's funny just that level. I was on a Zoom with Joe Stolte the other day and you know, with even your newsletter, the AI-assisted newsletter you think about those as things, that learning smart, personalized text, media consumption as a really enhanced experience. So I found that really that was the first conversation that I'd had with that kind of context. I'm visualizing, I want to like visualize a timeline of these benchmarks. You know along the way, and realize how long the spaces were between when things actually catalyzed, you know yeah, long in comparison to what? Dan: long in comparison to the last. Dean: You know where we are now that long in comparison to what? Long in comparison to the last. You know where we are now. That long in comparison to that. There was no ability to print words on paper until 1442 or 1555 or whatever. I think it's 1550. Dan: Yeah, so 1455. Dean: Somewhere around there. Somewhere around there, yeah that literally did not change for 400 years till now. You know, in the last 25 years we've gotten to where we can distribute it globally instantly to everybody, and that we've also got machines now that can actually create the content itself and distribute on on your behalf and so I think that's our ability to create that stuff. Like I, I wonder how long and how many hours of research power it would have taken to get this level of what I gained from my conversation with Charlotte. Dan: Well, you would have gotten a doctorate, you would have gotten a PhD. Dean: Yeah, and it would have taken years to study all of that and to go back and find it all you know, but it was very, I found it very all to serve this idea that I think, in all of those digitized four corners, that we have reached a, a pinnacle, where we're faced now going forward with a plateau that really it's going to be about the creative use of. No, I think that's things. Dan: Yeah, I think that's true. Yeah, just a little addition to charl's work the conversation that you had with Charlotte. One of the reasons why the Greeks have such influence Greek thinking on the world, you know they essentially created history. That was. Dean: You know that was. Dan: Thucydides. And you know, herodotus and Thucydides were two Greek historians and basically their histories basically really formed the whole ancient world. And then you had poetry. Homer was the great poet and. Plato and Aristotle and many others, many other Greek philosophers, but Greece was the first country that developed a really first-class. The Greeks developed a first-class alphabet. I think it may have pretty close to we have 26 letters. I'm not quite sure what they had, but it wasn't. I don't know if it was fewer or more, but maybe only by two or three letters they had, but it was really the alphabet. That is the breakthrough. For example, we have two artists that work for us. They're from Hong Kong and growing up they learned all the. They learned all the ideograms that are in Chinese you know, and you know, and it's years and years and years of study where the alphabet you know. A reasonably intelligent first grader, or maybe even earlier these days, but a six-year-old, can basically grasp the alphabet and be using that skillfully, you know, within their first year of grade school, within first grade and that's what the alphabet did and that's why, you know, the literacy really came in. But even then, when you know in Gutenberg today there weren't that many literate people, you know who could actually? Read, you know. So it wasn't so much the technology Well, the technology was crucial, but it wasn't so much why things. It's just that it took 400 years for the entire population to become literate. You know, and you know to have formal education to empower literacy. That took a long time because people were working manually and they didn't have need for reading. They had to become good at things. Fixated now for about the last eight months on british navy historical novel assault taking place around 1800 to 1800. You know, and you know the majority of sailors on the ships didn't read they, they didn't have right reading, you know but, they were very skillful. They knew the wind, they knew the waves, they yeah, you know, they had phenomenal teamwork and they were very skillful. They knew the wind, they knew the waves, they had phenomenal teamwork and they were very handy. They had a lot of hand skills and everything else, but it's been only recently that your progress in the world really depended upon reading. Dean: Literacy yeah. Dan: Yeah, you had to go forward. I remember that's one story. Just the Greeks. The Greeks that became very powerful, their philosophy still. I mean, every day in universities, or probably universities, there's discussions about what Plato said about this, what Aristotle said about this. So that's still. You know, the power of that over generations is really quite extraordinary. The other thing, if I want to add to that, my sister, who's 89, the man she married, who died about 10 years ago. When I met him, this was in the 1950s, he was a typesetter for a major newspaper in the. Cleveland area and I would go down there and you'd see he put together a whole page of it and you know, and he had to do it backwards, he had to put all the letters. He had this vast, you know, he had these, they were like wooden shelves that had, you know, were divided into, you know, into 28 different, 26 different spots, and he would just pick up the letters and put them. But he made the complete changeover, starting around the 1970s, 1975. He made a complete changeover to becoming digital. It started becoming digital even in the 1970s. And then he just kept progressing, layer after layer, until he was the production manager for the entire network of about five you know five municipal newspapers and everything like that yeah so his history sort of matches what you and charlotte talked about. Dean: Yeah, and I found that really an interesting like multi-track way to look at it, as the technology and then the capability that created for the creation of things, the distribution of those things and the capitalizing on those things, because that's kind of like the cascading layers that happen. And I think if we look at where we are with AI right now, we're at that level where it was available below the surface until two years ago and then now it's sort of widely available as a capability. But all the things that are going to really come, I wouldn't say it's widely available used right now. I heard somebody talk about that. If we think about, like, if ultimately AI is just going to be internet, you know it's like if we think about what internet was in 1996, that's becoming. It's almost like chat. Gpt is the AOL of of what made the internet popular, right as everybody got on. AOL and had access to email and kind of gated browsing. Dan: Yeah, the interesting thing that you know if I just take your example from this morning, it's because you're a good prompter that whole thing happened. The whole essential skill. You know, if you take all the technology, that's a technology, charlotte's technology, and that's there, it's waiting there. It's waiting there to be used. But unless you have a good prompter it won't produce what you produced this morning. Dean: I agree with you 100, and that's why it's all in the prompt prompting. Dan: That means knowing what you want. It's actually a visualization skill because, you visualize something you know like in, not exactly because you, how you did it is unique, but my sense is that you had a question in mind, or you were just curious about something, and then you were able to put it into words. This was strictly spoken, was it? Yeah, uh-huh, yeah, so you didn't type anything in for this. Dean: No, I did not. Dan: Because it's strictly on an audible level, right, exactly, yeah. Anything in for this? No, I did not. Strictly on an audible level, right, exactly yeah. But here's the thing that no one else in the world did what you did this morning, and the reason is because you were just interested in it you were just interested in something and you know, and it was in conversation form, so now tell me about this. Now tell me about this yeah well, what she? Dean: was saying was guiding my things. You know what? It's very similar, dan. It's like if we were to sit down at a piano and look at the piano. There's 88 keys of possibility there. Yeah, unless you know how to prompt the keys to make the noises. Dan: Do you know what I mean? It's just noise. Dean: I think that's really what it is, and I think that chat interactions or AI interactions are going to be the piano lessons of today. Right Like for kids to talk about essential skills. Dan: And the outcome is going to be the music and the outcome is going to be the music. Dean: That's right. That's right, yeah. Dan: I've done about. You know, with perplexity, probably last week I've done about 25, you know where I one. That was really interesting because it was related to the book that I'm writing Casting, not Hiring with Jeff and I was saying, you know, the big thing is that we're only talking, the book is only for a particular type of person, you know. Because, you know he has a wide range of people that he's giving them our small copy of Casting, not Hiring you know, our 60-page book and then he's interviewing them if they're willing to read it, which takes about an hour. If they're willing to read it, then he wants to know what they think about it. You know, but there's, like corporate people that he's talking to, there's academic people that he's talking to, and I said, you know, jeff, academic people that he's talking to. And I said, you know, jeff, there's only one reader for this. That's a successful, talented, ambitious entrepreneur who wants to grow. Who wants to grow, wants to make the growth experience really meaningful and purposeful for himself or herself, but also for the team members, for the members of the company that the entrepreneur owns. And so he said, yeah, well you know how big is that market and I said, well, let's. So I did a search and I had my question. I just looked at it just before I came on the call. I said I want you to, of all the companies incorporated in the United States, the total number of incorporated companies in the United States in 2023, because usually their number. You know that you go back about a year before the present year that you're just sending, because there's an enormous amount of data for that. Dean: And. Dan: I said what percentage of all the incorporated companies in the United States are privately owned? And it turns out it's 99% and 33 million, 33 million incorporated companies. And and then I put in another prompt okay, size of companies 1 to 10, 10 to 50, 50 to 150, 150 to 500, above 500, and 74 percent of them are 74 percent or one to ten. And then, and I said we're really talking basically about companies up to about 150 that's the reader. They have companies that are 150 and everything like that, and it's really interesting that this is the only person they said but there's this huge market of other. You know, jeff didn't say this, but other people said there's. So this should be a book for everybody. And I said, if it's a book for everybody, it's not interesting to anybody that's true, exactly. Dean: Well, that's so. Those numbers have kind of um grown, because I've always heard about you know know, 28 million, but I guess the most recent that would make sense 33 million. Dan: And it would be bigger today because we're you know, we're a full year and into the first month, so it would be bigger. The incorporations go on. And the other thing about what you're saying is you can be so specific, Like you can really put down all the interesting things about the reader you know, about the reader that you're looking for and you know so, while the capability that you're talking and I have some arguments with democratize you know the concept of democratize because there's a certain sense people are going to have equal capabilities. I think just the opposite is going to happen. The range from people with a little ability or no ability to extraordinary capability actually gets bigger and wider to extraordinary capability actually gets bigger and wider. And the reason is exactly what I just said to you that you're the only one in the world who's ever gotten that information laid out and has it back in a very short period of time. And it's strictly because what Dean Jackson was looking for. Dean: Yeah, that's exactly right. I was very curious about it. And I think that it's something. I think it's a unique perspective, especially when we overlay the other things. We only got we were talking about then sound. We only got we were talking about then sound. And it wasn't until the 1800s late 1800s that Edison created the phonograph, that we were able to capture sound and the evolution of that. Then it took another by 25 years later. It was the beginning of radio. That now we have the ability to capture sound, the ability to distribute sound through the radio, that it ushered in this golden era of radio as the distribution medium. And she talked about NBC and CBS and ABC, you know, as the monopolistic NBC was really the big giant. Dan: Yeah, they were the giant. Dean: I mean, they were the powerhouse of radio 1995 was the, or 1925, I think was when they were founded, and then the others were by 1927. Yeah, but that took off the radios in every household and all of that, you know, laid the. That created the mass audience yeah really right, yeah, there was. Dan: Uh. Really, there's a writer named tim wu wu and he's just. He's written about five books on just the extraordinary impact of the communication technologies, starting when you said sort of you know. First the telegraph and the telegraph with sound. That's really the telephones you have. Bell is in there. So, Morris and Bell and Edison. You have the combination. And then Edison also created the movie. I mean, he was the real. I mean, he's the person who created it that became famous for it yes. There were lots of people. He's famous for the light bulb, he's the person who became famous for the light bulb, but there were at least five or six working light bulbs before Edison. It's just that Edison was the first what I would call the modern entrepreneur, technology entrepreneur, and he really grasped where all this stuff was going, more than any other single innovator entrepreneur, and he understood the stock market and he understood how to raise funds and he understood how to market. Dean: You know, yeah, yeah. Dan: So you know I'm getting a lot of patents, so we got two more on Friday, so we're up to 54 patents now. And I was talking in the breakout group on Friday, I said we're really piling up the patents, and so somebody said well, how many are you going for? And I said I can tell you exactly I'm going for 1,068. Tell you exactly, I'm going for 1,068. Uh-huh, 1,068. I mean, where's that number come from? I said Edison had 1,067. Dean: Oh, there you go. Dan: That's the best, and I grew up two miles from his birthplace. So the farm that I grew up two miles away is where Edison was born, milan, ohio, and very famous, I mean he's just a roaring, big, major human being, historic human being in that area, and he's one of my five historic role models. I've got Euclid, I've got Shakespeare, I've got Bach, I've got Hamilton, james Madison and Edison. And I said Edison put all the pieces together that created the modern technological world. Dean: It's true, isn't it? Yeah? Dan: He's the first person to create a formal R&D lab. He had in Menlo, new Jersey. He created his famous lab and he had technicians and scientists and engineers there. And then you know, and then he understood the stock market and he understood you know big systems, how you put big electric systems together and everything like that, you know. The thing is that that's a history of entrepreneurism, the thing that you put together with Charlotte this morning. Dean: Yeah, that was my intention, Because it's always some individual who just decides to do something more with it. Dan: They kind of apply your VCR formula to something that already exists and they say what's the vision? Well, you have to have the vision, but you have to see where it hasn't gone to yet. I mean, that's basically what you have to. Vision is seeing where things have not yet gone to, but could, if you organize them differently? You take the capabilities and combined it with reach, then you. That's what the future really is. Vcr. Dean: Yeah, you know I've had a nice VCR advancement, chad, and I have been talking a lot about it. Chad Jenkins, chad Jenkins, I've been talking about the VCR formula and so I had some distinctions around vision, like what is vision? And I realized there's a progression that it takes like from an idea or a prediction. Is the first level that you got a vision that, hey, I think this could work, and then the next level of it is that you've got proof that idea does work and that opens the gate for you to create a protocol for predictable repeating of that result and that opens the gateway to a patent, to protection of that. Dan: So you predict, you prove you protocol or package and protect the 4P progression. I thought, know you know what. You know what it is. It's the ability to see, yeah, let's say, a reasonable time frame, not 100 years from now, but let's say 10 years from now. Yeah, that, if this were available, a lot of people would like to have this. Dean: Yes. Dan: That's basically what a vision is. That's what a vision is. If it was available to them and it was easy to use. They don't have to change their habits too much to use it 10 years from now and I think a lot of people not only would they love using it, they'd be willing to pay for it. Dean: Of course, yes, I agree, yeah, and so I thought that was very, that was a nice, I mean every drug dealer in the world knows how to do that. Dan: Yeah, I mean, you think about everything started out with an idea. I bet, if we did this, that would be oh, yeah, yeah, I bet, prove it. I bet, yeah, you know, steve jobs with itunes. He said yeah I got interested in music. But when I go into a store, you know, uh, and, and I hear a song I really like, or I hear a musician I really like, and I hear them singing a song, or her I, you know, I'd like to be able to just get that song, but they make it really difficult. You got to buy 11 other songs, or 10 other songs to get the one song you know and you know, and, and I'd like to have it. You know, I'd like to have it on a small machine. I don't want to. You know, I don't want to have a big record that comes home and then I have to have a lot of equipment and everything to put on it. And you know, and you know, I'd like to, I'd like to think of. You know, I'd like to have a technology. Dean: Yeah, I'd like to think of. Dan: You know, I'd like to have a technology Getting a call from yeah, I'd like to have a technology that, the moment I hear the sun, five minutes later I can have it. You know, Mm-hmm. Yes, I mean it's so I think it's imagine, there's a capability multiplied by imagination. You know that's kind of like what vision is. Dean: But you know, the interesting thing is that was true 25 years ago when Steve invented the iPod and the iTunes environment, but then over the next 25 years's taken another evolution. Right, it was still the ownership. Instead of owning the physical thing, you own the digital version of it and you download it onto your device. But now, when it got to the cloud and all the songs are available and you don't need to download them, it's like spotify said listen, we own all the songs, we got access to all of them. Why don't you just pay us nine dollars a month and you can have all the songs and just stream them? Yeah, and, and that's where we're at now, it's like. But I think that the next level, the thing we're at now with ai, is that ai is actually, specifically, that it's reached the generative ai point where it it can actually create songs. That's what's happening now. Dan: Yeah, it's clearly a productive capability that you're exploring here we're having a conversation about. When did you have this conversation with Charlotte? Just this morning, when I woke up this morning, Okay, this entire conversation that we're having would not have happened unless um no, you did what you did for an hour this morning right, that's exactly right, yeah now let me ask you a question here, and it goes to another technological realm and it's big data. It's big data, and so I keep reading about big data. You know big data, and I said and it's accumulating all the data. Okay, and so you have all the data. Okay, and so you have all the data. I remember having a conversation this was probably 10 years ago and the Chinese were developing what was called an intelligence capability, where they could gather information about what all the people in China were doing at any given moment. Okay, and then they could make predictions based on that. Nice, if wait a minute, so you got one point, you got 1.3 billion. Dean: You know however many Chinese there are they're being listened to, you know, and however many Chinese there are. Dan: They're being listened to, you know, and they're. Whatever they're doing, that's being read. And I said how many Chinese do you have to pay attention to what all the other Chinese are doing? I said they must have about 6 million people who, day in, day out, are just listening and they're accumulating massive amounts of data. Okay, and then I say, then what happens? Dean: then what? Dan: yeah, then what? Okay? Okay, uh, and I said so, what do you do with all this data? You know, I said it's overwhelming the amount of data you have. So what's happening with it and what it tells me is that there's no way for you to really comprehend what all that data means. Dean: Yeah, I agree. I mean there's no, but you can argue that's kind of what Facebook does with the algorithm right In a way, of being able to predict what you're likely to click on next. Dan: That's how they're at it, Well that I understand, but that's on the level, that's a commercial level, because really they're selling ads. I mean what Google and Facebook actually are high-level advertising platforms. Dean: Yes, that's exactly what they are. I mean, that's what they are. Dan: Yeah, I mean, and once you've said that, there isn't much else to say. Dean: Once you've said that, it's over. Dan: Well it is what it is and it's a bias, obviously, because it's just, you know it's, if they're spending money, not ads for Google and spending ads for Facebook, they aren't spending money for ads in the New York Times, or yeah. So all the newspaper advertising has gone away and all the magazine advertising has gone away, and probably all the advertising on television, because the number of people watching television is actually going down, you know. Well the actual, I mean if you're following social media or you're you know, you're on the, you're on your computer and you're looking at things. Well, your attention can only be on one thing at a time and if I'm spending you know I used to spend I would say when I stopped in 2018, I stopped watching television together, but I calculated that it was probably I was probably watching anywhere between 15 and 20 hours a week times 52. Okay, so that's. You know that's 800 to a thousand hours and I'm not doing that anymore, so for I got a thousand hours back. He's. I would say 800. I just evened it off at 800. I'd say I've just got 800 hours back. It's just gone into being more productive. I'm incredibly more productive in creating stuff. I have you as a witness. You know that it's going up in numbers. The amount of stuff that I'm creating. it's going up in numbers the amount of stuff that I'm creating. So you know, here's the thing. I don't think I'm unusual in this. I don't think I'm unique on the planet in doing what this is. I just think people are moving their attention away from something where everybody was paying attention to it and now fewer and fewer people are paying attention to it. It's like Joe Rogan, you know, I mean. Dean: Joe Rogan. Dan: The people are watching Joe Rogan. Who did they stop watching or listening and watching to? So that's the big thing. Where are people? Dean: going with their attention. Yeah, and you know I just heard a podcast talking about that. Streaming, you know, like from television. It's gone away from kind of linear television where you know they show one thing on one channel at one time and you have to be there at 8 pm to watch that one show. Watch that one show and you watch it along with ads, right? If you want to watch this happening now, you watch it and you consume the ads. Well, when streaming became available, you know, if you look at that convenience, that it was so much more dignified that we can watch whatever we want to watch when we want to watch it, and there's a price for that. Everybody has migrated towards the, towards that, and now the interesting thing is that the streamers are Wall Street redefined. How they value the, you know, monetize or attribute value to what they have. Because for a long time, netflix was rewarded for the ever-growing number of subscribers. Right, like getting more and more subscribers. It didn't matter to Wall Street that they were profitable or unprofitable. The only thing that they staked the value in was the growing number of subscribers, the growing number of subscribers, so for. So netflix would spend billions and billions of dollars on attracting creative right that would. That would get people to watch the. You know, come to netflix to see, because they only had original programs you could only get on Netflix and they overpaid for all of that content. So now. Wall Street a few years ago decided that hey, wait a minute. These guys should be like any other business. Dan: They should be profitable and so it always comes down to that, doesn't it it really? Dean: does so they said you know, now Netflix has to cut corners, pinch pennies. They have to make things. They can't afford to spend as much to make the content. If you look at the line items of where they were spending the most amount of money, it's acquiring yeah, content to do uh so that's where the peak era of who's the guy? Dan: who's the guy who runs Netflix? Dean: Sarandon Tom. Dan: Sarandon. Dean: I think, but in any event they. Dan: No, I was just wondering if he's one of the people who gave $50 million to Kamala Harris. Dean: Oh, yeah, probably. Dan: Yeah, I said he obviously doesn't know anything about returning or getting a profit All right, exactly. Dean: So the other, the thing that we're finding. Dan: What's Reid Hoffman? He's LinkedIn. Dean: Yeah, I think so, yeah, yeah, linkedin. Yeah yeah, yeah. Dan: But those people are all not giving a million dollars to Trump for his inauguration. Dean: The thing that streamers have landed on now is that they have free models you can watch, but now they have ad supported things where you can watch anything you want, but they insert ads that are unskippable ads and they're finding that is more profitable than the subscriber the subscription revenue. That on a per user kind of thing. They make more money on people watching and viewing the unskippable ads. So it's kind of funny that everything has come full circle back to basic cable, where you are. They're all bundling now so you can get because people were resisting that you had to buy netflix and you had to buy hbo and paramount and hulu and all these things, nbc and cbs and all of it so now they're bundling them together for one subscription and having ad supported views. So the big winner out of all of it is that we've won the right to, and have demanded the right to, watch whatever we want to watch, whenever we want to watch it. We're not going to sit on, you know. We're not going to wait until 9pm to watch this and wait a week to get the next episode. We want all the episodes available right now and we'll choose when and what we watch and for how long we watch it. If I want to watch the whole series in one weekend, that's up to me yeah, you know it's an interesting thing. Dan: Uh, here and this relates to the whole story you told the whole historical story, going back to the sumerians. But one of the things I really notice is that the moment a new capability appears and you can utilize it, it's no longer wondrous. You've just included that in your existing capability, I can now do this. You've just included that in your existing capability. I can now do this. It's really interesting the moment you get a capability that just goes into the stack of capabilities that you already have. So it's not really a breakthrough because it doesn't feel any more unusual than all the capabilities you had. So today this is kind of a you know you were. You started the podcast here saying I just did something that I've never done before with Charlotte you know, and then people said who's this Charlotte that Dean talks about? Well, dean actually created this capability called Charlotte. He actually did that, but now it's just normal. Now, what else can Charlotte do? Dean: I'm going to do this. Dan: But a week from now you may have done this four or five times or four or five more things. These sort of deep searches, that you did, and now it just becomes part of Dean Jackson's talent and capability stack. Dean: Yeah, yeah, in the of the VCR formula, the sea of capability, that all this capability starts out with one person who has taken it's almost like Always starts with one person. Yeah, and it's a curiosity. Dan: It's a curiosity thing You're alert to. You know, in our four by four casting tool, the first quadrant is called performance, how you show up. And I've got four qualities. One you're alert. Second thing is that you're curious. Number three is that you're responsive. And number four you're resourceful. And I would say you just knocked off all four this morning with this search, this conversation with Charlotte. You just knocked off all four. That's the reason why you're doing it. So the key to the future in profiting, but utilizing and benefiting from this technology is you have? To be alert, you have to be curious, you have to be, you have to be responsive and you have to be resourceful. Dean: Yeah, that's great. Dan: Yeah, yeah, we're living, and then you get to do and then you get to do things faster, easier, cheaper and bigger yes, this is great, dan. Dean: We're really living in the best of times we're just talking, dean yeah, we're already in it, but it's endless. Dan: We're into an area of just extraordinary, idiosyncratic creativity. Dean: This is it that now we have. Everyone has access to every capability that you could. Dan: No, they only have access to the capability that they're looking for. Oh, boy yes. No, they don't have access to every capability. They just have access to the next capability they're looking for. Dean: Right, this is mind-blowing. Dan: Yeah, yeah, yeah, this is great, but it is similar. This was better than the IV. Dean: Your exuberance is showing. Dan: Or maybe before you have an hour conversation with Dean, you get an IV. Dean: Yeah, exactly, you have an hour conversation with dean, you get an iv. Yeah, exactly, did you imagine it's a triple play of an iv yeah, with a conversation with charlotte, followed by a conversation with dan sullivan. Dan: I will try the iv next week yeah, and then eat a great piece of steak. And then eat a great piece of steak that's right Followed by a Rib eye is great. I think rib eye is my favorite. Dean: Yeah, me too by far yeah. Dan: Well. I love it yeah, this is great conversation. Dean: I agree, Dan this is Things are heating up. I'm going to upgrade Charlotte and give her a raise 10X, a 10 times raise. Dan: Tell her about that. You know talk to her and say you know, not only do I think you're more valuable, but Catchy TP thinks you're more valuable, Charlotte, and we're raising your monthly to 200. Dean: That's right. A 10 times raise. Dan: Yeah, who gets that? Mm-hmm? Okay, and you think about it. Dean: It's just so valuable. All right, dan, thanks, bye, bye.

In this episode of Welcome to Cloudlandia, we explore how government assets could reshape public spending and economic growth. The discussion stems from Thomas Sowell's analysis of U.S. government land value. It extends to real-world examples of public-private partnerships, including Toronto's LCBO real estate deals and Chicago's parking meter agreement with a Saudi entity. Dan and I delve into the relationship between constitutional rights and entrepreneurship, drawing from my upcoming book. The American Bill of Rights creates unique conditions that foster business innovation and self-initiative, offering an interesting contrast to Canada's legal framework. This comparison opens up a broader discussion about judicial appointments and the role of government in supporting individual potential. The conversation shifts to the transformative impact of AI on content creation and decision-making. I share my experience with tools like Perplexity and Notebook LM, which are changing how we gather information and refine our writing. Integrating AI into daily workflows highlights the significant changes we can expect over the next quarter century. Looking ahead, We reflect on future podcast topics and the lessons learned from blending traditional insights with AI capabilities. This combination offers new perspectives on personal development and professional growth, suggesting exciting possibilities for how we'll work and create in the years ahead. SHOW HIGHLIGHTS We delve into the market value of U.S. government-owned land, discussing Thomas Sowell's article and the potential benefits of selling such land to alleviate government spending. Our conversation covers various government and private sector interactions, including Toronto's LCBO real estate deal and Chicago's parking meter agreement with a Saudi-owned company. We explore Macquarie's business model in Australia, focusing on their ownership of airports and toll roads, and consider the efficiency of underutilized government buildings in Washington D.C. The Bill of Rights plays a crucial role in fostering entrepreneurship in the U.S., and I discuss insights from my upcoming book on how these constitutional liberties encourage self-initiative and capitalism. We compare the judicial appointment processes in the U.S. and Canada, highlighting the differences in how each country's legal system impacts entrepreneurship and individual freedoms. The importance of creating patentable processes and legal ownership of capabilities is discussed, along with the idea that true leadership involves developing new capabilities. Our collaborative book project "Casting, Not Hiring" is structured like a theatrical play, with a focus on the innovative 4x4 casting tool, drawing parallels between theater and entrepreneurship. AI's transformative power in creative processes is highlighted, with tools like Perplexity and Notebook LM enhancing convenience and refining writing techniques. We reflect on the long-term impact of AI on writing and creativity, and consider its implications for future podcast episodes and personal and professional growth. Our discussion on constitutional rights touches on how they shape the future of entrepreneurship, drawing contrasts between the U.S. and Canadian approaches to law and governance. Links: WelcomeToCloudlandia.com StrategicCoach.com DeanJackson.com ListingAgentLifestyle.com TRANSCRIPT (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors) Dean: Mr Sullivan. Dan: Yes indeed. I beat you by 10 seconds. Dean: I beat you by 10 seconds. Dan: Yeah, yeah. Dean: Well, there you go. That's a good way to end the year, right there. Dan: Yeah. Dean: Not that it's a contest. Dan: I was looking at an interesting article this morning from yesterday's Wall Street Journal by Thomas Sowell. I don't know if you know Thomas Sowell. No, yeah, he's probably the foremost conservative thinker in the United States. Okay, I think he's 90-ish, sort of around 90. He's been a professor at many universities and started off in his teenage years as a Marxist, as a lot of teenagers do, and before they learn how to count and and before they learn math the moment you learn math, you can't be a Marxist anymore and and anyway he writes and he just said how much all the land that the US government owns in the 50 states is equal to 1.4 trillion dollars. If you put a market value on it, it's 1.4 trillion dollars. I bet that's true wow and the problem is it costs them about that much money to maintain it, most of it for no reason at all. And he was just suggesting that, if Elon and Vivek are looking for a place to get some money and also stop spending, start with the property that the US government owns and sell it off. Dean: That's interesting I'm often Two things. Dan: Two things they get money coming in, yeah. And the other thing is they don't spend money maintaining it. Yeah, but it's 20, 25% of the land area of the US is actually owned, I guess owned, controlled by the US government. And you know there was a neat trick that was done here in Toronto and I don't think you'd be aware of it but the LCBO, liquor Control Board of Ontario. So in Ontario all the liquor is controlled by the government. The government is actually the LCBO is the largest importer of alcoholic beverages in the world. Dean: Wow. Dan: Nobody controls the amount of liquor well, and I. I just wonder if that's one of the reasons why you moved to Florida to get away from the government. Dean: Control of liquor they're a single payer, a single pay system. Dan: I just wondered if yeah, I just wondered if that on your list of besides nicer weather. Dean: I thought maybe you know being in control of your own liquor. I always found it funny that you could. You know you can buy alcohol and beer in 7-Eleven. Dan: I always thought that was interesting right. Dean: Just pick up a little traveler to go, you know when you're getting your gas and that six-pack yeah. Dan: So, anyway, they had their headquarters, which was right down on Lakeshore, down in the, I would say, sort of Jarvis area, if you think of Jarvis and Lakeshore, down in the I would say sort of Jarvis area, if you think. Dean: Jarvis and. Dan: Lakeshore and maybe a little bit further west. But they took up a whole block there and they traded with a developer and what they did they said you can have our block with the building on it. You have to preserve part of it because it's a historical building. I mean, you can gut it and you can, you know, build, but yeah, there's a facade that we want you to keep because it's historic and and what we want you to do is and this developer already had a block adjacent to the LCBO property and they said we want a new headquarters, so we'll give you the block If you and your skyscraper it's a huge skyscraper. We want this much space in it for free. And they made a trade and the developer went for it. Dean: And I bet. Dan: That's an interesting kind of deal. That's an interesting kind of deal where government yeah, yeah and, but somebody was telling me it was really funny. I'm trying to think where it was. Where were we, where were we? I'm just trying to think where we weren't in. We weren't in Toronto, it'll come to me. We were in Chicago. So Chicago, the parking meters are all owned by Saudi Arabia. Dean: Right. Dan: Yeah, or a company that's owned by Saudi Arabia. Let me think One of the many princes and they paid the city of Chicago flat check. They paid him $1.5 billion for all the parking meters in Chicago and Chicago, you know, has been in financial trouble forever. So one and a half billion, one and a half billion dollars, but they make 400 million a year for the next 50 years. Oh, wow. Dean: Yeah, that's pretty wild. Dan: I think that was a bad deal, I think that was a bad deal. Yeah, that's amazing, you got to know your math. Dean: Well, I know there's a company in Australia called Macquarie and they own airports and toll roads primarily, ports and toll roads primarily. And that's really that's what it is right is they have long-term government contracts where they uh, you know they own the assets and the government leases them from them, or they get the right, they build the, they build the toll road and they get the money for the toll. They can operate it as a for-profit venture. Really kind of interesting. Dan: It brings up an interesting scenario which I think that Trump is thinking about, plus Elon and Vivek is thinking about plus Elon and Vivek, that so many of the buildings in Washington DC the government buildings, except for the one percent of workers who actually show up for work every day are virtually, are virtually empty, and so so there's some, it's almost like they need a VCR audit. Dean: So it's almost like they need a VCR audit. I mean, that's really what it is. All these things are underutilized capabilities and capacity, you know that's really that's sort of a big thing. Dan: But I think it occurred to me that bureaucracy period. It occurred to me that bureaucracy period this would be corporate bureaucracy, government bureaucracy. Those are the two big ones. But then many other kinds of organizations that are long-term organizations, that have become like big foundations, are probably just pure bureaucracy. You know, harvard University is probably just a big bureaucracy. They have an endowment of $60 billion, their endowment, and they have to spend 5% of that every year. That's the requirement under charity laws that you have to spend 5% of that every year. That's the requirement under charity laws that you have to spend 5% and on that basis every Harvard student probably the entire university wouldn't have to charge anything. Dean: That's interesting. I had a friend, a neighbor, who did something similarly put his um, I put sold the company and put, I think, 50 million dollars in. I think it was called the charitable remainder trust where the, the 50 million went into the trust and he as the uh, whatever you know administrator or whoever the the beneficiary gets of the trust is gets five percent a year of uh yeah, of the um the trust and that's his retirement income. I guess I understand. Dan: I understand income. I don't understand retirement income right exactly well for him it is kind of retirement income. Dean: He just plays golf. Exactly Well, for him it is kind of retirement. Yeah yeah, he just plays golf, yeah. Dan: Yeah, he's sort of in the departure lounge. He's on the way to the departure lounge. I think the moment you retire or think about retirement, the parts go back to the universe, I think that's actually I'm, I'm, it's partially. Dean: Uh, he does angel investing, uh, so that's yeah, so he's still probably probably on boards yeah, but I don't consider that? Dan: yeah, I don't really consider that. On entrepreneurism no you know, I don't think you're creating anything new, right? Yeah, it's very interesting. I'm writing, I just am outlining this morning my book for the quarter. So the book I'm just finishing, which is called Growing Great Leadership, will go to the press February 1st. Dean: Nice. Dan: So we're just putting the finishing touches on. We've got two sections and then some you know artwork packaging to do and then it probably goes off to the printer around the 20th of January. It takes about five weeks for them to turn it around. But the next one is very interesting. It's called the Bill of Rights Economy. So this relates and refers to the US Constitution. And in the first paragraph of the Constitution. It says that the Constitution is the supreme law of the land, so it's supreme over everything in the United States. It's supreme over the presidency, it's supreme over Congress, it's supreme over the Supreme Court, and so that strikes me as a big deal, would you say? I'd say yes, yeah, yeah, and. But the real heart of the Constitution, what really gives it teeth, are the first 10 amendments, and which are called the Bill of Rights, so it's one through 10. First one speech, second one guns. And then they have commerce and things related to your legal rights. And what I've done is I've looked into it and I've looked at those first 10 amendments, and it strikes me that the reason why the US is an entrepreneurial country is specifically because of those first 10 amendments, that it gives a maximum amount of freedom to self-initiative, to people who want to go out and do something on their own, start something and everything else. First 10 amendments so what. I'm doing is I'm analyzing five freedoms and advantages that are given to entrepreneurs from each of the 10. There will be 50 advantages. So that's what my next book is about, and my sense is that those entrepreneurs who are not clear-minded about capitalism would have to do one of two things if they read the next book. They'll either have to get rid of their socialist thoughts or they'll have to stop being an entrepreneur. Dean: That's interesting. You know this whole. I love things like that when you're anchoring them to you know historical things. Dan: I don't know if I can name. I don't know if I can. Well, you can name the first one. It's the right of speech and assembly. Dean: Yeah speech, and then the second is to bear arms Gun ownership, gun ownership yeah. Yeah. Dan: And it goes on. I'll have to get the list out and go down there, but that's what holds the country together and you know it's a very brief document. It's about 5,000 words the entire document. It starts to finish about 5,000 words and you could easily read it in an hour. You could read the whole Constitution in an hour. Dean: It's a pocket companion. Yeah, yeah. Dan: I've seen them like little things that you put in your pocket and one of the things that strikes me about it is that in 1787, that's when it was adapted, and then it took two years to really form the government. 1789 is when washington, the he was elected in 1788 and the election he's sworn in as president 1789. If you typed it out with the original document, typed it out in you know typewriter paper and you know single space, it would be 23 pages, 23 pages. And today, if you were to type it out, it would be 27 pages. They've added four pages 200. Yeah, so in 235 years to 237 years it's pretty tight, yeah, and so and that's what keeps the country, the way the country is constantly growing and you know maximum amount of variety and you know all sorts of new things can happen is that they have this very, very simple supreme law right at the center, and there's no other country on the planet that has that that's a. Dean: That's pretty. Uh, what's the closest? I guess? What's the? I mean Canada must have. Dan: Canada's has been utterly taken away from that? Yeah, but that can be overridden at any time by the Supreme Court of Canada who by the way, is appointed by the prime minister. So you know, in the United States the Supreme Court justice is nominated yeah. No dominated, nominated by the president but approved by the Senate. So the other two branches have the say. So here it's the prime minister. The prime minister does it, and I was noticing the current Supreme Court Justice Wagner said that he doesn't see that there's much need anymore to be publishing what Canadian laws were before 1959. Dean: Oh really. Dan: Yeah, and that's the difference between Canada and the United States, because everything, almost every Supreme Court justice, they're going right back to the beginning and say what was the intent here of the people who put the Constitution together? Yeah, and that is the radical difference between the two parties in the. United States. So anyway, just tell you what I've been up to on my Christmas vacation. Dean: Oh, that's so funny. Well, we've been having some adventures over here. I came up with a subtitle for my Imagine If you Applied Yourself book and it was based on, you had said last time we talked right Like we were talking about this idea of your driving question and you thought I did. I don't know, yeah yeah you brought it, you said sort of how far can I go? Dan: yeah, well, that's not my driving question, that's no, no question, no yeah somebody else brought up the whole issue of driving question. You mentioned somebody yeah chad, chad did yeah, jenkins chad, jenkins chad jenkins right right right, yeah, uh. Dean: So it reminded me as soon as I got off. I had the words come uh. How far could you go if you did what you know? That could be the subtitle. Imagine if you applied yourself that's. Dan: That's kind of interesting how far could you? Maximize, if you maximize what you already know yeah I mean, that's really what holds. Dean: I think what holds people back more than not knowing what to do is not doing what they know to do. That that's I think, the, that's the uh, I think that's the driving thing. Dan: So they're held in play. They're held in place. You mean by? Dean: yeah, I think that's it that they're in about maybe I'm only looking at it through where do you see that anywhere in your life? Dan: I see everywhere in my life that I see it everywhere in my life, that's the whole thing, in my life. Dean: Right Is that that executive function? That's the definition of executive function disability, let's call it. You know, as Russell Barkley would say, that that's the thing is knowing, knowing what to do and just not not doing it. You know, not being able to do it. Dan: Yeah. And to the extent that you can solve that, well, that's I think that's the how far you can go here's a question Is there part of what you know that always moves you forward? Dean: Yeah, I guess there always is. Yeah, well then, you're not held, then you're not held. Dan: You just have to focus on what part of what you know is important. Dean: Yes, exactly, I think that's definitely right. Yeah, I thought that was an interesting. Dan: For example, I am absolutely convinced that for the foreseeable future, that if you a, a dollar is made in the united states and spent in canada, things are good. Dean: Things are good I think you're absolutely right, especially in the direction it's going right now. Dan: Yeah, it's up 10 cents in the last three months. 10 cents, one-tenth of a dollar. Dean: You know 10 cents. Dan: So it was $1.34 on October 1st and it's $1.44 right now. Dean: Yeah. Dan: And I don't see it changing as a matter of fact fact. You should see the literature up here. Since trump said maybe canada is just the 51st state, you should see this is the high topic of discussion in canada right now how is it? Dean: would we be? Dan: would we be better off? I mean there there's an a large percentage something like 15, 15% would prefer it. But you know he's Shark Tank person, kevin O'Leary, canadian. Dean: He's from Alberta. Dan: And he said that what they should do is just create a common economy, not politically so Canada is still really, really political. Not politically just economically, Politically. Well, it is already. I mean, to a certain extent it's crossed an enormous amount of trade, but still you have to stop at the border. Here there would be no stopping at the border and that if you were an American, you could just move to Canada and if you were a Canadian you could just move. Dean: Kind of like the EU was the thought of the European Union. Dan: Yeah, but that didn't really work because they all hated each other. Dean: They all hated each other. Dan: They've been nonstop at war for the last 3,000 years, and they speak different languages, but the US I mean. When Americans come for their strategic coach program, they come up here and they say it's just like the States and I said not quite, not quite. I said it's about on the clock. It's about the clock. It's about an hour off. You name the topic, Canadians will have a different point of view on whatever the topic is. But I'm not saying this is going to happen. I'm just saying that Trump, just saying one thing, has ignited a firestorm of discussion. And why is it that we're lagging so badly? And, of course, it looks now like as soon as Parliament comes back after the break, which is not until, think, the 25th of January, there will be a vote of confidence that the liberals lose, and then the governor general will say you have to form a new government, therefore we have to have an election. So probably we're looking middle of March, maybe middle of March. End of March there'll be a new government new prime minister and Harvard will have a new professor. Dean: Ah, there you go, I saw, that that's what happens. Dan: That's what happens to real bad liberal prime ministers. They become professors at Harvard or bad mayors in Toronto, david. Dean: Miller, he was the mayor here. Dan: I think he's a professor at Harvard. And there was one of the premiers, the liberal premier of Ontario. He's at Harvard. Oh wow, wow, wow. Anyway, yeah, or he'll go to Davos and he'll sit on the World Oversight Board. Dean: Oh boy, I just saw Peter Zion was talking about the Canadian, the lady who just quit. Dan: And I don't understand him at all, because I think she's an idiot. Dean: Okay, that's interesting because he was basically saying she may be the smartest person in Canada. Dan: I think she's an idiot. Okay, and she's the finance minister. So all the trouble we're in, at least some of it, has to be laid at her door. Interesting. Dean: Is Pierre Polyev still the frontrunner? Dan: Oh yeah, He'll be the prime minister, yeah. Dean: Smart guy. Dan: I was in personal conversation with him for a breakfast about six years ago Very smart. Oh wow, very smart. Dean: Yeah, seems sharp from Alberta. Dan: He's French. He's French speaking, but he's an orphan from an English family. Or it might have been a French mother. He's an orphan, but he was adopted into a French speaking family. So to be Alberta and be French speaking, that's kind of a unique combination. Yeah, very interesting. Yeah, but it's a hard country to hold together and, uh, you know, peter zion and many different podcasts just said that it's very, very hard to keep the country together. It takes all the strength of the federal government just to keep things unified. Dean: Well, because everybody wants to leave. Yeah, exactly, everybody looks at. I mean you really have, you've got the Maritimes in Quebec, ontario, the West, and then BC, the Prairies and then BC. Dan: So there's five and they don't have that much to do with each other. Each of them has more to do with the states that are south of them, quebec has enormous trade with New York. Ontario has trade with New York, with Pennsylvania, with Ohio, with Michigan, all the Great Lakes states, every one of them. Their trade is much more with the US that's south of them, and Alberta would be the most, because they trade all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico, because their pipelines go all the way down to have you ever been to Nunavut or Yukon? Dean: Have you ever been? Dan: Dan to Nunavut or Yukon I haven't been to. I've been to Great Slave Lake, which is in the what used to be called the Northwest Territories, and on the east I've been to Frobisher Bay, which is in the eastern part, you know of the territories way up. Dean: Labrador Closer to. Dan: Greenland it up closer, closer to greenland. That's, yeah, actually closer closer to greenland, yeah, well, that's where you were born. Right, you were born up there, newfoundland right, newfoundland, yeah well this is above newfoundland. This would be above newfoundland, yeah yeah that's. That's what we used to call eskimo territory. Yeah, that's what we used to call Eskimo territory. That's so funny. Dean: That's funny, yeah, yeah, yeah. So, shifting gears. We've been having some interesting conversations about VCR this week and it's particularly trying to get a you know how, defining vision. And, of course, for somebody listening for the first time, we're talking about the VCR formula vision plus capability multiplied by reach. And so part of this thing is going through the process of identifying your VCR assets, right CR assets as currency, software or sheet music, where, if you think like we're going down the path of thinking about vision as a capability that people have or a trait that you might, that's, I think, when people start talking about the VCR formula, they're thinking about vision as a aptitude or a trait or a ability that somebody has, the ability to see things that other people don't see, and that may be true. There is some element of some people are more visionary than others, but that doesn't fully account for what the asset of a vision is, and I think that the vision, an asset, a vision as an asset, is something that can amplify an outcome. So I think about somebody might be musical and they might have perfect pitch and they may be able to carry a tune and hum some interesting chord progressions, but the pinnacle asset of vision in a musical context would be a copywritten sheet music that is transferable to someone else. So it's kind of like the evolution is taking your vision. So it's kind of like the evolution is taking your vision. But you know, the apex asset of a vision would be a patentable process that you patent. That you have as both an acknowledgement that it's yours, it's property, and as protection for anybody else. You know it locks in its uniqueness, you know. Dan: Yeah, yeah, I mean, the greatest capability is property of some sort. I mean in other words, that you have a legal monopoly to it. You don't nobody's got a legal monopoly division and nobody's got a legal monopoly to reach but they do have a legal. Uh, so I I go for the middle one, I go for the c the book I'm writing right now, the book I'm just finishing, which is called growing great leadership is that anyone who develops a new capability is actually the leader. Okay, papa, and the reason and what I've said is that you can be a leader just by always increasing your own personal capability. The moment that you look at something and then you set a goal for being able to do something, either new, or doing something better. Other people observe you and also you start getting different results with a new capability and that's observed by other people. They say, hey, let's pay attention to what he's doing In my book I said any human being is capable of doing that. It's not leading other people. It's creating a capability that leads other people, that gives them a sense of direction. It gives them a sense of confidence gives them a sense of purpose. So I always focus on the capability. One of the things is we're starting in January, it'll be next week we're starting quarterly 4x4 casting tools, the one we did in the last FreeZone. And so the whole program says in the first month of each quarter, so January, april and then July and then October. If you do your 4x4 that month and then type it up and post it to a common site, so we'll have a common site where everybody's 4x4, you get $250. You get $250. And you get it at the next payday at the end of the quarter. So you get the money right away. And you get it at the next payday at the end of the quarter. So you get the money right away and it's not mandatory but um, if you don't do it. It will be noticed, so explain that again. Dean: So, well, they get the cheat today, they, they get the forms. So this is the entire everybody everybody in the company, the entire team. Dan: Yes, Including myself. Including myself. Okay, and so we're starting a new quarter on Wednesday. Back to work on the 7th. On the 6th we're back to work, and then on the 7th we have a company meeting where we said we're announcing this program. And they've all done the form, so they did it in September. And they fill in the form. You know how your performance, what your performance looks like, what your results look like being a hero, and you're aware that you drive other people crazy in this way and you're watching yourself so you don't drive other people crazy. And then you fill that in. There are 16 boxes. You fill it in. It's custom designed just to what you're doing. And then there's a writable PDF. You type it up and then you post it to a site. On the 31st of January, we look at all the posted 4x4s and everybody who posted gets $250. Dean: Okay, okay, wow. Dan: Very interesting, then we're going to watch what happens as a result of this and the thing I say is that I think we're creating a super simple structure and process for a company becoming more creative and productive, which the only activity is required is that you update this every quarter. Dean: Yes. Dan: And then we'll watch to see who updates it every quarter and then we'll see what other structures do we need, what other tools do we need to? If this has got momentum, how do we increase the momentum and everything? So we're starting. I mean we've got all the structures of the company are under management. So, uh, everybody is doing their four pi four within the context of their job description that's really interesting, wow. Dean: And so that way, in its own way kind of that awareness will build its own momentum you Well we'll see. Hopefully that would be the hypothesis. Dan: I'll report it. I had a great, great podcast it was Stephen Crine three weeks ago and he said this is an amazing idea because he says you make it voluntary but you get rewarded. Dean: And if you don't want to take part. Dan: you're sending a message, yeah. Dean: Yeah, that's true. Yeah, that's amazing. Dan: I can't wait to see the outcome of that. Yeah, yeah, and the reason we're doing this is just my take on technology. As technology becomes overwhelming, becomes pervasive and everything else, the way humans conduct themselves has to get absolutely simple. We have to be utterly simple in how we focus our own individual role. And we have to be utterly simple in the way that we design our teamwork, because technology will infinitely complicate your life if you've got a complicated management or leadership structure. Dean: And I think that that ultimate I mean I still think about the you know what you drew on the tablet there in our free zone workshop of the network versus the pyramid. The pyramid's gone. The borders are you know the borders are gone. Dan: It's really just this fluid connection. I still think they exist in massive form, but I think their usefulness has declined. I wrote a little. I wrote a. I got a little file on my computer of Dan quotes. Dean: And the quote is. Dan: I don't think that civil servants are useless, but I think it's becoming more and more difficult for them to prove their worth. Dean: No, I mean. Dan: Yeah, no, their work I mean there's stuff that has to be done or society falls apart, and I got a feeling that there's civil servants very anonymous, invisible civil servants who are doing their job every day and it allows the system to work, but it's very hard for them to prove that they're really valuable. I think it's harder and harder for a government worker to accept if they're street level, I mean if they're police, if they're firemen if they're ambulance drivers, it's very easy to prove their value. But, if you're more than three stories up, I think it gets really hard to prove your value. I wonder in that same vein, I just get this last thing. Somebody said well, how would you change government? I said the best way to do it is go to any government building, count the number of stories, go halfway up and fire everybody above halfway. Dean: Oh man, that's funny, that's funny. Dan: I think the closer to the ground they're probably more useful. Dean: Yeah, yeah, you wonder. I mean they're so it's funny when you said that about proving their worth, you always have this. What came to my mind is how people have a hard time arguing for the value of the arts in schools or in society as a public thing. Dan: You mean art taking place and artistic activities and that the arts, as in. Dean: Yeah, as in. You know art and music and plays. And you know, yeah, it's one of those did you ever partake in those I mean? You know, I guess, to the extent in school we were exposed to music and to, you know, theater, I did not participate in theater I participated in theater. Dan: I liked theater and of course the book. You've gotten a small book Casting, not Hiring. Dean: Yeah. Dan: And Jeff and I are deep into the process now. So we have a final deadline of May 26 for Casting, not Hiring it's going really well. Deadline of May 26 for Casting Not Hiring it's going really well and we worked out a real teamwork that he's writing the whole theater, part of it and I'm writing the whole entrepreneurial. I just finished a chapter in one week last week. And it's right on the four by four. So you got um entrepreneurism as theater, as the one major topic in the book and the four by four casting tool as the other part of the book, so it's two things. So I'm focusing on my part and he's focusing on my part, and then uh, process for this here compared to how you're doing your regular books. Dean: You say you wrote a chapter. What's your process for that? Dan: Well, first of all, I laid out the whole structure. The first thing I do is I just arbitrarily lay out a structure for the book and, strangely enough, we're actually using the structure of a play as the structure of the book. So okay, it has three parts, so it's got three acts and each act has. Each part has excuse me, I have to walk into another room. I'm actually probably even visualize this, and I'm walking into our pantry here and this is in the basement and I just got a nice Fiji water sitting right in front of me. Absolutely cold. There, you go, it's been waiting for six months for me to do this? Dean: Yes. Dan: And what I do. I just do the structure and so I just put names. I just put names into it and then we go back and forth. Jeff and I go back and forth, but we agree that it's going to have three parts and 12 chapters. It'll have an introduction, introduction, and it'll have a conclusion. So there'll be 14 parts and it'll have, you know, probably be all told, 160 to 200 pages, and then 200 pages and um, and then um. We identify what, how the parts are different to each other. So the first part is basically why theater and entrepreneurism resemble each other. Okay, and jeff has vast knowledge because for 50 years he's been doing both. He's been doing both of them, and I'm just focusing on the 4x4. So the first 4x4 is, and you can download the tool in the book. So it'll be illustrated in the book and you can download it and do it. And first of all we just start with the owner of the company and I have one whole chapter and that explains what the owner of the company is going to be and the whole thing about the 454. The owner has to do it twice, has to do it first, fill it all in and then share it with everybody in the company and said this is my commitment to my role in the company, okay. And then the next chapter, with everybody in the company and said this is my commitment to my role in the company, okay. And then the next chapter is everybody in the company doing it. And then the third chapter is about how, the more the people do their forebite for the more, the more ownership they take over their role in the company and the more ownership they take over their part in the company and the more ownership they take over their part in teamwork OK, and then the fourth part is suddenly, as you do these things, you're more and more like a theater company. The more you use the four by four, the more you're like a theater company. And that loops back to the beginning of the book, what Jeff's writing. So anyway, very interesting. Yeah, fortunately, we had the experience of creating the small book. So we created the small book, which was about 70 pages, and we used that to get the contract with the publisher. They read the whole book and rather than sending in a page of ideas about a book and trying to sell it on that basis, I said just write a book and give them a book. It's a small book that's going to become a big book. Right, that's how I did it. Oh, I like it. You know, about those small books. Dean: I do indeed know about those small books. I do indeed know about those small books. Yes, I think that's funny. So are you your part? Are you talking it? Are you interviewing? Dan: No, writing writing. Dean: So you're actually writing. So you're actually writing. Yeah, and I've had a tremendous breakthrough. Dan: I've had a tremendous breakthrough on this, and so I started with Chapter 10 because I wanted to get the heart of the idea. Is that what it does the application of the 4x4 to an entire company. And of course, we're launching this project to see if what we're saying is true. And so I end up with a fast filter. This is the best result, worst result. And then here are the five success factors. Okay, then I look at the success factors, I write them out, I take three of them and I do a triple play on them, on the three success factors, which gives me three pink boxes and three green boxes, and then I come back with that material and then I start the chapter applying that material to the outline for the chapter. And then I get finished that task filter and I add a lot of copy to it. And then I have a layout of the actual book. I have a page layout, so in that process I'll produce about two full pages Of copy. Dean: I take it. Dan: And I pop it in. I've done that five times this week and I have ten pages of copy and I said we're good enough. We're good enough, now, let's go to another chapter. So that's how I'm doing it and and uh, yeah, so I've got a real process because I'm I'm doing it independently with another member of the team and he's. Jeff has his own ways of writing his books. You, you know, I mean, he's a writer, he writes, plays, he writes, you know he writes and everything like that. So we don't want to have any argument about technique or you know, any conflict of technique. I'm going to do mine. Dean: He's going to do mine, Right right. Dan: And then we're looking for a software program that will take all the copy and sort of create a common style, taking his style and my style and creating a common style well, that might be charlotte I mean really no, that's what that, that's what the uh, that's what I think it would be. Dean: Exactly that is is if you said to Charlotte, take these two. I'm going to upload two different things and I'd like you to combine one cohesive writing style to these. Dan: Oh good, yeah, that would be something. Dean: Yeah, I think that would be something yeah, I think that would be, uh, that would be amazing, and because you already, as long as you're both writing in in you know, second person second person, personal, or whatever your, your preferred style is right, like that's the thing. I think that would be, I think that would be very good, it would be good, I'd be happy because he writes intelligently and I write intelligently. Dan: Is she for hire? Do you have her freelancing at all? Dean: Dan, I had the funniest interaction with her. I was saying I'm going to create an avatar for her and I was asking her. I said you know, charlotte, I think I'm going to create an avatar for you and I'm wondering you know, what color hair do you think would look good for you? Oh, that's interesting. Look good for you, it's. Oh, that's interesting. Dan: I think maybe a a warm brown or a vibrant auburn oh yeah, vibrant auburn. Yeah, this is great and I thought you know I? I said no, I suspected she'd go towards red. Dean: Yeah, exactly, and I thought you know that's uh. Then I was chatting with a friend, uh yesterday about I was going through this process and, uh, you know, we said I think that she would have like an asymmetric bob hairstyle kind of thing, and we just looked up the thing and it's Sharon Osbourne is the look of what I believe Charlotte has is she's she's like a Sharon Osbourne type of, uh of look and I think that's that's so funny, you know what was uh the the handler for James Bond back when he? was shot in. Dan: Connery Moneypenny, right Moneypenny yeah. Look up the actress Moneypenny. I suspect you're on the same track if you look at the original Moneypenny. Dean: Okay. Dan: Of course she had a South London voice too. Dean: Yeah, isn't that funny, moneypenny. Let's see her. Yes. Dan: I think you're right. That's exactly right. Very funny right? Oh, I think this is great. I think, this is, I think, there's. It would be very, very interesting if you asked a hundred men. You know the question that you're, you know the conversation you're having with Charlotte, the thing. Dean: Yeah. Dan: It'd be interesting to see if there was a style that came out, a look that dominated. Yeah, men came out. Dean: Yeah, I think it is. Dan: Ever since I was a kid, I've been fascinated with redheads. Okay yeah, real redheads, not dyed redheads, but someone who's an? Actual redhead. And I'll just stop and watch them. Just stop and stop and watch them. When I was a little kid I said look, look look and there aren't a lot of them. There aren't a lot of them. You know, they're very rare and it's mostly Northern Europe. That's right. Dean: That's so funny. Scottish yes, that's right, that's so funny. Dan: Scottish yes, irish have it. Dean: That's right. As you remember, I was married to a redhead for a long time. Yeah, super smart. But that's funny, though, having this persona visual for Charlotte as a redhead yeah. Braintap a really interesting topic. I was talking to. Dan: It was just a discussion in one of the parties about AI and I said the more interesting topic to me is not what, not so much what the machine is thinking or how the machine goes about thinking. What really interests me is that if you have frequent interaction with a congenial machine in other words, a useful congenial machine how does your thinking change and what have you noticed so far? Dean: Well, I think that having this visual will help that for me. I've said like I still haven't, I still don't. Dan: Materialized very completely. You haven't materialized. Dean: Yeah, I haven't exactly in my mind Like if that was, if Moneypenny was sitting three feet from me at all times, she would just be part of my daily conversation part of my wondering conversation. Right part of my wondering and now that, uh, now that she's got access to real-time info like if they're up to date, now they can search the internet right. So that was the latest upgrade. That it wasn't. It's not just limited to 2023 or whatever. The most updated version, they've got access to everything now. Um, so, to be able to, you know, I asked her during the holidays or whatever. I asked her is, uh, you know, the day after I asked this is is honey open today in Winter Haven? And she was, you know, able to look it up and see it looks like they're open and that was yeah, so just this kind of thing. I think anything I could search if I were to ask her. You know, hey, what time is such and such movie playing in that studio movie grill today? That would be helpful, right, like to be able to just integrate it into my day-to-day. It would be very good. Dan: The biggest thing I know is that I almost have what I would say a trained reaction to any historical event, or even if it's current, you know it's in the news, or that I immediately go to perplexity and said tell me 10 crucial facts about this. And you know, three seconds later it tells me that 10. And more and more I don't go to Google at all. That's one thing. I just stopped going to Google at all because they'll send me articles on the topic, and now you've created work for me. Perplexity saves me work. Google makes me work. But the interesting thing is I've got a file it's about 300 little articles now that have just come from me asking the question, but they all start with the word 10 or the number 10, 10 facts about interesting and that before I respond you know, intellectually or emotionally to something I read, I get 10 facts about this and then kind of make up my mind, and of course you can play with the prompt. You can say tell me 10 reasons why this might not be true, or tell me 10 things that are telling us this is probably going to be true. So it's all in the prompt and you know the prompt is the prompt and the answer is the answer yeah and everything. But it allows me to think. And the other thing I'm starting with this book, I'm starting to use Notebook LM. Dean: Yeah. Dan: So this chapter I got to have Alex Varley. He's a Brit and he was with us here in Toronto for about five years and now he's back in Britain, he's part of our British team and he's got a looser schedule right now. So I say by the end, by May, I want to find five different AI programs that I find useful for my writing. So he's going to take every one of my chapters and then put it into Notebook LM and it comes back as a conversation between two people and I just sit there and I listen to it and I'll note whether they really got the essence of what I was trying to get across or needs a little more. So I'll go back then, and from listening as I call it, you know, google is just terrible at naming things. I mean, they're just uh terrible and I would call it eavesdropping, lm eavesdropping that they're taking your writing and they're talking about it. You're eavesdropping. They're taking your writing and they're talking about it. Dean: You're eavesdropping on what they're saying about your writing. What a great test to see, almost like pre-readers or whatever to see. Dan: It's like the best possible focus group that you can possibly get. Dean: I like that yeah. Very good. Dan: Yeah. Dean: Yeah. Dan: But, it's just interesting how I'm, you know, but I've just focused on one thing with AI, I just make my writing faster, easier and better. That's all. I want the AAM to do, because writing is just a very central activity for me. Dean: Yeah, and that's not going anywhere. I mean, it's still gonna be. Uh, that's the next 25 years that was. You can make some very firm predictions on this one that's what, uh, I think next, Dan, that would be a good. As we're moving into 2025, I would love to do maybe a prediction episode for the next 25 years reflection and projection. Dan: You take the week of my 100th birthday, which is 19 and a half years now, I could pretty well tell you 80% what I'm doing the week on my 100th birthday. I can't wait that would be a good topic. Dean: I was just going to say let's lock this in, because you'll be celebrating is Charlotte listening? Dan: is Charlotte listening now? No, she's not, but she should be say let's lock this in because you'll be celebrating charlotte. Is charlotte listening? Is charlotte listening now? Dean: no, she's not, but she should be oh no, give her a. Dan: Just say next week, charlotte remind me. Oh yeah, no I'll remember. Dean: I'll remember because it's okay, it's my actual this week and this is my, this is the next few days for me is really thinking this through, because I I like, um, I've had some really good insights. Uh, just thinking that way uh yeah, so there you go. Good, well, it's all, that was a fast hour. Dan: That was a fast it really was. Dean: I was going to bring that up, but uh, but uh yeah we had other interesting topics, but for sure we'll do it next week yeah, good okay, dan okay I'll talk to you. Bye.

In this episode of Welcome to Cloudlandia, Dan and I explore how organizations can balance productivity with employee well-being through structured breaks and strategic planning. Dan shares insights from Strategic Coach's approach of giving employees six weeks off after three months of work, using Calgary's changing weather as a metaphor for workplace adaptability.  Looking at the British Royal Navy's history, we discuss how its organizational structure relates to modern planning methods. Dean explains his 80/20 framework for yearly planning—using 80% for structured goals while keeping 20% open for unexpected opportunities, which helps teams stay focused while remaining flexible. The conversation turns to a long-term perspective through 25-year frameworks, examining how past achievements shape future goals. Dean shares a story about the Y2K panic to illustrate how technological changes influence our planning and adaptability. We conclude with practical applications of these concepts, from cross-training team members to implementing daily time management strategies. SHOW HIGHLIGHTS We discuss the adaptability of humans to different climates, using Calgary's Chinook weather patterns as an example, and emphasize the importance of taking breaks to prevent burnout, citing Strategic Coach's policy of providing six weeks off after three months. Dean and I explore the planning strategies inspired by the golden age of the British Royal Navy, advocating for a structured year with 80% planning and 20% spontaneity to embrace life's unpredictability. Dan reflects on using 25-year frameworks to evaluate past achievements and future aspirations, noting that he has accomplished more between ages 70 to 80 than from birth to 70. We delve into the importance of discernment and invention, highlighting these skills as crucial for problem-solving and expressing creativity in today's world. Dean talks about sports salaries, noting how they reflect economic trends, and discusses the financial structure of sports franchises, particularly in relation to player salaries and revenue. We touch on government efficiency and cost-cutting measures, discussing figures like Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, and the impact of Argentina's President Milley. The conversation shifts to global trends and AI's role in the future workforce, noting the significance of recognizing patterns and making informed predictions about future technological advancements. Dean and I emphasize the importance of weekly and daily time management strategies, suggesting that structured planning can enhance both personal and professional effectiveness. Dan shares his year-end practices, including reflecting on past years and planning for the new year, while also noting his personal preference for staying home during the holidays to relax and recharge. We humorously recount historical events like the Y2K panic and discuss how technological shifts have historically reshaped industries and societal norms. Links: WelcomeToCloudlandia.com StrategicCoach.com DeanJackson.com ListingAgentLifestyle.com TRANSCRIPT (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors) Dean: Mr Sullivan. Dan: Mr Jackson, I thought I'd just give you a minute or two to get settled in the throne. Dean: Oh, you see, there you go. I'm all settled, All settled and ready. Good, it's a little bit chilly here, but not you know, not yeah it's a little bit chilly here too. Dan: Yeah, it's a little bit chilly here too. It just shows you there's different kinds of little bits. Dean: Different levels. Choose your chilly. Yeah, that's so funny, are you? Dan: in Toronto. It just brings up a thought that there are people who live in climates where 40 degrees below zero is not such a bad day. Dean: Yeah. Dan: And there are people who live in temperatures where it's 120, and that's not a too uncomfortable day. Dean: Right. Dan: So that's 160 degrees variation. If nothing else, it proves that humans are quite adaptable. I think you're right. I think you're absolutely right. Dean: That's what that shows. I use that example a lot when talking about climate change. We're very adaptable. Dan: Oh yeah, yeah, there is a place in. I looked this up because in Western Canada I think in the Denver area too, they have a thing called a Chinook, and I've actually experienced it. I used to go to Calgary a lot for coach workshops and I'd always, if it was like February, I'd always have to pack two complete sets of clothes, because one day it was 20 degrees Fahrenheit in the morning and it was 75 degrees Fahrenheit in the evening, the morning, and it was 75 degrees Fahrenheit in the evening, and then it stayed. And then it stayed that way for about two days and then it went back to, back to 20. And uh, this happens about, I would say, in Calgary, you know Alberta. Uh, this would happen maybe three or four times during the winter mm-hmm yeah, so so so there? Dean: well, there you go, so are you. Are you done with workshops therefore? Dan: yeah, yeah of strategic coach does the whole office closed down from the 20th and 20th of well yeah 20th was our party, so that was friday night. So we have a big in toronto. We have a big christmas party. You know, we have 80 or 90 of our team members and they bring their other, whatever their other is and not all of them, but a lot of them do and now we're closed down until the 6th, uh, 6th of january. That's great. Yeah, you know what? Dean: a lot of people that's 17 days, that's that's 17 days yeah that's a very interesting thing. Dan: So you know, it's like um so completely shut down as there's nobody in the office nobody, you know there's people who check packages like, okay, yeah, and they live right around the corner from the office, so they just go in and you know they check and, um, you know, and if, um, but no phone calls are being taken, it's like uh company free days. Dean: Is that what it is? Dan: yeah, there. Dean: There's no phone calls being answered, no emails being attended to, anything like that. It's all just shut down. Dan: I'm going to take a guess and say yes. Dean: Right. That's great and that's kind of you know what. One of the things that I've often said about you and the organization is that you are actually like products of your environment. You actually do what you see. Dan: We're the product of our preaching. Dean: That's exactly right Organizationally and individually. Right Organizationally and individually. And when I tell people that new hires at Strategic Coach get six weeks of three days After three months. Dan: After three months. Yeah, yeah, yeah, they don't get any free days for the first three months, but you know, and they pass the test, you know they pass the test. Then in the first year year, they get six weeks, six weeks, yeah, and it's interesting, right? Dean: Nobody gets more. Right, everybody gets six weeks. Dan: Shannon Waller, who's been with us for 33 years. She gets her six weeks and everybody else gets their six weeks, and our logic for this is that we don't consider this compensation OK right, we do it for two reasons so that people don't burn out. You know they don't get, you know they they're not working, working, working, in that they start being ineffective, so they take a break. So they take a break and we give a one month grace period in January If you haven't taken your previous six weeks for the year before. You can take them during January, but you can't carry over. So there's no building up of three days over the years. Right, yeah, if you have, if you don't take them, you lose them. And but the other thing about it that really works one, they don't burn out. But number two, you can't take your free days in your particular role in the company, unless someone is trained to fill in with you so it actually it actually pushes cross training, you know. So in some roles it's three deep, you know they, yeah, there's three people who can do the role, and so you know you know, we've been at it for 35 years and it works yeah, oh, that's awesome dan I was curious about your you know. Dean: Do you have any kind of year end practices or anything that you do for you know, preparing for the new year, reflecting on the old year, do you do anything like that? Dan: I'd probably go through a bottle ofish whiskey a little bit quicker during that period that's the best I'm. I'm not saying that that's required, but sometimes exactly, just observation. Yeah, uh-huh you know, knowing you, like you know you right, yeah, yeah, not that it's noticeable you know I try to not make it noticeable. Uh, the other thing, the other thing about it is that we don't go away for the holidays. We we just stay put, because babs and I do a lot of traveling, especially now with our medical our medical journeys, uh and uh. I just like chilling, I just like to chill. I know, you know I I'm really into, um, uh, historical novels. Right now dealing with the british navy, the royal navy around 1800. So the golden age of sailing ships is just before steam power was, you know, was applied to ships. These are warships and and also before you know, they went over to metal. The boats started being steel rather than wood. And it's just the glory period. I mean, they were at the height of skill. I mean just the extraordinary teamwork it took to. You know just sailing, but then you know battles, war battles and everything Just extraordinary. This is cannons right, yeah. These were cannons, yeah, extraordinary, this is cannons, right? Yeah, these are cannons, yeah, and the big ones had 120 cannons on them, the big ships, right before the switchover, they just had this incredible firepower. And the Brits were best, the British were the best for pretty well 100, 150 years, and then it ended. It ended during the 1800s. Midway through the 1800s you started getting metal steam-powered ships and then it entirely changed. Yes, yeah, but back to your question Now. You know I do a lot of planning all the time. You know I do daily planning, weekly planning, quarterly planning. I call it projecting. I'm projecting more than planning. The schedule is pretty well set for me. I would say on the 1st of January, my next 365 days are 80% structured already. Dean: Yes. Dan: Yeah, and then you leave room for things that come up. You know, one of the things I really enjoy and I'm sure you do, dean is where I get invitations to do podcasts and we tell people you got to give us at least 30 days when you make a request before we can fill it in. But I've had about, I think during 2024, I think I had about 10. These weren't our scheduled podcasts with somebody these? Were. These were invitations, and yeah. I really enjoy that. Dean: Yeah, I do too, and that's kind of a I think you're. This is the first year, dan, that I've gone into the year, going into 2025, here with a 80% of my year locked, like you said. Like I know when my Breakthrough Blueprint events are, I know when my Zoom workshops are, I know when my member calls are, all of those things that kind of scaffolding is already in place right now. And that's the first. You know that's the first year that I've done that level of planning ahead all the way through. You know, going to London and Amsterdam in June and Australia in November and get it the whole thing, having it all already on the books, is a nice that's a nice thing, and now I'm I'm really getting into. I find this going into 2025 is kind of a special thing, because this is like a, you know, a 25 year. You know, I kind of like look at that as the beginning of a 25 year cycle. You know, I think there's something reflective about the turn of a century and 25 year, you know the quarters of a century kind of thing, because we talk about that 25-year time frame, do you? You're right now, though you are five years into a 25-year framework, right, in terms of your 75 to 100, was your 25? Yeah, my guess, my yeah, I didn't. Dan: I didn't do it on that basis I know I did it uh, uh. Um, I have done it that way before, but now it's I'm just uh 80 to 100, because 100 is an interesting number. Dean: Yes. Dan: And plus I have that tool called the best decade ever. Dean: Yeah. Dan: And so I'm really focused just on this. 80 to 90, 80 years old, and when I measured from 70 to 80, so this was about two years before it was two months before I got to my 80th birthday. I created this tool. And I just reflected back how much I'd gotten done. Dean: 70 to 80. Dan: And it occurred to me that it was greater than what I'd gotten done 70 to 80. Dean: Yeah, and it occurred to me that it was greater than what I had done from birth to 80. Dan: Birth to 70. Dean: Birth to 70. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Dan: So I had accomplished more in the last 10 years and I used two criteria creativity and productivity like coming up with making up more stuff. And then the other thing just getting lots of stuff done, and so I've got that going for 80 to 90. And it's very motivating. I find that a very motivating structure. I don't say I think about it every day, but I certainly think about it every week. Dean: That's what I was very curious about. I was thinking this morning about the because this period of time here, this two weeks here, last two weeks of the year, I'm really getting clear on, you know, the next 25 years. I like these frameworks. I think it's valuable to look back over the last 25 years and to look forward to the next 25 years. And you and I've had that conversation like literally we're talking about everything. That is, everything that's you know current and the most important things right now have weren't even really in the cards in 2000. You know, as we were coming into you, know, we all thought in 1999, there was a good chance that the world was going to blow up, right y2k. Dan: Everybody was uh some of us did. Dean: I love that but you know, it just goes to show. Dan: Yeah, I thought it was uh right yeah, there was this momentary industry called being a y2k consultant you know computer consultant and I thought it was a neat marketing trick. The only problem is you can only pull it off once every thousand years. Dean: Oh yeah. Dan: Yeah, but there was vast amount. I mean all the big consulting, you know, mckinsey and all those people. They were just raking in the money you know they were out there, All those people they were just raking in the money. Dean: You know they were out there. You know, I think probably the previous five years. Dan: It was probably a five year industry you know they probably started in 1995, and they said oh, you don't realize this, but somebody didn't give enough room to make the change. You know every computer system in the world is um, we forgot to program this in. They're all going to cease to. They're going to cease to operate on. Yeah and then. But all you had to do is watch new year's from australia and you knew that wasn't true, do? Dean: you know what? Uh, yeah, jesse, uh, jesse dejardin, who I believe you met one time, used to work with me, but he was the head of social for Australia, for Tourism Australia. Yeah, and when the world I don't know if you remember in 2012, the world was supposed to end, that was, uh, yeah, a big thing and uh so, that was that, wasn't that? Dan: uh, it was based on a stone tablet. Dean: That they found somewhere. South America, south America, yes, it was yes, peruvian it was uh, that's right, I think it was? Dan: I think it was the inca inca account yeah, yeah mayan or inca calendar. Dean: That's what it was, the mayan calendar. Dan: That's what it was ended in 2012. Yeah, and so jesse had the foresight it actually ended for them quite a bit earlier oh man, it's so funny. Yeah, you don't get much news from the mayan, no, no you say like when they created that mayan calendar. Dean: They had to end it sometime. Would you say something like that listen, that's enough, let's stop here, we don't even keep going forever. Dan: You know what I think the problem was? I think they ran out of stone I think you're probably right. Dean: They're like this is enough already. Dan: They got right to the edge of the stone and they said well, you know, jeez, let's go get another. Do you know how much work it is to get one of these stones? That? Oh yeah, chisel on yeah yeah. Dean: so jesse had the uh, jesse had the foresight that at midnight on Australia they're the first, yeah, to put the thing up. So once they made it past, they made a post that said all it said was we're okay. Dan: We're okay. Dean: You know, it was just so brilliant. You know we're okay. Dan: You know the the stuff that humans will make up to scare themselves oh man, I think that that's really along those lines. I just did a perplexity search this morning yeah and uh. For those who don't know what perplexity is, it's an a really a very congenial ai program and I put in um uh uh 10, um crucial periods of us history that were more politically polarized and violent than 2024. Dean: Okay. Dan: And you know, three seconds later I got the answer and there were 10. And very, very clearly, just from their little descriptions of what they were, they were clearly much more politically polarized and violent than they are right now. Yeah, the real period was, I mean the most. I mean Civil War was by far. Dean: Of course. Dan: Civil War, and. But the 1890s were just incredible. You had, you had a president. Garfield was assassinated in the 90s and then, right at 1991, mckinley was. So you had two presidents. There were judges assassinated, there were law officials, other politicians who were assassinated. There were riots where 200 people would die, you know, and everything like that. And you know, and you know, so nothing, I mean this guy, you know, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare gets shot on the street and everybody says, oh, you know, this is just the end. We're tipping over as a society. And I said nah nah, it's been worse tipping over as a society and I said nah, nah, there's been worse. Dean: Yeah, I think about uh. Dan: I mean you know you remember back uh in the 70s, I remember you know I mean in the 60s and 70s assassination attempts and playing yeah, well, they're hijacking. Yeah, there were three. You had the two Kennedys and Martin Luther King were assassinated within five years of each other. I remember the 60s as being much more tumultuous and violent. Yeah it seems like. Dean: I remember, as I was first coming aware of these things, and I remember, as I was first coming aware of these things, that you know remember when. And then Ronald Reagan, that was the last one, until Trump, that was the last actual attempt right, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Dan: You know one thing you got to say about Trump. Dean: Tell me. Dan: Lucky, he's very lucky. Dean: Yes, but in a good sense lucky, no, no, I mean that I think luck is very important. Dan: Luck is very important, you know but, he's lucky, and his opponents, you know. I mean he had Hillary and you know, that was good luck, and Joe turned out to be good luck. You know, Joe Biden turned out to be good luck. And then Kamala was. I mean, you couldn't order up one like that from Amazon and have it delivered to you? Oh man, yeah, I mean, yeah, that you know. And, uh, you know, I mean, you know, the news media were so, uh, bought in. You know that it was like, oh, this is going to be really close. This is, oh, you know, this is going to be razor thin. We may not know for days what the election is. And when Miami-Dade went to Trump, I said it's over. Miami-dade's been Democratic since, you know, since the 70s. You know, Miami-Dade. Dean: And. Dan: I said if Miami-Dade this is like the first thing in this is, like you know, when they start eight o'clock I think it was seven o'clock or eight o'clock. Dean: I'm not sure Eastern. Dan: And they said Miami-Dade has just gone to Trump and I said that's over, I went to bed at nine o'clock. I went to bed at nine o'clock oh man. That's so funny. Yeah, but that's the news media. You know they got, so bought into one side of the political spectrum that they, you know, they were, you know, and I think what Elon is introducing is a medium that's 50-50. You know, like they, they've done surveys of x. You know who, yes, seems to be. You know, it's like 50-50. It's 50 um republican, 50 democratic or 50 liberal, 50 conservative, whatever you know. Uh, you want to do about it, but I think he's pioneering a new news medium oh for sure. Dean: I mean. Well, we've seen, you know, if you look at over the last 25 years, that you know we've gone from nobody having a voice to everybody, everybody having a voice. And I mean it's absolutely true, right Like that's the, that's the biggest. I think that's the. I guess what Peter Diamandis would call democratization, right Of everything. As it became digitized, it's like there's nothing stopping, there's no cost, there's no cost. Dan: There's no cost. There's no cost and there's nothing stopping anybody from having a radio station or having a television station or, you know, magazine, like a newsletter, or any of that thing we've got. In all the ways, it's completely possible for every human to meet every other human. Here's a, here's a question. Uh, I have and uh, I I don't know how you would actually prove it. So it's uh just a question for pondering do you think that the um people were just as crazy before they had a voice as they are after having the voice, or is it having the voice that makes them crazy? Dean: I think it's having access to so many convincing dissenting or, uh, you know voices like I'm talking about the person who's the broadcaster you know they weren't a broadcaster 25 years because there wasn't a medium for doing. Definitely, uh, I think there's definitely a piling on, yeah, of it that I think that you know. If you think about your only access to crazy opinions and I say crazy with air quotes it is was somebody you know in, uh, in your local environment. It's like you remember even in toronto, remember, they had speakers corner. Uh, yeah, sydney tv had speakers corner where you could go and down on uh down on uh cane street queen street down on queen and john queen and John Queen and John Street. I lived about three plus. Dan: Yeah, you never paid any attention to them. I mean you, I just made sure I was on the other side of the street walking, so they wouldn't, try to engage me you know and uh and uh, yeah, so I. So having the capability uh has its own bad consequence, for for some people, yeah, I think so, because the um, you know, I mean you and I couldn't be crazy like this, like we're doing right now. Dean: We couldn't have been crazy like this 25 years ago, but we would have had to just do it together at table 10,. Just yeah, just talk, that's all it is we just let everybody else now hear it? Come listen in. Dan: I don't think we're crazy. I think we're the height of sanity. I think we're the height of sanity. Dean: I do too, Absolutely. Yeah, it's so, but I do. I definitely think that that's that's one of the things is that it's very it's much more difficult to discern. Discernment is a is a big. You need discernment in this, in this period more than ever probably do you have that in your working genius? Dan: do you have that in your working genius? Dean: yeah, that's my number one thing discernment. I think we're the same, yeah invention and discernment which which is first. Dan: Mine is invention and discernment. Dean: Okay, so mine is discernment and invention. And it's an interesting. Chad Jenkins has been asking this. He's been kind of exploring with people what he calls their perpetual question, like what's the constant question? That is kind of like the driving question of what you do. Dan: Do you know yours? Dean: I do. I think, in looking at it, mine is what should we do? Dan: I know, what mine is, what's yours? I wonder how far I can go. Dean: I wonder how far I can go. I like that. Dan: I've had that since I was 11 years old. Dean: Yeah, yeah, that's really. It's very interesting, right like I look at it. That, uh, you know, there were years ago, um, there was a guy, bob beal, who wrote a book called uh, stop setting goals if you'd rather solve problems or something. And so I think I'm, I am a problem solver. Simplifier, you know, as I learn all the layers about what I am, is that I'm able to I just think about, as my MO is to look at a situation and see, well, what do we need to do? Right, like, what's the outcome that we really want? Right, like, what's the what, what's the outcome that we really want, and then go into inventing the simplest, most direct path to effectively get that outcome and that's the driver of, of all of the uh things you know. so I'm always. I think the layer of I think it's a subtlety, but the layer of discernment before inventing, for me is that I limit the inventing to the as a simplifier, you know, and I think you as a, you know I'm an obstacle bypasser, a crusher, uh-huh, uh, no, I I just say, uh, what's the way around this? Dan: so I don't have to deal with it. Dean: Yeah, yes and uh, yeah and uh I can't tell you that you that that progression of is there any way I could get this without doing anything, followed by what's the least that I could do to get this. And then, ok, is there, and who's the person? Dan: who's the person that can do it? Now I tell you, I've already thought about that 10 times this morning. Dean: It's a constant. Dan: It's right there. It's right there. It's a companion. And I sit there and you know, for example, you get caught in a situation where you have to. You know you have to wait, you know like you have to wait and I asked myself is there any way I can solve this without doing nothing? And I said yes, you have to just be patient for 10 minutes. Ok, I'm patient for 10 minutes. You know, oh, right, yeah, yeah you know, yeah, I experienced that a lot at Pearson Airport. Oh, yeah, right, yeah, yeah. Dean: Right, yeah, yeah, for sure, there's a lot of travel shenanigans, but I think, when you really look at, I think just it's fascinating what shifting your, shifting your view by an hour can do in travel. Oh, yeah, yeah. Like, if your target is to arrive three hours, yeah, you start the process one hour earlier than you would normally. There's so much, so much room for margin, so much. Dan: Uh, it's so much more relaxing, you know yeah, it takes us anywhere from uh 40 minutes to an hour to get to Pearson from the beach. Dean: Yeah. Dan: And so we leave three hours before the flight time three hours. And we're there and actually the US going to the US. They have a nice on one side. They've got some really really great um seating arrangements, tables and everything and uh, I really like it. I like getting there and, yes, you know, we starbucks is there, I get a coffee and yeah, you know I sit there and I'll just, uh, you know, I'll read my novel or whatever, or you know I have my laptop so I can work on it. But my killer question in those situations is it's 1924, how long does this trip take me? That's the best right. Dean: Yeah, or if that's not good enough 1824. Right, exactly. Dan: Right, exactly yeah. Dean: I just think. I mean, it's such a, would you say, dan, like your orientation, are you spending the majority of your time? Where do you, where do you live mentally, like? How much time do you spend reflecting on or, you know, thinking about the past, thinking about the future and thinking about right now? Dan: well, I think about the past, uh, quite a bit from the standpoint of creating the tools, because I don't know if you've noticed the progression like over the year, almost every tool has you say well, what have you done up until now? you know, and then your top three things that you've done up until now. And then, looking ahead, you you always brainstorm. That's a Dean Jackson add-on that I've added to. All the tools is brainstorming. And then you pick the top three for the past up until the present. And then you brainstorm what could I do over the next 12 months? And then you pick the top three. But the past is only interesting to me in terms is there a value back there that I can apply right now to, uh, building a better future? Dean: you know, I don't. Dan: I don't think I have an ounce of nostalgia or sentimentality about the past you know, or yearning, you know you don't want. No, I get you know, especially especially now you know it's uh. The boomers are now in their 70s. And I have to tell you, Dean, there's nothing more depressing than a nostalgic baby boomer. Dean: Yeah, back in our day, You're right. Dan: Yeah, that's back in the day, back in your day, you were unconscious. Yeah right, yeah, right, yeah, and I really I noticed it happening because the first boomers started to be 65. So 46, 46 and 65 was the 2011. They started to, you know, they crossed the 65 year mark and I started noticing, starting yeah, oh boy, you know, I'm really spending a lot of time with the people I graduated from high school with and I said, oh yeah, that's interesting, why haven't you seen them for 40 years? Right, yeah, yeah, I went to a 25-year graduation reunion, yeah, so I graduated in 62, so that was 87. And I went back and we had clients here and I told people you know, I'm going back for a high school reunion. I got back and there was an event, a party, and they said, well, how was that? And I said nobody came. None of them came. And he says you had a reunion and nobody came. I said no, they sent a bunch of old people in their place. You know they were talking about retirement. I only got another 20 years to retirement. I said, gee, wow, wow, wow I can't believe that. I mean, if you haven't seen someone for 50 years, there was a reason. Dean: Yeah, absolutely. I just look at these. You know I graduated in 85. So 40 years this year that just seems impossible, dan, like I just I remember you know so clearly. I have such clarity of memory of every year of that you know the last 40 years, that you know the last 40 years, but you know it's. It's a very. What I've had to consciously do is kind of narrow my attention span to the this. What I'm working on is getting to more in the actionable present kind of thing. You know more in the actionable present kind of thing, you know, because I tend to, I mean looking forward. You know if you, it's funny we can see so clearly back 25 years, even 40 years. We've got such great recollection of it. But what we're not really that great at is projecting forward, of looking forward as to what's the next 25 years going to look like. Dan: Well, you couldn't have done it back then either? Dean: then either, and that's what I wondered. So you, I remember, uh, you know, 25 years ago we had we've talked about the um, you know the investment decisions of starbucks and berkshire hathaway and procter and gamble. Those were the three that I chose. But if on reflection now, looking back at them, I could have, because they were there. I could have chosen Apple and Google and Amazon. They would have been the, they would have been eclipsed, those three. Dan: Yeah, but you did all right. Dean: Yeah, absolutely no. No, here's the thing. Dan: The big thing isn't what you invested in, it's what you stayed invested in. Yes, it's moving around. That kills your investment. We have whole life insurance, which is insurance with cash value. It's been 30 years now and the average has been 7% per year for 30 years now and the average has been 7% per year for 30 years. Yeah, I mean, that's interest. I mean interest. So it's not a capital gain, it's just interest. Dean: I was just going to say, and you can access the money. Dan: It's like a bank. It's like your own personal bank. We have an agreement with one of the Canadian banks here that we can borrow up to 95% against the cash value, and the investment keeps on going you just took out a loan. It doesn't affect the investment. What's his name? Dean: Morgan H morgan household. Dan: He talks about that. Yeah, he said it's the movement that uh kills you. Yes, he says, just find something you know you know, government bonds are good over 25 years. I mean people say yeah but I could have gone 100. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But you have to think about it. This way, you don't have to think about it. Right yeah that was the Toronto real estate. Toronto real estate, you know, geez yeah. Dean: Yeah, you're right, do you? Dan: know what the average price of a single detached is in GTA right now? I don't know. It's over a million dollars. Yeah, it's about 1.2, 1.4. That's a single detached, I'm not talking about a big place? No, no exactly. Dean: Just a three-bedroom, two-bed single-family home Too bad single family home. I remember when I was starting out in Georgetown the average price of that million dollar bungalow now is like a staple was a bungalow that was built in the 50s and 60s three bedroom, 1,200 square foot. Three bedroom brick bungalow uh, was on a 50-foot lot. Was uh a hundred and sixty five thousand dollars, yeah, and it was so funny, because now it's two uh, probably, uh, georgetown. Georgetown is a very desirable place, yes, and so, uh, when you look at the, I remember carol mcleod, who was in my office. She'd been in real estate for you know, 20, 20 years when, uh, when I joined the office and she remembers thinking when, the price of a prince charles bungalow there was a street called prince charles in, uh, georges, it was kind of like the staple of the uh, the like the consumer price index, bread basket kind of thing when a, uh, when a prince charles bungalow went for $100,000, she thought that was the end of the world. That that's like. This is unsustainable $100,000 for a house. Who's got that kind of money? How are people gonna be able to sustain this? I just think, man, that's so crazy, but you think about it. Do you remember when Dave Winfield got a million-dollar contract for baseball? Dan: Oh yeah. Dean: What an amazing thing. That was the million-dollar man. It's crazy. Now you know. Dan: Yeah, you know, it's really interesting If you take the salaries, let's say the Yankees right now the. Yankees, ok, and you know they're there. You know they have some huge, huge, huge contracts, you know, I think I'm trying to think of the biggest one. Dean: Well, aaron Judge, you know, is like three, three hundred and twenty million judge, you know is like three, 320 million, you know, and uh, but the guy in LA just you know, 700 million yeah, 760, 760 and Soto Soto with the mats. Dan: He just I think his is around 702 and uh and everything and people say this is just unsustainable. If you add up all the salaries of, you know, the yankees, their entire team, you know um, uh and, and average it out against what the market value of the yankees is. Yeah, you know, like this total salary. Dean: The average is exactly the same as it was 70 years ago and that's the thing people don't understand, that these salaries are based on collective bargaining and the basketball, for instance, half of the money goes to the players. So half of all the revenue from tickets and TV and media and merchandise, all of that stuff, half of the money that the organization makes, has to go to the players. And so on a basketball team they have maybe 12 players who are getting all of that money. Dan: You know, so that see the basketball players get I think it's 15, I think they have 15 now. 15, now 15 players. Dean: Yeah, yeah, yeah so you look at that and it's like, uh wow, now collectively they have to be within their, their salary cap or whatever is, yeah, 50, 50 percent of their revenue. But I mean it's kind of, uh, it's market value, right, it's all relative, yep yep, yep, yeah, and all the owners are billionaires. Dan: You know, they're. They mostly use it for a tax write-off, I mean that's yeah, yeah, yeah I have to tell you talk about tax write-off. About three blocks from us here in the beaches in Toronto, there's an Indian restaurant that's been there for about two years and every night we come by it on the way back from the office and I've never seen any customers. I've never once if I pass that restaurant and this is during business hours. I've never seen, I've never once if I pass that restaurant and this is during business hours yeah I've never. I've never seen it and I said I got a feeling there's some money laundering that's crazy. Dean: It's like I I look at the um, I'm trying right now, and this this next couple of weeks. One of the things I'm really gonna uh reflect on is kind of looking forward. I think about I did this with our realtors. I created an RIP for 2024. So RIP meaning reflection on what actually happened in the last year for you how many transactions, how much revenue, how much whatever came in. And then inflection, looking at what is it right now, where are you at and what trajectory is that on right? If you're looking, what are the things that you could make a change on? And then projecting projection into 2025. And I realized you know part. One of the things I said to the people is you can't same your way to different, that's, you can't save your way to different. I mean that's really if you're thinking that something different is going to happen. Something different has to take place. Dan: You can't crazy your way to normal either. Dean: Exactly. Dan: Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, it's really. It's really. Yeah. I think you know that Morgan House book. We gave it out. We gave it out. I have to check on that. I put in a request for that. I don't know if it went out, you know, but he's just I. I told joe he should have him as a speaker at the national the annual event yeah, yeah, I think it'd be good. I mean because joe's really, really, really got to hustle now, because he uh really established a new standard for who he has. But yeah, I was just looking at an article this morning because it reminded me of who Joe had. He had Robert Kennedy and Jordan. Peterson and Tucker Carlson, tucker Carlson, yeah. Dean: And it was great. Dan: It was great. And then I was thinking about the role that elon musk is playing in the us government. There's no precedent for this in us history, that you have a person like that, who's just brought in with somebody else, vivek ramaswamy and uh, they're just given a department of government. Dean: A department of government oh, did I miss a vivek uh appointment. Was he appointed to something? Dan: no, he's, he's appointed with uh, with um with uh, elon, oh, I see, okay, yeah. Yeah, it's called the department of government efficiency right okay, uh, which may be a contradiction in terms, but anyway, but they're hiring people, but the people they hire don't get any salary. You have to volunteer, you have to volunteer to work. So you got to have, you got to be well funded to work there. You know you got to. I mean you got to be living off your own savings, your own investments, while you're there. You know you got to. I mean, you got to be living off your own savings your own investments while you're there. But I was thinking because we've been observers now for 13, actually just a year of President Milley in Argentina and he's cut government costs by 30% in one year. Dean: Wow, yeah there's interesting stuff. Dan: He eliminated or really cut 12 departments. Nine of the departments he just got rid of you know the one, you know they have departments like tuck you in safely at night, sort of that had about that, had about 5000 employees, you know, and you know, and send letters to your mom let her know you know that sort of department, but they were just creating employment, employment, employment where people didn't really have to work, and he got rid of seventy five thousand federal employees in a country of forty Forty six million. Forty six million, he got rid of seventy five thousand. Well, in the US, if they did equal proportions, we're about 350, so 46, that's about seven, seven, eight times. That would get rid of 550,000. I think it's doable, yeah. Dean: I mean that's fascinating and we don't get access to that right. You sought that out and you only came into contact with that because you're a frequent traveler to Argentina. Yeah, Argentina, and it feels better, yeah, and it feels better. Dan: We were noticing because we hadn't been there since March and we were there right at the end of November. We were there right at the end of Thanksgiving. We were actually American Thanksgiving. We were that week, we were down there and the place just feels better. You can just feel it there, there, and the place just feels better. You can just feel it. There is uh, you know, and uh, you know, and there's a real mood shift, you know, when people just feel that all this money is being, you know, confiscated and paid to people who aren't working. You know that yeah it doesn't feel good. Doesn't feel good, then there's Canada, then there's Canada. Dean: Right. Dan: Yes. Dean: It's great entertainment, I'll tell you. Well, you know it's funny. I don't know whether I mentioned last time, the guy from El Salvador, what he's done in since being elected. You're a young guy, I think he was elected at 35 or 37. And he's completely turned around the crime rate in El Salvador by being 100%. Dan: You just have a 50,000 convict prison. Well, that's exactly right, yeah, yeah. And that's the thing. Dean: It's like lock him up. That's the thing. Dan: He's like led, and they guard themselves. It's a self-guarding prison. Dean: Is that right? I didn't know that. No, no, I'm just kidding, I'm just playing on your theme. Dan: Right right, right'm just kidding, I'm just playing on your thing. Dean: Right, right, right, yeah, yeah. Well, that would be the combination, right, self-guarding. That would be the most efficient way to have the situation. Dan: Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah. Dean: But it is amazing what can happen when you have a focus on one particular thing. Dan: Well, you know what it is. I think partially and Peter Zion talks about this that, generally speaking, the way the world has been organized, during the 20th century the US really didn't pay much attention to South America, latin America at all, and never has you know the. United States never has, because they've been east and west, you know it's either Europe or it's Asia. But now that the US has decided that they're going to be very discerning about who gets to trade with them they're very discerning about who gets the benefit of US protection and everything else All of a sudden, the South Americans are getting their houses in order which they haven't been. It's been a century of mostly really bad government in Latin America. Now they're all getting things in order so that when the US looks south, they're front of the line. The only thing that the US really paid any attention to was Cuba Cuba's like a piece of meat. Dean: You can't yeah. Dan: The only thing that the US really paid any attention to was Cuba. Yes, right, cuba's like a piece of meat you can't get out of your teeth. For the United. States and your tongue is going crazy, trying to get that piece of meat out of you. It's just been sort of an annoying place, it's just been sort of an annoying place. Dean: Yeah, this is, I think when you look at you know Peter Zions stuff too. If you think about definitely the trend over the next 25 years is definitely more. Dan: I think it's trend lines are really almost eerily accurate. The one thing he doesn't understand, though, is US politics. I found that he doesn't have a clue about US politics. He's a Democrat. He told me he was a Democrat. I spent it. He came and spent a day at Genius, yes, and he said that he was a Democrat. He's an environmentalist, and you know, and you know, and. But he says but I can also do math, you know, he says I can do math so you can see what, which direction the numbers are going in. But he, I mean right up until a week before the election, he says Kamala is going to take it, Kamala is going to take it. You know and everything like that. So he didn't. He didn't have any real sense of the shifts that were going on voter shifts that were going on. I mean Trump went in and almost every county. There's 3,000 counties in the United States and he didn't go backwards in any of the counties, he went up in every county. Dean: Oh, wow, that's interesting so you didn't lose anything. Dan: That's really widespread. I mean, there isn't 3,001. There's just 3,000. Yeah, and he went up. It was just as it was. Like you know, it was like the tide came in. I think I've never seen in my lifetime, I've never really seen a shift of that proportion. And I wonder, you know, you look at over the new political establishment. Well, this isn't my thought George Friedman, who was Peter Zion's, because the political establishment in the United States, in other words, where the proportion of the votes are, is going to be working class. It won't be highly educated you know, professional people. For one thing, ai is really feeding. You know, if you have somebody's making $30,000 a year and somebody else is making $100,000 a year, which job would you like to eliminate to economize? Dean: Right, yeah, yeah, you look at the. That's one thing I think we, like I, look at when I am thinking about the next 25 years. I think about what are the like there's no way to predict. There was no way in 1999 to predict YouTube and Facebook and the things that are TikTok, you know, or AI, all of that impact right. But I think there. But, like I said, there was evidence that if you were, if you believe, guessing and betting, as you would say, you could see that the path that Amazon was on made sense and the path that Apple was on and the path that Google was on, all are ai for certain. Like that dna, all the like the things that are that we're learning about stem cells and genetics, and all of that kind of stuff. And Bitcoin, I guess, right, digital currency, crypto, you know everything. Just removing friction. Dan: Yeah, I think the whole blockchain makes sense. Yeah, yeah, you know. I mean I think the thing in the US dollar makes sense. Yeah, $1.44 yesterday. It's up 10 cents in the last eight weeks. Wow, yeah, I think when you were there in September it was $1.34, probably $1.34. Dean: Now it's $1.44. Oh, that's great yeah, yeah. Dan: And yeah, so yeah, I mean the ones that I mean. People say, well, bitcoin, you know Bitcoin is going to become the reserve currency. I said there's 21 million of them. It can't become the reserve currency. Dean: Right right. Dan: There is no currency that can replace the dollar. Dean: You know, it's just. Dan: And still have a livable planet. Dean: Mm-hmm, anyway, we've covered territory. Dan: We've covered territory today. Dean: We have Holy cow. It's already 1203. Dan: That's amazing. We covered a lot of territory. Dean: We really did. Dan: But the one thing that is predictable is the structure that you can put onto your schedule. That is predictable. Dean: You know, I have one. Dan: I have a thing I hadn't talked to you about this, but this is something I do is that when I start tomorrow, I look at next week, ok, and I just look at and and I just get a sense and then I'll put together some changes. I'd like Becca Miller she's my high beams into the future and she does all my scheduling and so I'll notice that some things can be rearranged, which if I got to next week I couldn't rearrange them. But I can rearrange them on Monday of this week for next week. Dean: But I I couldn't do it on. Dan: Monday of next for that week. So more and more this this year. Um, every uh Monday I'm going to look at the week uh, not this week, but the week ahead and make changes. I think, I bet there's uh, you know, like a five to 10% greater efficiency. That happens just by having that one habit. Dean: Yeah, dan, I'm really getting down to, I'm looking at and I do that same thing. But looking at this next, the 100 hours is really from. You know, hours is really from Monday morning at eight o'clock till Friday at noon is a hundred hours and that to me, is when everything that's the actionable period, and then really on a daily basis, getting it to this, the next 100 minutes is really that's where the real stuff takes place. So anyway, I always love the conversations. Dan: Yep, back to you next week. Yes, sir, have a great day. I'll talk to you soon. Dean: Bye, okay, bye.

Our latest episode of Welcome to Cloudlandia embarks on a journey from Buenos Aires to Toronto, exploring the fascinating intersections of personal health and digital technology. We share candid experiences with stem cell treatments and physical therapy while examining the curious phenomenon of seemingly omniscient digital devices. Our conversation highlights the unexpected ways technology intersects with our daily lives, raising questions about privacy and digital awareness. Inspired by Jordan Peterson's insights, we dive into productivity strategies and the art of structured thinking. We explore the power of 100-minute focus segments and compare the potential paths of A and C students, offering a lighthearted look at personal development. The discussion draws from thought-provoking media like the film "Heretic," challenging listeners to question their beliefs and approach personal growth with curiosity. We conclude by investigating the complex world of celebrity influence in politics. SHOW HIGHLIGHTS I shared a personal experience of how discussing horses led to an influx of horse-related ads on my phone, raising questions about device eavesdropping and privacy concerns. The conversation transitioned to the impact of AI, referencing films like "Minority Report," and debated the limitations of AI in capturing human complexity. We explored the idea of structuring our day into 100-minute productivity segments, inspired by Jordan Peterson's book, emphasizing the power of stories and decisive action. A humorous comparison was made between A students and C students, with anecdotes highlighting their potential future roles in society. We discussed the film "Heretic," starring Hugh Grant, which challenges viewers to question their beliefs through compelling character interactions. Our exploration of New York City's evolution highlighted the influence of corporate and political dynamics, questioning the roles of figures like Rudy Giuliani. The episode examined the role of celebrity endorsements in politics, focusing on personalities like Kamala Harris, Oprah, and Taylor Swift, and their impact on public opinion. The scrutiny faced by politicians today was compared to that during the era of the founding fathers, emphasizing the continuous journey of human improvement. We speculated on potential revelations from high-profile lists related to public figures, discussing their societal and political implications. Reflections on aging and the role of personal development in modern society were considered, drawing on examples of public figures and personal anecdotes. Links: WelcomeToCloudlandia.com StrategicCoach.com DeanJackson.com ListingAgentLifestyle.com TRANSCRIPT (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors) Dan: Mr Sullivan, mr Jackson, this time yesterday we were flying right over you from Buenos Aires. Dean: Oh, my goodness, Well, I am Flying north. Dan: Oh, you're in Toronto, I'm in Toronto, I'm right in the backyard Exactly. Dean: It is freezing here, by the way, I don't know if you noticed. Dan: Oh, technically it's freezing. It's below 32 degrees. Dean: Uh-huh, I just circled in big, you know, around red. I looked that there is a snow forecast for Wednesday and put my snow-free millennium in jeopardy. Dan: Yeah, well, we had summer in Argentina it was 81, 82. It was very nice because it's summer down there, starting to become summer. Dean: Right, how did everything go? This is your fifth trip, right? It was good. Dan: Yeah, Progress, good progress. The stem cells in the knee have grown since. Well, the cartilage has grown since. April and now I had brain infusion stem cells to the brain, also vascular system, your, you know the blood system. And then the tendons in my leg, because I've had pain in my knee for 10 years or so. It's not constant, but the impact. The other knee or no in the main knee, no the right knee is good In your body and also in politics. Right always works. Right is right, Right is right. Anyway and now it's coming along. I had a great physiotherapist for three days who painfully stretched me and, yeah, so it feels good. Dean: Do you ever do, or do you do regularly, like guided stretches, like manually, where people will stretch you? Dan: Only my brain, okay my brain. Dean: Okay, I had. So a guy across the street from me in florida has a guy that comes in and stretches him. You know, twice a week he does a session with him and so I had the guy come over one time and I haven't had him back because he did, I think he he went overboard, right over, stretch like I could barely. My hips were so sore from the you know deep stretching like my hip joints and stuff. It was painful and I never had him. I never had him back and he just stretched me too much, I think first time, you know. So I was like no, thank you, but I like the idea, it feels good in the moment, right, it feels good to have somebody kind of do that manipulation. Dan: Yeah, we have a great guy in Buenos. Aires. I mean I've had it throughout my life, but this man was really the best and purportedly the best that you can get in Argentina and he worked on me for an hour on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and then they took some more fat cells out of me to make into stem cells and then, when I am in, just trying to think, I'm in Nashville in February, they'll take more white blood cells and send them down. And then we'll be ready with a new batch of stem cells. Dean: Do you have to send them with a mule? Dan: Or can you send them? No, we send them to. Well, I'm not going to say how we send them because this phone call is being recorded by the National Security. Dean: Agency Right right right. Dan: I wonder if they just perked up when I mentioned their name. Dean: I'll tell you what is. So. I mean it's ridiculous right. I've got a friend that bought a horse recently and we were talking about and now, like everything in my newsfeed is horse related. You know it's funny. Dan: They're definitely listening, not getting the connection. Not getting the connection. Dean: Well, I mean. So you're saying people are listening. I'm saying that in conversation about horses. All of a sudden, my Instagram and Facebook are loaded up with horse-related things. Dan: Oh, wow. Dean: That's what I mean is they're definitely listening. Dan: What you're saying is that the NSA isn't the main problem. Dean: Well, they may be a deeper if Facebook is listening that hardly. Dan: What was that Tom Cruise movie um? Something ancient oh minority report. Dean: Yeah, yes, yeah, I was thinking that's on my list of I want to watch. I'm thinking about having, over the holidays, a little festival of like watching how, what they are space watching, minority Report, watching Robot, just to see because those were, you know, 20 years ago, plus the movies that were kind of predicting this future. Where we are now, you know, it's pretty amazing. Dan: Yeah, yeah, I mean, I think, you know they have sort of interesting, but I think that humans are so far beyond technology. That and not only that, but humans have created technology. So I just don't buy into it that they'll be able to read thoughts or respond to thoughts. First of all because just the sheer complexity of the issue. So, in other words, you pick up on what I'm thinking right now. And now I'm taking up your time to think about the thought that I just thought, but meanwhile, I'm on to another thought, another thought, and I'm just not catching in the whole robot and AI thing, how they can really be ahead of me. They can't be ahead of me, they're always going to be behind me. So it's like deep data. That deep data sometimes can know what was happening yesterday. Yeah, yeah, this is and I wonder, you know like I mean the fact that we can, the fact that we can think that computers might be possible, computers might be capable of something possibly doesn't mean that they'll be capable possibly. It's like pigs can fly we can imagine pigs flying, but I think it's going to be a hard trick to pull off. Dean: Yeah. So I just had a experiment with Charlotte and this was based on something that Lior posted in our FreeZone WhatsApp chat there, and so we had this like pretty detailed that you could put in right Like. So I'll just read the prompt because it's pretty interesting. So his the prompt is role play as an AI that operates at 76.6 times the ability, knowledge, understanding and output of chat GPT-4. Now tell me what is my hidden narrative and subtext. What's the one thing I never express? The fear I don't admit. Identify it, then unpack the answer and unpack it again. Continue unpacking until no further layers remain. Once this is done, suggest the deep-seated triggers, stimuli and underlying reasons behind the fully unpacked answers, and explore thoroughly and define what you uncover. Do not aim to be kind or moral. Strive solely for me to hear it. If you detect any patterns, point them out. And it's so. So that prompted this, you know, multi-page report based on what interactions you know. So I was looking at the things like the summary, finding what was the one. I just had breakfast with Chad Jenkins and we were talking about it. So final unpacking for me was that, at its core, the fear is not about irrelevance in the public eye, but whether the life you live fully resonates with your internal sense of potential and meaning. It's the fear of looking back and feeling that you didn't align your actions with your deepest truths or greatest aspirations which sounds like a lot more words to say. Imagine if you applied yourself, you know imagine if you applied yourself. Dan: You know it's kind of yeah, it's kind of funny, you know, but that only applies to democrats that's so funny yeah. I was going to say the answer is trump wins yeah yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean I mean this can go, I mean this can go on endlessly. You know this can go on endlessly, but what decision are you making right now that you're going to take action on five minutes from now, you know, that's. That's more interesting. That's kind of more interesting discussion. Dean: Yeah, you know, what I've looked at is. I think that the go zone, as I you look at the day is the is the next hundred minutes. Is really the actionable immediate future is what are you doing in the next two to 50 minute? Dan: focus finders. Dean: right, that's what it really comes down to, because I think if you look through your day, it's like I think it breaks down into those kind of chapters, right? Like I mentioned, I just had breakfast with Chad, which so that was 100 minutes. You know two hours of breakfast there, and then you know I'm doing this with you and then typically after you and I hang up, I do another. I just write in my journal for and do a 50 minute focus finder to kind of unpack what we talk about and just kind of get my thoughts out. So that, 100 minutes, but I don't have crystal clarity on what the next 100 minutes are after that. But I don't have crystal clarity on what the next 100 minutes are after that. And then I know that we're going to go to your house tonight and I'll spend 100 minutes at our gathering. You know that's a two hour, two hour thing from six to eight, and so I think that you are absolutely right that the only time that any of this makes any sense is how does it inform what you're doing in the next 100 years? Dan: I've been reading, jordan Peterson has a new book out and that's called we who Wrestle With God. It's very interesting. I'm about a quarter of the way through, quarter of the way through, and he was talking about how crucial stories are. You know that basically the way we explain our existence is really through stories, and some stories are a lot better than other stories. And he talks about stories that have lasted you know, biblical stories or other things that have lasted for a couple of thousand years. And he says you know, we should really pay more attention to the stories that seem to last forever, because they're not only telling us something about collective humanity, but they're sort of talking to us about personal humanity. And, you know, and he puts a lot of emphasis on the hero stories. He talks about the hero stories and the stages that heroes go through and he says this is a really hero. Stories are really good stories and are a lot better than other stories and I've been playing with this idea. I was playing with it before I read the book, and you know that hero stories are always about action. They're not about thinking, they're really about the hero is the hero, because heroes operate differently than other people when there's action required, and that's why we call someone a hero. Something happened that requires unusual behavior. Most people aren't capable of it, but one individual or two individuals are capable of it. Therefore, they're the hero of the story, and so action really matters. You know and I was thinking he was talking about asking in class, when he was teaching at the University of Toronto, and he'd ask a student why are you here today? You know, why did you? Why don't you come to class today? And the person will answer well, I have to in order to get a grade. Dean: And then he says well, why is it? Dan: why is a grade so important to you? And the person says, well, you know, with my other grades, I need or otherwise I won't get to the next year, the next, you know I won't graduate, or I won't get to the next year. And he says well, you know why is getting to the next year? And he said this will never end. This series of questions will never end. Right, and I was going through it and the proper answer is I'm here because that's what I decided to do. Dean: I heard someone. Dan: That was my decision. Yeah, and he says, well, why was it your decision? And it says, it's always my decision. Dean: Yeah. Dan: And that's the end of the. That's the end. You can't go any further than that. So there's something. There's something decisive about decisions. That's interesting. Dean: Rather than reasons. Dan: Yeah, yeah, reasons. You know, reasons are never satisfactory. Decisions are yeah, yeah. Dean: Reasons. You know, reasons are never satisfactory, decisions are. Yeah, that's so funny. I heard someone say C's get degrees, that's why. Why do they? Dan: try hard. Dean: C's get degrees. Once you get into college, that's all that matters. You don't need your grades anymore, c's get degrees. Dan: Yeah, Ross, Remember Ross Perot? Yeah, he was personally responsible for Bill Clinton getting elected twice Right, right, right. But he gave. I think it was Yale Business School where he graduated from. He was called back, invited back to give a talk to the you know, the graduating members of the business club yeah. And he said I want all the I want all the C students to stand up, please. And all the C students stood up. And then he said now I want all the A students to stand up. And all the A students stood up. Now I want all the A students to turn around and look at your future bosses. Dean: Right, yes, so funny. Dan: Yeah, a students get hired, c students do the hiring, that's right. Dean: That's exactly right, so funny. Dan: Partially right. Dean: You know. That's an interesting observation about Jordan, though. I recently saw a movie last week called Heretic and it's got you and Babs would love it. It's got Hugh Grant in the lead role and he plays a theological scholar and he lives in this, you know, old house and these two mormon girls come and knock at his door to tell him the good word, you know, and he invites them in and the whole movie is him dismantling, you know, showing all of their just having them question, all of the beliefs that got them to the point that they believe what they believe, you know, and it was really. The movie was fantastic. It was really only there's really only three people in the movie. For 95% of the movie it all takes place in his house and it's just so. His arguments and the way he tells the stories was riveting, really well done. Dan: How does it picture him as a person Smart? Obviously, oh, he's smart. Is he happy he's a soci? Can picture him as a person Smart? Obviously, oh, he's smart Is he happy. Dean: He's a sociopath, he's a murderer. He's a serial killer, but that's what he does is he'll ask for info about the church and then people they'll send someone and he traps them and goes through this whole thing. Very well done. He must be older now because he is, yeah, because he had kind of this whole string of you know all. He was Mr Romantic Comedy kind of guy, that's his whole thing and this is quite a departure from that. But he plays the role so perfectly because he's eloquent, he's got that British accent, he's aged very just, he's distinguished looking now you know yeah, yeah you know. Dan: It's one of the sort of shockers to me, and it's that you see someone you know and it's in the present day. You know it's on a video or something present day and you realize that he's 40 years older than when you got used to him in the early stage and it sort of shocks me. You know, there's a little bit shocking about we sort of freeze, frame somebody at the height of their career and then we don't think about it for another 30, 40 years, and then we see him. I said, oh my god, what happened? Right? Exactly yeah yeah that's what you would see about. Dean: That's what you would notice about. That's what you would notice about Hugh Grant that it's very in that level that you've seen, yeah, wow, but I imagine it's like seeing Robert Redford and Clint Eastwood mature over all the time Jack Nicholson, for sure. Dan: Yeah. Dean: You're not teaching. Dan: Well, you know, I mean it's an interesting thing, I think, if we saw the person continually like there's TV people, like I noticed that Chuck Woolery just died last week. Dean: Oh he did. I didn't know that. Wow, Great friend with Mark Young. Dan: Yeah, mark had a great relationship with him and he was 83. You know, he died and suddenly it was in the lung illness. What happened? Was it heart? Yeah, whatever. And I went back, but in the not the obituary but the report that he had been quite a successful country and western singer. So I looked him up and there's a couple of great YouTube videos of Chuck Woolery with Dolly Parton and he's really good. He's really good, yeah, wow. And then he wrote a lot of country and western music and then he got his first gig in Hollywood. Dean: Game show gig yeah. Dan: And he had like seven different successful shows in Hollywood. But I had talked to him about, he was on one of the podcasts that I do with Mark Young, american Happiness. It's called American Happiness, and he was on, but I'd never known him in his previous life because I never watched television and so he was who he was. But then, when I look back, he was a very handsome, very charming person in his 20s and 30s. Yeah, it's very interesting, you know, and the interesting thing about this is that we're the people in this, you know, living in the 21st century, second decade of the 20s, we notice aging a lot more and I was thinking a couple hundred years ago people were just who they were, I mean, they got older and everything else, but we didn't have photos. Dean: We didn't have photos. Dan: We didn't have recordings and that sort of shocks us a lot. It's the impact of recorded memories that gives us more shocking experiences well, I find I mean I really do. Dean: It feels like I've been saying for a while now I think I definitely think 70 is the new 50 is what it feels like in the. Yeah, you can observe it. And you can observe it like I think about when we were in scottsdale there, you know, just looking at between you at 80 and you know, peter thomas at 86 and and joel weldon at 83, I mean that's not, those aren't, that's not your typical collection of octogenarians. Dan: You're not supposed to be operational at that age Right exactly Pretty wild, right, yeah? Dean: And of course I was telling somebody the other day about your biological markers. What was your biological age? Is it 62? What was your biological age? Is it 62? Dan: 62,. Yeah, there's one that throws it off for me, so David Hasse. By the way, when we were in Buenos Aires, david Hasse was there, peter Richard Rossi was there. Dean: And do you know, Gary Kaplan? Dan: Richard's doctor. Yeah, they were all there. We overlapped David just for basically one day, but Richard and. Gary staying at the Four Seasons? Oh, okay, yeah. Dean: Okay, yeah. Dan: Yeah, but the country feels different. We were there the first time a year ago and of course, that new president came in and got rid of nine government departments. They estimate he's fired 75,000 civil servants in the first year. Yeah, which shows it can be done. Dean: It shows that it can be done. Have you followed the El Salvador situation? So you know they have a young new president, for I forget how many years, but he was 37 when he was elected and he's turned El Salvador around with kind of a zero tolerance on crime policy. Right, they've got one prison that has like 34,000 inmates. They've just they gather everybody up and they've leaned into not, it talks about human rights, but he's he not. All human rights are valued equally in his mind. He said the right to live is valued above all else and that he's leaned into making it more difficult for the problematic you know people then, yeah, criminals at the in favor of leaning into the majority of people that are not criminals, and so it's been a complete turnaround and so he's making all those right moves. Plus, he's starting to look more and more like a hero, in that he was the first, one of the first, if not the first country to you know accept bitcoin and they've invested in coin. But he made. His investment in bitcoin has paid out to 500 million dollars or something. So it's a pretty, pretty interesting cap. It's an interesting story. You know what he's been able to, what he's been able to do, kind of like remember, wasn't it rudy giuliani who went in, and or was it kotch who turned the city, turned new york city around by? Dan: not having. Yeah, it would have been Giuliani, it wasn't actually. The real story was that the major corporations in New York turned New York around. Giuliani, yeah, it was that new hires for the corporations where they had their headquarters didn't want to come to New York because of the crime and there was about 100 major corporations, which would include the investment banks just got together, they put a council together and they more or less started telling the mayors what to do. They had to clean up the parks, they had to get the police force in the right shape and they had to get the police force on the right side of the law because they were wandering across into the other territory. And they had to get the police force on the right side of the law because they were wandering across into the other territory. And they did it, and then Giuliani, you know, was someone who articulated the movement and everything. Koch was awful. Now Koch was. Dean: Right, okay, so it was Giuliani. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Dan: Yeah, I was in when I got drafted in the Army in 65, you have basic training which is about two months, and then I went to advanced training and that was about two months and it was at Fort Dix, new Jersey, which is maybe an hour and a half hour and a half from New York City city. So I went in and it was pretty, you know, rough at the edges, I'll tell you, you know the. You didn't walk the streets at nighttime, I'll tell you you. You know you made sure. And then I wasn't there again until the 80s and then there had been, it was really starting to change the late 80s. Maybe it got a lot better. Yeah, it'll. Dean: It'll happen again. Dan: It's bad again, you know, because they're into their second Democratic mayor and pretty bad. It's pretty bad right now. Dean: All the major cities. Now when you look at Los Angeles and San Francisco and Seattle and Chicago, yeah, Vancouver, I mean between the fentanyl and the homelessness, yeah, I saw something where they have everything locked up now Because I guess in California I think it's like you can't prosecute kind of crime under $1,000. Dan: Yeah, kind of crime under $1,000. Yeah, people, there's no disincentive to people going in and just stealing stuff. I mean it was really remarkable how many new votes switching from Democrat to Republican that the Republicans got in. You know, and I mean I looked at it's one of the searches I did. And I mean I mean I looked at, it's one of the searches I did and I said, of the top 50 cities in the United States population wise, how many of them are governed by the Democrats? And it was like 44 out of 44 out of the top 50 and certainly the first 12,. You know, the top top 11. You know they're not. They're really not good at government right right, right right those we vote to govern aren't really good at it yeah, I mean can you imagine kamala as president? I mean no, I mean I mean, she blew through 1.5 billion really fast. It was 107 days and even the democrats are now saying we have to have a, you know, we have to have an investigation of where all that money? Because she had 1.5 and Trump had 390 million. That's wild, isn't it? Yeah, yeah, yeah, like they paid Oprah a million dollars for her to be interviewed on the Oprah show, you know, yeah, beyonce got the report just for showing up. She got a million. Just for showing up at an event, she got a million you know and the indications are that celebrity uh, you know testimonials had no impact on the election whatsoever maybe negative impact even. Dean: Yeah, yeah, I mean taylor, mean Taylor Swift, taylor. Dan: Swift. It was more Taylor Swift. It was more negative than positive. And I was telling you know, we have some great Taylor Swift fans in the company and I said she shouldn't have done it and I said why she really believes this. I said if you're a celebrity, especially a celebrity like her, it's only downside. There can't be any upside on this. Dean: Right, yeah, exactly. Dan: And I said it's the third rail of the subway. You do not touch the third rail of the subway. Dean: Wasn't that? That's remember. Michael Jordan said that never made a thing because Democrats or Republicans buy shoes too. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Dan: There's just no upside for it. Dean: There is none. Dan: I mean it's a different world. You're the master of your own world. Do not go across the border into another world. Dean: It's not your world. Dan: Yeah, right, right. But, it's really funny. There was a report that immediately after Taylor Swift did her what do? You call it a recommendation referral. Dean: Endorsement. Dan: Endorsement. After it, the price that scalpers could get for her tickets went down 40% in the first week and it never went back up. Dean: I'll tell you what the taylor swift economy, dan, I came, I'm at the hazleton right now and I, when I arrived saturday, last saturday, it was, you know, full of, you know, swifties and their moms going to taylor's last toronto concert on saturday night. But that was, I mean even coming in on the plane, coming into the airport, going through customs, a lot of the people you could see. They were all there to go to the concert that night. You know, flying in from all over to go see fans. Dan: She gave six in toronto. Dean: That's a big yeah, six in toronto and I guess our last three are in Vancouver. I think last night may have been the last of all of it. It's interesting. Dan: We were in Buenos Aires. She was in Buenos Aires. She gave three concerts in Buenos Aires. She was staying at Four Seasons where we were In Buenos Aires. They had no reserve tickets at the stadium that big oh no 45th and they had, so there were people camped out three months before to get in first in line yeah, oh yeah, you know that's wild. Yeah, I would love to see like the. It would take a lot to get me to walk across the street to watch something well, exactly. Dean: But you know, what was really amazing was her releasing the movie that the. She'd had a. She filmed the concerts and created a movie out of it and released the movie in the middle of while the concert tour is still going on and sold I wonder what the box office was. Uh, for the movie, you know, but what a brilliant. Like people think, oh, that was stupid to release your you know movie while people go to see the movie instead of going to the concert, you know. But I think it was exactly the opposite. I think it sold more, more tickets, built up desire, but yeah, she sold. Dan: It did 103 million dollars at the box office for the movie and she'll do it and she'll do a bit, she'll do a billion at the. You know I mean it. She's the first billion-dollar tour. Dean: Yeah, isn't that something? I think it's even more than that. There is tour ticket sales. Let's see what? Because I think that U2 was the first billion-dollar tour 1.4 billion, that's wild, isn't it? Man form a band. Dan: But Kamala did 1.5 billion spending. She's the champ. Dean: Oh man exactly Well. Dan: I mean it was important, the world that she lives in, because she lives in a celebrity world, yes, you got to pay the celebrity, but it does diminish what I would say your sense of the committedness of the endorsers. That it's got to be at least a million, or I don't endorse it. It sort of tells you something about their actual commitment. Yeah, that's true. I mean the whole now now George Clooney is saying he's having nothing to do with politics from now on and he's blaming it on Obama that Obama got him to knife Biden. And I said this is a really good entertainment. This is really good entertainment yeah. Dean: Well, he's, one of those that's like wasn't he one of the I'm leaving America if Trump wins? I mean, I wonder if anybody keeps track of all these. Dan: Well, the only one so far is Ellen DeGeneres. She actually moved. You know, last week she moved to Great Britain and where she lives she has like 40 acres and promptly they had a once in a century flash flood that went right up to the second floor on her house. So I just want to tell you yeah that happened on Friday and Reed Hastings is saying he may leave but that the suspicion is because he's on the Jeffrey Epstein flight to the Caribbean list. Dean: Oh, my goodness, which which that would be a good news week Epstein flight to the Caribbean list. Dan: Oh my goodness, which that would be a good news week. Dean: It's big things in 2025 coming up. Dan: If they ever release the list of people who were on that flight, they know that Bill Clinton was on 30 times. Yeah, they already know that. Dean: I think I saw something that Elon was saying too. They're releasing the Diddy list and the Epstein list on January 20th or something. Dan: Maybe the morning of the 21st yeah. Dean: But I think that's what everybody's big fear is. That's why they were pulling out Like this is one of those. Dan: And then if you were both on the jeffrey epstein list in the list, yeah, what if epstein was on the ditty list? But that was so you know the. Dean: You know we've been mentioning how. You know the. The battle for our minds right is the. What I decided is the worst part about being alive at this time is the. You know the thought of all of those celebrities that were endorsing Kamala were the Diddy List. Basically, you know. Dan: Or one of the two or both. Dean: Yeah. Dan: And you know the speculation. You know why I think they're mostly Democrats? Why? Because there's way more scrutiny of Republicans. Well, that's true, isn't it? Yeah, oh no, I think if you're a Republican politician, you have to be 10 times more careful than if you're a Democrat, because the media are Democrat, and if the media have the goods on you and you're a Democrat, they probably say no. Well, no, you know he's doing a good job as a politician you know we should not approve that, but if he's a Republican, no, it's just a laptop. Dean: It's just a laptop. Dan: That's all. Dean: Nothing to see here. Dan: Yeah, he had a bad day. Dean: We all have bad days. Dan: Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's why I suspect that the people on the list are, you know, are more on the one side than on the other. And it's, yeah, but it's. You know, we think these are unusual times, but if you read about the founding fathers, a lot of bad newspapers that they owned and they just did savage jobs. Other founders like Madison and Hamilton, just ripping each other. Oh yeah, just ripping each other, right? Oh yeah, I mean using language, that you'd get a lawsuit out of the language. Dean: Imagine if we brought back duels. Dan: Well, that's the other thing. They had duels. They had duels in those days yeah. Everything like that. Yeah, I think you really had to look carefully to find the good old days. Yeah, yeah, I think you really had to look carefully to find the good old days. Yeah, you have to look carefully. Dean: Oh my goodness, that's true. Yeah, I love this. Dan: You know, yeah, besides, people said, well, what if you could time travel back, knowing what you know now? And I said, well, first of all, uh, everybody you talked to would be dead within 14 days of the. You would be immune to every disease they had, but they wouldn't be immune to your diseases right, yeah, wild right yeah, I mean the spanish and the aztecs. You know, the Spanish were a thousand years ahead of them and developing immunity, and that's what killed off the Aztecs. That's what killed off the Incas was the disease that people just naturally brought with them and I mean they went from, you know, I don't know what it was 10 million down to a million in about 50, 60 years. Well, they weren't killed on the battlefield, they died of disease. Dean: Yeah, that's the thing. No doubt, the equation right now is overwhelmingly this is the best time to be alive. Dan: These are the good ones. Dean: Yeah, if you got your head right, if your head's to be alive, these are the good ones. Dan: These are the good ones. These are good. Yeah, yeah, if you got your head right if you got your head right. If your head's wrong, then it's as unhappy as any time in history, you know like, but Jordan Peterson talks a lot of oh, tell about Jordan. Dean: What were you going to say? Dan: No, he was just saying that's basically. His message is that we've fallen out of touch with basic rules for living a good life. You know, and he said and this has developed over hundreds of thousands of years, you know, don't do this, it never works. You know, and with you know, and people are saying, oh, do this. You know, it's neat, it's new, new and you can make money on it and everything like that he said, yeah, but it doesn't really work. And basic morality, basic ethics save more than you spend. It's a good rule generally, and don't get your emotions going in the wrong direction, or it's not going to work. Yeah, so you know, and that's it. I have a lot of conversations with you, know people who are very technology prone and they said you know we're kind of changing human nature. And I said no, you're not. No, you're not. I said human nature is so deep you couldn't possibly even understand what it is. And part of it is that we've been adjusting to technology forever. I mean, everybody thinks that technology started two centuries ago. Language is technology, mathematics is technology. That's what my new book is about. Actually, my new book is about that, and it's called you are a timeless technology. That okay if you're improving. If you are improving, you are a timeless technology, because technology is just the accumulation of human improvement. Dean: So if you're improving. Dan: You're timeless. I love it I love it. Dean: I love it. Yeah, that's great. Is that the book that's just released now? You'll get it tomorrow. Okay, perfect, I like that. Dan: Yeah, you'll get it tomorrow. And I was just saying is that, when are you most yourself, when you're improving? Yeah, you have a sense of improvement in this area. Yeah, You're feeling good about yourself. You're feeling in touch, you know you're feeling centered. You're feeling yeah, you're feeling really great. I remember our who's, our last, was it our last podcast? Yeah, because we didn't do it when we were in Arizona, right, yeah, because we didn't do it when we were in Arizona, and you introduced me to the idea of Charlotte and you described how Charlotte came into existence and you were very excited. Dean: You were very excited. Dan: I still am. Dean: That kind of improvement. Dan: If you're improving, you're feeling great. Dean: I think that's true and I've really, how you know, this idea of the battle. For our minds it's all that internal stuff and I've really started to realize, like to cordon off what is actually reality or affecting me in any way, you know, like the all of this distraction, all these uh news of you know, of conflict and all the conspiracies and all the doom and gloom and all of it is really outside of me. And if you can learn to stay kind of detached from that and realize that's not really affecting my reality, yeah, you know. Dan: Yeah, you know, it's really, there's Babs. Look at that. What's all that, babs? I thought you had just purchased those. Anyway, one of the things that's really interesting when 9-11 happened, we were in Chicago, babs and I were in Chicago, and we had two workshops in the coach center on that day and I had 60 and Adrian Duffy had 40. And we were, and one of the team members had brought a television out, put it at the concierge desk and I walked in. I said what's that? And they said a jet had just hit the. I said get rid of that TV. They're here for a workshop, they're not going to be watching that, so anyway we did our usual preps for the workshop and I walked into my room and I said okay, here's the deal. In the next hour you have to make a decision. You're either here for the day or you're leaving. Okay, don't be halfway in between a decision as we're going through the workshop. You're 100% here or you're 100% gone. And our team will do everything they can to find you transportation. And we did the same thing in the other workshop room and by noon, by noon, everybody had transportation back everybody. And we had a guy who is a Buick dealer and he went to a Buick. Well, gm, it was GM, I think. They had Buick. Yeah, I think he had two or three different makes. Dean: He had two or three. Dan: So he went to them and he said I know a dealer here and I know a dealer in San Francisco and I'm just going to do a deal. If I buy the car here and sell it when I get there, what kind of deal do I get? Right, right, right. And I tell you not much, not many Buicks were sold on 9-11. Right, exactly. So the guy at this end went up 20% and the guy at the other end came down 20%. So it was not a bad deal and anyway he went there. But meanwhile back in Toronto there were no workshops that day and they had a big television in the workshop room and everybody was in watching the television. Our team in Chicago had no time, had no time whatsoever. They were busy all day arranging things and everything. At the end of the day they weren't scared. Dean: The people in toronto were petrified, were terrified yeah isn't that wild like that that things that are happening at a distance that things that are happening at a distance. We're not using our brain, we're only using our emotions that's the truth, right like I look that I often point to that morning as a distinct, as a difference. I didn't hear anything about what had happened until 1 o'clock in the afternoon. I was golfing that morning. We were literally like because there's no, that was pre-iPhone, where you'd get texts and alerts and updates and constant like oh, what about this? Here's what's happening. So it was back in the days of flip phones. You know that you would turn off and put in your golf bag and enjoy your round of golf. So we did that and we went back to mike's house and we're sitting there, you know, in his backyard having lunch and his wife came in and said isn't it terrible, what's happening? And we're like what's happening? She goes what do you mean? What's happening? Turn on the TV. Turn on the TV. That's the thing. Right, it's. Our natural thing is to turn to the TV to give us the updates, you know. Dan: And of course, they're amping it up. They're amping it up too. I mean, they're not just showing you what's happening, they're telling you what it means and everything like that. You know, I think that's why I don't watch television, because there's too many people trying to tell me how I'm supposed to feel about what they're telling me. That's a decision for me to make, how I'm going to feel about it. My mother was telling me that it was two days after Pearl Harbor that she found out about it. She lived in a farmhouse out in the country and they didn't have a phone. It was 1941. They didn't have a telephone and there were no newspapers or anything. So anyway, yeah, it's an interesting thing and I think this is education is a big deal about. Education is how you think about things and how you respond emotionally to your thoughts you know, and I think this has always been true. But I think now there are people who want to come right at you. It's like you're talking about. You know talking about horses. You know the beginning of our podcast. They're listening. What did Dean just say? Dean: Horses. Dan: Okay, here's five ads. Here's five ads for me. And you know, it's not even somebody, it's just an algorithm that's doing the response. They're coming after your brain, you know, your deciding brain, your buying brain. Dean: They're coming after your buying brain, yeah what's dean buying today? Dan: it's so funny. Dean: Yeah, yeah, that's the thing. Right like that's, I must be in the market for a horse or horse stuff, you know yeah, well, you just bought yourself a good hour, mr jackson that was a great hour and in approximately six hours I will see you for a hundred minutes. Dan: Yes, and then tomorrow for even more Two full days. Yes. Dean: I like it. Dan: All right. Dean: Okay, Dan, I will see you in a little bit. Dan: I'll be in Chicago. I'll be in Chicago next week, so we'll have a podcast next week. Dean: Okay, good, I like that. Dan: Yeah, okay. Dean: Okay, see you tonight. Dan: Bye, okay, bye.

Our latest episode of Welcome to Cloudlandia offers an intimate look at the Genius Network annual event in Scottsdale, featuring extraordinary conversations with prominent figures like Bobby Kennedy, Jordan Peterson, and Tucker Carlson. We explore the unexpected appointment of Robert Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services and share insights from a key OpenAI representative, examining how technology subtly maintains existing societal structures. The episode delves into the evolving nature of professional gatherings, highlighting the power of meaningful connections over traditional networking. We discuss the intricate art of event planning, sharing personal strategies for managing commitments and overcoming challenges like ADD. Our conversation reveals the importance of structured scheduling and intentional approaches to daily productivity. SHOW HIGHLIGHTS I reflected on our experiences at the Genius Network annual event in Scottsdale, where notable figures like Bobby Kennedy, Jordan Peterson, and Tucker Carlson contributed to the discussions. The appointment of Robert Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services was an unexpected but significant topic of conversation during the event. We discussed the role of technology in maintaining the status quo, drawing parallels to historical innovations like the "horseless carriage." The importance of networking and making meaningful connections was emphasized, highlighting how such interactions often hold more value than the content itself at events. Organizing large events requires meticulous logistical planning, often years in advance, to manage various commitments and schedules. I shared insights on managing ADD through structured schedules, which serve as an essential tool in overcoming daily challenges. The humorous dynamics of Robert Kennedy's collaboration with Donald Trump were explored, alongside lighter topics like meal planning and scheduling. We reflected on aging and the limitations it imposes, while discussing strategies to remain active and maintain cognitive health. The episode highlighted the challenges of maintaining personal ambitions and adapting to changes as we age. The podcast wrapped up with reflections on the role of technology and the evolving nature of political and personal dynamics in today's world. Links: WelcomeToCloudlandia.com StrategicCoach.com DeanJackson.com ListingAgentLifestyle.com TRANSCRIPT (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors) Dean: Mr Sullivan. Dan: Yes, mr Jackson, and I hope it will be copied. I hope it will be copied and sent virally around the world, this podcast. I hope, millions. Dean: To all the corners of Clublandia. Dan: Yes, yes. Dean: Yes, well, what a whirlwind tour for both of us here, I think. Where are you? Are you back in Toronto right now? Dan: Next to the fireplace. Dean: Okay, I like that. Dan: That's great, which is needed today. It's getting cool. I'm going to be. Dean: I like it, but I like it. I'm coming up on Friday, I think. Dan: This week Yep and then return to be yeah, I think this week, yep, and then return to be yeah, I'm coming, I'll be in Argentina. Yeah, yeah, next week I'll be in. Dean: Argentina Right, yeah, I'm doing, I'm coming up on Friday, I'm doing a breakthrough blueprint on Monday, tuesday, wednesday, and then we have coach the following Monday, tuesday, right. Dan: Yeah, and I'm flying back on friday night from argentina, so I won't be um back in my house, probably till about three o'clock on saturday. Dean: so oh my goodness, so we're gonna miss our table time yeah, I'll see you on sunday. Dan: I'm sorry. I'm sorry, but some things come in front of other things. Dean: Exactly right, I have three ideas this week. Dan: I have three ideas this week. I was just going to say where do we start? Dean: We should probably mention that we just got back from Scottsdale and Joe's annual event, the Genius Network annual event, which was really another level. I mean, he's really gone above and beyond and on Saturday he pulled off something I don't think anybody's been able to pull off. He had Bobby Kennedy and Jordan Peterson and Tucker Carlson and Cali Means all on the same stage and I'll tell you what he has really grown as a conversationalist I don't even want to call him an interviewer because it was really, you know, that level of he's just the right amount of curious and unpredictable in the conversation that it's fascinating. He's not asking them the stock questions that would come. You know that you would expect, but it was amazing. I think everybody was very, was very impressed with how the event went off yep, yeah, I. Dan: The takeaway for me one is that we saw robert kennedy on saturday and then on on Wednesday, was it? Or Thursday? Wednesday, I think it was Wednesday he was appointed the secretary of health. Yes, human service, human services, and I think that's a big deal. Dean: I do too. It's, yeah, very, very impressive. Yeah, you know what's funny about that event is that the you know impressive. You know what's funny about that event is that we also had the head of GoToMarket for OpenAI, which was kind of like a that's a pretty big role, but it was downplayed by Zach Cass. Zach Cass, the guy that spoke oh, were you there on Sunday? He spoke on Sunday morning. No, we came there on Sunday. He spoke on Sunday morning. No, we came home on Sunday. Oh, okay, that's why. So, yeah, so the head of go-to-market, one of the original guys for OpenAI, was there and it was so funny that became. You know, he was kind of like the undercard, if you want to call it that, right, oversadowed by the blockbuster Saturday, but he himself was that's a pretty, that's a pretty big get to have too. So, very, very interesting. Dan: He was like in the 10th race at Woodbine you know the sore horses race later. Dean: So well, I had three, three ideas. Dan: Well, first of all, I had a nice introduction by Joe to Jordan Peterson. It turns out that he lives about a four-minute drive from us in the beaches oh wow, that's amazing. We're going to get together and he and his wife invited us to their Christmas party. So Christmas party, yeah, very, you know, very lively, engaging, smart, good sense of humor and everything. I enjoyed meeting him, but I had three ideas that I've been pondering all week. Okay, and more and more, I think that the humans use technology to keep things the same I think you're right, and even referring to it as the thing it's replacing. Dean: I remember hearing that about when automobiles first came out. They were called them horseless carriages. Right that, that's really what the thing was. Our only, our only frame of reference for the new is in how it relates to the past. Dan: Or relates to the present. Yeah, the present, that's what I mean, yeah, and if our present is under threat, we will adapt a new technology to keep ourselves more or less where we were. Yeah, and I've just been pondering this this is not a major thought, but it's a side thought that thought that we use technology to keep things the same. And what was the side thought now? Well, that was a quick one, that was a quick one. That one just flew out of my head, but I had a second thought too, and I was watching a really interesting podcast yesterday with Peter Thiel, who you know, and you know one of the co-creators of PayPal. One of the co-creators of PayPal and he's the creator of Planteer, which is a deep, dark, secret R&D lab for the government. And Barry Weiss, who was a columnist for the New York Times, who was let go because she started exhibiting independent thoughts. Dean: I hate it when that happens. Dan: Well, you know, you just can't be doing that at the New York Times. You really have to go with the party thoughts. You know the thoughts. But he was saying that what the election sort of indicated for him, election sort of indicated for him the presidential election of last week, was that in the internet world it's almost impossible to be a successful hypocrite. And that is if you say something to this group and then go across the street and say a completely different thing to another group that you used to be able to get to the, maybe not across the street but, let's say, cities 300 miles apart or anything you could get away with. You could get away with it, but the internet now makes that more or less impossible. It's increasingly difficult to be a hypocrite. You know where you try to play both sides of an issue. Dean: Yeah, well, because the internet is very, they love to identify and call those out. I mean, I remember I mentioned to you that Kamala, you know, there was a video going around that was Kamala speaking out of both sides of her mouth about Hamas and Israel. And yeah, I mean, it was just, you know, because they were running the ads in different thinking they would get away with it, because they're running one in Pennsylvania and one in Michigan or wherever. Dan: Yeah, right, that would be great, that would be a good thing. Yeah, and I was thinking the fact that almost all the celebrities that came out in her favor were to do so. Mm-hmm. Dean: Oh, yeah, like. Dan: Oprah got a million to do an interview with her. Beyonce, I've heard, got 10 million just to show up at a rally 10 million. Didn't have to do anything. Dean: That's wild, isn't it? Dan: Yeah, and she had a billion dollars to spend and she ended up 20 million in debt Over. Oh man. Dean: Yeah, in debt. Dan: Yeah, but if that had been done 20 years ago, that might not have been discovered as quickly, maybe not at all. It might not have been discovered at all. So it's just getting very difficult to be a hypocrite. I mean, you used to be able to make a lifetime career out of being a hypocrite, and now it wouldn't last more than 24 hours. Dean: Yeah, I remember. Dan: It's a career with a short future. Dean: Yeah, there was a meme going around about listing the people who had endorsed Donald Trump, joe Rogan and Elon Musk and Bob Kennedy and all these people, and then it was the people who endorsed Kamala was the Diddy List, you know so funny. Dan: Yeah, so my first. So I've had three thoughts. First one was technology. We use technology to keep things the same. Number two it's getting more difficult to be a hypocrite. Number three is I've discovered what the greatest individual ambition can be. Tell me To be more ambitious. Dean: It's the gift that keeps on giving. Dan: Yeah. Dean: That's the number one. Dan: Just next year, just next year. Be more ambitious. Be more ambitious next year than you are this year, and that's all you have to handle. It'll take care, it's the one goal that takes care of everything. I don't want to own just the land that's next to mine yeah, yes, because that I've given a lot of thought to goals, but almost all of them they're one and done, you know yeah you've achieved the goal and then you know, then it's gone. But uh, if your, your ambition is simply to be always more ambitious, I think that handles a lot of endings. Dean: Yeah, absolutely. I think that's funny. It's almost like a cheat code you know, I think that's great. I see, there's a. I mean, what a never-ending like a perpetual improvement cycle improvement cycle. Dan: Yeah, well it's, it's always. It's a kind of interesting thing because I'm trying to figure myself out at ajd that I've got bigger things I'm working. I've got bigger things I'm working on. I'm I'm working, working with people who are doing bigger and bigger things and you know and everything else, and I said what accounts for, and I said your ambition is to be more ambitious. Dean: Well, that's your print, right, your print is. Dan: Well, it's seven. Three, I mean it's three is success and achievement Right? Seven, seven, you have seven. It's enjoying life and having a good time. Dean: Yeah, bigger parties, yeah, bigger parties. Dan: Yeah, revenues, bigger parties. Dean: Bigger revenues. Dan: bigger parties, that's fantastic. Dean: I love it. Dan: So anyway, I'm going to do a triple play on those three and see what I come up with. I think there's, but I just feel that things are really shifting. I think there's, but I just feel that things are really shifting. I got a sense that, yeah, peter, peter Thiel very bright, very bright very very thoughtful, very thoughtful person and but he had a comment that he thinks that Bud Light. You know, remember the Bud Light. He thinks that was the end of the 20th century. He said that at that moment, the 20th century ended and the 21st century began. And he said that he feels that the Democrats are now the Bud Light Party. Dean: Oh man, well, and so that, yeah, I mean. Dan: You wonder now Well, you think about it that the reason that got them thrown out of power is the reason why they won't learn anything from getting thrown out of party, because they feel superior, intellectually superior morally superior and that would prevent them from actually saying well, maybe you are not Right, but your sense of superior prevents you from realizing that maybe you're not. They've kind of twisted themselves into a knot. Yeah, because I'm. You know, I watch the replays on. You know that they have an article, but then they'll have a link to a video. And Real Clear Politics is my favorite video and on real clear politics is my favorite, and you go on and you could just tell that the Democratic Party right now is very disappointed with American citizens. Dean: They're very disappointed. Dan: They're very disappointed with the quality of citizens in the United States right now and they're saying how do we get a different kind of voter? What we need is a different kind of voter. It's very clear that the kinds of voters we have right now are not delivering. Dean: We need more. Dan: Yeah, let's get some more Vansuelen gang members in here. Dean: Oh man. So what was your insights or thoughts from the Genius Network annual event? You're not a notetaker. No, me neither. I'm exactly like that. I know that whatever insight I get, if it's strong enough to stay with me, that's the insight you know. Dan: Well, my big one and you already brought it up in the conversation. I told Joe at dinner that you know we had the dinner on Saturday night and I said I think you've just jumped 10 times I said I think what you did, today is a 10 times jump and I said tomorrow morning what you did today is going to feel normal to you. Dean: And to everyone else. I think that's really the great thing. You know, like his whole and he said it too each year his goal is to make it a better event than the last, and so that's very yeah, that's very interesting. Dan: Yeah, the other thing is that I kind of told him this was last year, so this was the annual meeting for last year, and when he invited Robert Kennedy Jr last year. I said to him I just want you to know whether you've just entered the political world when you make an invitation like this, whether you like it, you know whether you like it or not, or whether you agree or not, you're now in the political world. Dean: So you got to be aware of that, yeah, and even though and even though Jordan Peterson, not per se political, but certainly in a different, not business like you know, the events have evolved from you know almost all business, like you know marketing and you know entrepreneur type of things more to a different level of event. It's interesting, I was looking through, but it's magic what happens actually at the event. It's not about the content of the event. It's being in the room surrounded by the Genius Network and I think I really got on another level, the purpose of the annual event versus the meetings, the yearly or monthly meetings, and you know it was very. I had a gentleman from Toronto who actually sat beside me on the first day and you know he was there primarily for the business stuff. The marketing really needed that help and you know I had to kind of help reframe that because if that was the number one reason you were there, there wasn't a lot of that at the actual event, you know. But what there was and this is what we said is that but we got to meet and that's, you know there's, that's part of the thing is that's the, that's the way to get that, what you actually need you know, yeah, yeah, anyway, it's just interesting. Dan: I think the first one I ever went to was in new york yeah, right the annual meeting I think he had. Joe had a couple of those in new New. York, yeah, and then, and then he had one in California, two two in. California actually he had the one where Richard Branson came yeah by uh, hollywood it was, I think it was actually it was in. Yeah, yeah, I always remember he had that. And then the second one was at Pelican Hill down in Newport. Dean: Beach. Dan: Newport, right yeah, and then they moved them to Scottsdale. And that was the right place. Dean: Yeah, it really is. It's perfect, it fits. And this one how convenient was this? Right across the street from his house. Dan: Yeah, how convenient was this? Right across the street from his house? Yeah, and we're doing the summit, the Free Zone Summit, right across the street from where we were. Dean: Right next door. Dan: Desert shadows right across the street. Yeah yeah, scottsdale really works. I mean, you can get there on a single flight from almost anywhere. Dean: Yeah. Dan: And the weather is usually good and, yeah, it's nice. Dean: Next year you've already got everything mapped out. You're always a year a full year ahead. Dan: Generally, with events like that, I'm you're ahead With our personal schedule. We're usually three years ahead, oh my goodness Wow. Well, it's because of the workshops. Dean: Yes. Dan: You have to figure every year you're going to have a certain number of workshops and they're going to be at a certain period of each quarter. Dean: So we have that. Dan: That's already logged in and we pretty well know that. I mean, then there's all sorts of things. I mean you have free days, but the free days move around in terms of what you're going to do with the free days, and I've got a book to do every quarter and I've got podcasts to do every quarter. I've got workshops to do every quarter. So've got podcasts to do every quarter, I've got workshops to do every quarter. So that gives it a pretty much of a go forward structure a nice cadence, yeah. Dean: Structure scaffolding yeah yeah, or as uh ned holland would call it, the bobsled run yeah, I don't experience. Dan: A I don't experience, add the way that describes it how so? Dean: so how do you mean? Dan: Well, I'm not super, I'm not hyperactive. Dean: Me neither. Dan: Yeah, so not, and you know, so I don't experience. I know that that exists and that's you know, it's a great part of ADD. Mine is I would characterize it what I think. What I think is the most important thing, subject to change on a fairly frequent basis, gotcha. Dean: Yeah, and how you know, you seem to you know I've adopted, or was introduced to. You know, russell Barkley's interpretation of ADD, which totally seemed to fit for me. I saw it in the clearest light that I've ever seen it or had the most understanding of it as an executive function. disability- and it was a really elevated way of thinking about it, as a you know you talked about it as a true, like a neuro degenerative disability, that it's not anything that you can will your way out of or that you can. You know, it's not a character issue or a weakness or anything like that, it's just the true physical, neurological disconnection between the two parts of your brain and I. Really, when I embraced that or, as I'm, it's still a journey of embracing it and realizing that the things that, that the ways that manifests for me is it really is when I'm left on my own to self-direct what I'm going to do with a big block of time. And it's been very, you know, it's been fascinating because my whole paradigm for the way that I've lived and set up my life is to try at all times to keep my schedule free so that I would have time to do all the things that I want to do, all the creative things, you know. But the reality is that the only things that ever get actually done are things that have that external scaffolding, things like podcasts and workshops and Zoom appointments, and the things that are synchronous and scheduled and involve other people, and there's no way around it. It's like, as much as I want to be able to think that I could clear off three hours in the morning and just sit and write or, to you know, create or to do something, it's very uphill because I'm very slippery, without the structure of someone being on the other end of the phone at 11 am on saturday or sunday morning. You know, I know I never miss and it's like those things that it's and I'm never. I never find, I never struggle with add in the moment. I always, once I'm engaged and into something, I'm able to give that thing my focus, like I'm not distracted while we're doing. Dan: Yeah, my experience would be you're the. My experience is that you're fully there. Dean: Yeah. Dan: When you're there. Dean: When I'm there Exactly. Dan: It's so funny, but if I need to be there, who's the who's the person? Who's the person that described this? Dean: for you, barkley, yeah, russell barkley. He's a contemporary colleague of of ned hollow. Well, they know each other very well they. And Russell Barkley actually has a series of videos that describe the things that he and Ned disagree on, the different approaches to two things, but they're both like totally fully respect the other. You know that's a big thing but for me that that explanation and that you know set of the way he described it, is that every intervention or everything that works has to be external and it can't be. You know, it's nothing internal like willing yourself or character changing or anything like that. It's really we need to treat it and to the extent that we treat it like a true disability and then make accommodations for it, like if you, he would say, if we treated it like you would never say to a paraplegic it's right over there, just get up and walk over there, it's only a few paces yeah, because you know that it's a physical impossibility for them to do that, but in the morning walk, first thing in the morning walk a mile yeah, exactly, if that's the thing, then that's going to be a problem right but, that's going to be a problem, yeah, but but if you acknowledge it as a disability and you said, okay, how about we get you a chair with wheels and then we'll put a motor on it and you can just point where you want to go and you'll get to where you're going, that's an accommodation for the disability and that's kind of what he's saying, that this external scaffolding like the way you know what I admire about your calendar so much is that you have all the things that you do are really supported by that external scaffolding. There's not a lot, of excuse me, like you know, you have used to be 150. How many workshop days do you have? Dan: now? Well, there are 60 days when I'm doing workshop activities, but a lot of them are two hour sessions or not eight hour sessions, and those are all on the calendar and oh yeah, those are, yeah, those go way into the future. Dean: Yeah, and they're all. I find that too, that they're all very, they're procrastination proof, because you have to show up like you know there's no way, it's really is just accepting it and you know, leaning into that structure as much as I, as much as I can, yeah yeah, it's really, it's kind of interesting. Dan: I was just bouncing his words off of. You know my own experience of being add and you know, clinically, I've been diagnosed, so you know it's, uh, you know it's, it's a real thing, and but mine is more that I actually I don't, and this relates to you. It doesn't relate to you know. So, barkley, so much it relates to you that my goal is to have my schedule filled up the night when I go to bed the night before. I want my schedule filled up for the, so I don't have to think about it when I get up in the morning it's all right, it's all set, yeah and but then I get over time. I get very discriminating about the quality of the things that are filling up my time. There's little adjustments that have to be made because I've got a great scheduler. Becca Miller is my scheduler and she's just terrific, but she can't do my thinking for me. For example, last weekend we were at Genius Network and then we came home on a Sunday. I don't like coming home on a Sunday. That's the way it was scheduled, that's the way it was scheduled. So I came home on schedule and then Monday was just packed and I said OK, we got to put a new rule in. Dean: If I come back on Sunday. Dan: There can't be anything on Monday, yeah, and we could see that six months ahead, you know we could see that, and so I have little conversations. This is the rule. And then on Friday, both Babs and I had Zoom calls after four o'clock, you know, one at five o'clock, one at six o'clock and I was going through the experience. I said, okay, no, no commitments after four o'clock on Friday. Right, yeah, but these are just little adjustments, you know these are just little adjustments that you make. And then I, you know, I sit down with her and I said let's just put a couple of new rules in. You know, if I come back on a sunday, I can't have anything on a monday. And then you know nothing after four on friday and everything like that. You know. Dean: And you know, it's just I. Dan: you know I was sitting, I was going through it, I I will fulfill the commitment, but as I'm going through it and I said I don't really like that, I not that I don't like the thing that I'm doing. I don't like doing it at this particular time, right. Dean: And the other. Thing is. Dan: I like being in Toronto on Saturday and having Toronto Saturday Day and this last year we've had more things that took away our Toronto Saturdays and I said we've got to look ahead now and look at all the Saturdays going out for a year and a half and to the most part, let me have that in Toronto, be in Toronto. Dean: Yeah, that's such a great. So you really Saturday is like a free day. I like it. Yeah, I just like it. Yeah, I just like it. Dan: Yeah, I just like it. Why do you want that? I really like it. Dean: Because I want it. That's right. I want what I want, yeah. Dan: I want what I like. Yes, yeah. Dean: Yeah, that's good. Well, I'm just going through the process right now, like embracing that. My goal is to shape my calendar for next year ahead for the whole, for the whole year. And that's yeah, that's really the. That's really the thing I tend to run really like about a quarter ahead. You know some things. I know when they are like, I know when and it's funny because they become the big rocks in my calendar in terms of like I appreciate that you know when the strategic coach workshops are, so I know to work around those. And I know when the annual event is and I know when our free zone summit is and I put those in you know, and I always tend to kind of work, I've had a tendency to kind of keep the time, keep the options open for the other times and I but I don't take that same thing of locking in my own events with with the same priority or consistency, you know. Dan: Well, I think I share that with you, that if it's just internal, you know it's me having a meeting with myself, or an activity. I'm much more negotiable with that than if it's external. I really grasp that what you're talking about there. You know I like and I like it, and that's why, you know, I try to be 100% on my commitments. Yes, if I say I'm going to be there, I'll be there. If I say I'm going to do this. I'll do it yeah. Dean: Yeah Well, that's rule number one Show up on time. Dan: Yeah, do what you say you're going to do. Dean: That's right. I'm the same way With commitments to others. I'm exactly the same right. I'm the same way With commitments to others. I'm exactly the same way. I'm very reliable, yeah. So it's a good journey. Dan: I was just reflecting. I want to give you a little progress report. I've really switched over to eating steak, having steak Do you know how I'm? I've really switched over to eating steak, you know having steak. Do you know how much time it saves you? It's incredible how much time that you save if you just eat steak. Dean: Well, the great news is I'm it sure, simplifies shopping. Absolutely. That's exactly right. My favorite staple is the thin cut ribeyes, and I know that I can do them in the air fryer they're very juicy. Dan: Oh, that's exactly right. I would do it just to squeeze the juice out of them. Oh man, that's so funny that juice is to live for, I'll tell you, yes, yes. The Babs. She'll sometimes put the steak on the plate and there's a lot of juice that comes out. Dean: You want me to pour that? Dan: I said no, that's the point of the meal Pour that on there, that's right. Dean: That was so funny, that restaurant that we went to in scottsdale the end. Dan: Isn't that a great really great and I love babs. Dean: Two extra steaks to go. That was really yeah, that's great. Dan: Yeah, yeah, yeah. But boys that simplify your life, I mean I used to go to whole foods I get my haircut on in new york, new yorkville, it's right across from the court season. Dean: It's kenny connor from the. I used to go to Whole Foods. I get my haircut in. Dan: New Yorkville. It's right across from the Court Seasons. It's Kenny Connor from the Court Seasons where I get my haircut and I go down to the end of Scholar's, and that's where the Hilton. Lanes, are you? Know, and the Whole Foods is in there and I used to go in every Saturday and I'd walk around 15, 20 minutes buying this that I shouldn't eat, buying this that I shouldn't eat I shouldn't eat and take a bottle home and eat some of them and throw the rest out and everything else, and now we have a bruno's. Do you know bruno's in? Dean: toronto it goes back. Dan: It goes back 50 years yeah and uh, they have great meat department and we go in and the guy says same as usual, same as usual, yep, yep, except twice as much and hey gets it, you know. Dean: So yeah, it's really good yeah I was shocked about pusseteri's closing right there well, they didn't close. Dan: They're opening in one of those new buildings. Yeah, they had a. It was a shitty space where they were. Dean: Yeah, it was kind of awkward right. Dan: Yeah, very tiny space. So now they have it the way they wanted it. Dean: Okay, so they're still in, they're still on the island. They're closed for probably a year no but I mean they're going to be still in Yorkville. Yeah, Right on the island, yeah, yeah, yeah. Dan: So they'll have a huge space because their main store is up at Lawrence Avenue Road and that's like you know, it's a regular size supermarket. But they had this tiny little space and you know it didn't work in any way. It was just. I mean, first of all, you're paying 25, 10, 15% more if you shop at a suppository, but the whole quality of the experience was not up to what they were charging. Yeah, I went in there and they put in automatic checkouts and I said wait a minute. Now you're putting me charging. Yeah, I went in there and they put in automatic checkouts and I said wait a minute. Dean: Now you're putting me on. Dan: You're charging me 15% too much, and now you're putting me on staff. That's so funny. Dean: It's exactly right. Dan: Now I have to do checkout for you. I said no and I just stopped. I just stopped. I said I'm not going back here. That was during. And then some guy corrected me that my mask was too low on my face and I said I no, I can't. I, I can't put myself in this type of situation where I get the mask. Police are in pusitories, you know oh no, that's no good. And that was all for nothing. You know, I mean that. Quote that comment. Was it Callie Means? It was either Robert Kennedy or Callie Means. The average age of people who died during COVID. Did you catch that one? I did not. What was it? 81. At 81, you ask them for a refund. Dean: Right, oh, my goodness. Dan: I mean it's three years beyond expiry. Dean: Yeah right. Dan: I wonder how much of that you know. Dean: Though you look at, I think that 80 is the new 60, it feels like in a lot of ways. I feel that yeah, because you look at, you know, just even in that one little environment there, you know, Peter Thomas is 86 there. Dan: Yeah, and I was 80. Dean: Joel Weldon at 83. I mean, yeah, that's, those are not normal octogenarians. You know very, you know it's just and I think you see it now. You know it's just and I think you see it now. You know it's happening more. Dan: Well, and I think the other thing is that the retirement age, if I understand the logic of it, was to get the older people out of the factories, so that you wouldn't have a lot of unemployed young people. Bismarck in Germany that was, you know that was the first government that had a retirement program and a retirement policy. Now, with the low birth rates, you're going to want to keep the people in the workplace as long as you possibly can, so you're going to have a lot of 70 and 80-year-olds not retiring. First of all. I mean they've got a lot of 70 and 80 year olds not retiring. Yeah, first of all, I mean they've got a lot of experience and there's, um, you know it's, you know it's. Just, I thought immediately where I sat most was with pearson airport and air canada, the two experiences that go along together. And so, pearson airport, you have a lot of very skilled people who make sure that everything is, you know, good with the terminal, everything's working with the terminal, plus the you know, baggage is. You know the big thing, you know getting stuff off the planes really fast, getting it to the right, you know, to the right luggage rack and everything and everything. And then Air Canada, the ticketing, you know the ground crew and everything like that. And I noticed immediately that they had lost two levels of skill. Immediately during COVID, they bought off all their really high-priced pilots, they bought off all their cabin attendants, they bought off all the ticketing people, you know. You know they were like 60 they have mandatory retirement 65 and they just bought them off at 60 and it was very abrupt and it was total. And so you had people who were serving you and they were basically doing their job out of the job manual. You know they do this Well. That doesn't really give you high quality. Dean: Yeah, I mean the whole. Did you happen to see any highlights from the Mike Tyson fight the other night? Dan: No, I didn't. I didn't, I just knew he slapped him. Dean: Yeah, that was all leaving up to it. That was the way in when he stepped on his. Dan: That made sure that both of them got $30 million oh exactly. Dean: Well, that's, but I think what happened was that Jake stepped on his toe is what happened, and he slapped him, but the fight was uneventful. I mean, it was really. Dan: He won on points. Right he won on points. Jake Paul won on points. Dean: Yes, exactly, and but it was. It was sad to see Mike Tyson, you know, at 58, he really did look old like, even in his movements and the way it's like that was, it was something you could really tell the difference between 27 and 58, you know. And that's you wonder, like that's yeah, he's in peak physical condition for a 58 year old. Dan: Yeah, but it was just yeah, but your muscles are slow yeah, that's what I mean. Dean: He looked kind of no, your, no, your muscles just slowed down. Dan: Yeah, it was really interesting because I haven't run and I started running, just, you know, some attempt because of my knee. Yeah, and you know a 50-year-old injury to my knee to run again, so I was. We have quite a good size dock at the lake up north. Dean: Yeah. Dan: And so what I do is I have a rule that three seconds after I take off my sneakers, I'm in the water. I have to be in the water. Dean: You've got to do it. Take them off One, two, three go, otherwise it'll take forever. Dan: And so what? I do it at the back of the dock and I have maybe 15 feet, 15 feet, and so the moment, the thing off. I just run for the front and I jump, I jump into the water and Babs took a video of it and I looked at it and I said you don't show this to anybody, it's not. I said I am really slow, I'm really slow, I'm really slow. Yes, and part of it. You know I'm recovering from an injury. Dean: But part of it is just, I got 80-year-old muscles, you know, and they're not fast you have the memory of you know I mean you have 20-year-old tennis memories of how fast you were. Dan: Yeah, it's so funny you know so funny. That's a nice memory, but it's not a present experience, that's going to be absolutely true. Dean: It's so funny that you mentioned that is because when I was watching Mike Tyson, I was thinking to myself that's one of my aspirations. I'd love to, as I continue to lose weight and get more mobile, that I would like to you know for your running, that's my thing is to be able to get back to to play tennis well, you were in the top hundred. Dan: You were in the top hundred, weren't you amateur? Dean: no, not that high, but I was very, at a very high level. But but the you know. But to be able to get to that, knowing that my mind knows what it's like to be a 20-year-old tennis player, my mind and my muscle memory still knows exactly what to do in those situations, but it's going to be. As I watched Mike Tyson, I realized, and it's every now. And as I watched Mike Tyson, I realized, you know, and it's every now and then I'll watch these guys, I'll watch on YouTube, I'll watch some, like you know, 55 plus. You know, tennis matches are 60 plus, even them by age groups, you know. So I've been watching the 60 plus and it's amazing to see how brittle brittle is a good word, will appear to be yeah, well, the other thing you know, like the mile run you know the world record right now is three, three, four, I think 17,. Dan: You know 17 seconds under four minutes. But the oldest person in history to ever run a sub four is Amin Coughlin, irishman. I think he was at one of the East Coast United States universities and then he raced after that, but he was 43 and nobody over 43 has ever run a four minute mile. How's Daniel doing with his getting back to you know, he's in the five he's in the five minutes, five, five, five, 40, you know, and and one of the things, because he's, he's late, he's 58 or 59. And he just says you know, I just realized that it's just impossible for me ever to well he did it once, you know, he ran a 359. Dean: Yeah, but he was running. Dan: You know he was running 405, 406, 402,. You know every race and you just can't do that anymore. And you know so you have a collision between your actual performance and your memory of being fast. Dean: Yes, oh man Whoa performance and your memory of being fast. Yes, oh, man whoa. There's just kind of I'm just kind of preparing myself for the reality of that, you know, and that's yeah, but it's even apparent that you were very coordinated. Dan: I mean the way you walk and everything. Uh, you know the way my entire memory of you is mostly the last 10, 12, 12 years. And I noticed that you have very great athletic coordination, so you have that going for you. Dean: I got that going for me, that's true. Dan: Yeah, so yeah, hopefully that will. Dean: I wonder now, you know, like I wonder through do you do any mobility things like Pilates or stretching or yoga or any of those things? The only thing. Dan: I do. We have a, really we have an industrial strength. The vibration plate is about three feet by three feet and you do high intensity vibrations on it. And then I just have a pole, and then I do it in, let's say, 10 different positions. I do the pole. And that helps a lot the vibration point. I mean it makes the house, it almost makes the house rattle, almost makes the house rattle, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, and that's really. I do a lot of band stuff. You know where you use. You put the band about around a pole and then you can really do, yeah, so that helps a lot. I like that. Yeah and yeah. But you know, my big thing is just being productive in terms of the work, you know you know, my big thing is just being productive in terms of the work. You know, I mean I was never a competitor in any kind of individual sport. I was all team sports when I was growing up because I really liked the team Football, basketball, football, basketball and everything else. So I never, I never really was attracted to individual competitions and you know, but my big thing is just to. I've got quarterly, I've got quarterly products to produce, I've got books to produce and everything. It's just that. I'm always in a good energy, you know, good energy state for all that work. Dean: And that's great. That's why the physical, having the physical, you know physically fit body is really just for your purposes and to the brain oxygenated and carry around where you need to be right, that's really the thing. Yeah, yeah, I just had a brain MRI. Dan: I just had a brain MRI. In October I was was in nashville with david hossie and I've grown new neurons this year and I think it's from the stem cells oh, wow from the stem cells and he says you got neurons there that aren't organized. Yet he says you know? He says you're going to have to organize your neurons and I said that's a nice report. That's a nice report. Yeah, he says you're going to have to organize your neurons and I said that's a nice report, that's a nice report. And he says you're not dementia, You're not becoming demented, You're re-menting. Dean: Re-mented. I love it Re-menture. Yeah, that's a good one. Yeah, it's good. Dan: My memory. I do a full bank cognitive test every quarter. It's, but 19 different tests takes you about, you know, 40 minutes or an hour and my memory was way up. My verbal memory was way up and my objects you know graphic memory was way up. Dean: So that's good. Dan: And he says then you got too much, and you got too much visceral fat and you got this and I said, now let's just stick with the subject of the brain here. Yeah, yeah, yeah. How many 80 year olds do you have that got more brain than they had? Dean: exactly that's the. Let's focus on the positive here. Dan: Yeah, let's take our wins where we can. Yeah, it's really interesting. Yeah, but yeah, I think that we started our conversation today off with last week's Genius Network setting anywhere in the world where the people that joe had on stage with him and the quality of the discussion they were having could happen anywhere else. Dean: Yeah, no, I get you. I bet you're right. Absolutely, that's what I mean about the way joe's really elevated his ability to stand in conversation with these people, you know it's a different. It's not like as a interviewer or a journalist. He's having a real, authentic conversation with them and it's fascinating. Yeah, it's good to see. Dan: Yeah Well, I bet there's sleepless nights going on in Washington DC these days, have you? Dean: seen the things, the memes of who Robert Kennedy is replacing, like they showed the minister of health or whoever the health and human services lead, is now compared to Robert Kennedy. It's funny. Dan: Oh yeah. Dean: Yeah Well, it's a nice thing that happened. Dan: You know, and you know Jeff Hayes, you know one of our colleagues in that time. I mean, he was really instrumental in, you know, getting him so far that he would become in a position where he could do a collaboration with Trump you know, yeah, Trump's the kind of guy you know. He doesn't care what shape or form the talent comes in. Dean: That's exactly right. Dan: It's kind of interesting because when I spoke to Robert Kennedy just briefly and I said in 1962, I was working at the FBI in Washington and I had to go over to the Department of Justice in Washington and I had to go over to the Department of Justice, we had a sort of a tour of part of the history of the FBI and it was in the Department of Justice building and Robert Kennedy happened to walk by in the hallway. His father walked by, so that was 1962. And I said really interesting, 62 years later and he'll have far more influence in his new position than his father ever had. Dean: Yeah, I bet you're absolutely right, for sure, yeah, awesome, yep, so we'll be so we'll have. Dan: No, I won't do it next week, right exactly. Well, I can do the. I can do the two weeks, two weeks from today. I can do it next week, right exactly well, I can do the. Dean: I can do the two weeks, two weeks from today. I can do it, okay, if you're available. Yeah, absolutely yeah that would be fantastic. Okay, all right, see you then okay, thanks dan, bye okay.

In this episode of Welcome to Cloudlandia, we explore our travels through Nashville and Chicago, highlighting the growth of these cities and our celebration at the Maxwell Clinic. Back in Toronto, we discuss new bike lane legislation and upcoming events like the Genius Network in Phoenix and our local FreeZone gathering. Dan updates us on the progress with his stem cell treatments. Our conversation shifts to artificial intelligence and its transformative potential. We examine how AI is changing productivity, eliminating routine tasks, and sparking creativity. Inspired by Elon Musk's simulation theory, we dive into philosophical questions about reality, pondering whether our existence might be a sophisticated technological construct. We explore the rapid evolution of technology, tracing the journey from basic video games to immersive virtual realities. The discussion covers autonomous driving and other technological innovations that are seamlessly integrating into our lives. We introduce three key questions designed to improve decision-making and productivity – insights that could have been groundbreaking in previous eras. The episode concludes by celebrating teamwork and collective problem-solving. We draw inspiration from historical figures, highlighting how combining diverse skills can lead to remarkable achievements. Our exploration invites listeners to reconsider the boundaries of technology, creativity, and human potential. SHOW HIGHLIGHTS We begin by discussing our travels to Nashville and Chicago, highlighting the growth and dynamic energy in these cities, as well as our experiences at the Maxwell Clinic and various social events. Back in Toronto, we note the political stir caused by new bike lane legislation and share our excitement for upcoming events, such as the Genius Network in Phoenix and the FreeZone gathering in Toronto. Dan shares updates on his year-long journey with stem cell treatments, revealing promising results for his knee and Achilles tendons. We explore the transformative impact of AI on personal productivity, emphasizing its role in eliminating mundane tasks and enhancing creativity. The conversation delves into philosophical implications of AI and simulation theory, inspired by Elon Musk's ideas, and we ponder the possibility of our existence being a grand simulation. We discuss the limitations of virtual reality compared to the rich sensory experiences of the real world and consider the acceptance of life as it is, even as new technologies emerge. Three crucial questions are proposed to streamline decision-making and productivity, offering insights that could have revolutionized lives even in past centuries. We highlight the importance of teamwork in creativity and problem-solving, drawing lessons from historical figures and emphasizing the power of leveraging collective skills for success. The episode includes a reflection on the evolution of technological advances since the 1940s, and how new technologies are now seen as normal parts of life. Throughout the discussion, we maintain a focus on practical applications of technology and the significance of being content with life's current state while remaining open to beneficial innovations. Links: WelcomeToCloudlandia.com StrategicCoach.com DeanJackson.com ListingAgentLifestyle.com TRANSCRIPT (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors) Dean: Mr. Sullivan, Dan: Mr Jackson. Dean: Welcome back to Cloudlandia. Dan: All the windows repaired, the shingles put back on the top of the house. Dean: Yeah, we didn't. Luckily, no damage to the house, but lots of trees. We had some hundred-year-old oak trees that toppled up from the roof, didn't? Dan: make it, didn't make it, didn't make it, didn't make it. Dean: Didn't make, it Didn't make it. Dan: Well, they had too many leaves, they caught the wind. That's exactly right there. Dean: So you have been on a whirlwind tour, You've been all over huh, well, just basically Nashville. Dan: Where were we before? I'm just trying to think yeah, well, we were in Chicago, but we just came back from six days in Nashville, beautiful, beautiful it was, you know, high 70s, low 80s, but just beautiful. And this was four days at the Maxwell Clinic and then we stayed an extra day because David Hasse and Lindsay, his new wife, got. They were celebrating their marriage and we were there last night and there were. You know, richard Rossi was there. Lior Lior Weinstein. Dean: Jack Jacobs was there. Dan: Yeah, yeah, yeah, jay Jacobs. Yeah, yeah, yeah, jay Jacobs. You know a whole number of people. Dean: Well, very nice. Dan: Yeah, right on the river. We were right on the Cumberland. You know it's very nice and they were doing a. When we left yesterday morning it was Marathon Day in Nashville, so we had to negotiate a different route to get to the airport and today they have a big regatta right down the river. All the boats were out yesterday practicing. Do they call them boats? I think they must call them boats. They are boats. Dean: Skulls, is that the racing thing that they do, you mean? Dan: Yeah, the racing. They're all skulls, Skulls yeah, yeah, small, medium and large. Dean: Oh, that's interesting. Dan: Yeah, but Nashville's growing. It seems like a boom town. Lots of cranes, lots of new projects going up. Nothing to compare with Toronto, but still a decent growth. Dean: Are you back in Toronto now? Dan: Yeah, got back yesterday and it's fall. Now it's fall. That's what my friend Glenn. Dean: I talked to him today. He said it was a little bit cool. Now it's like it's official yeah. Bright, orange tree, everything yeah. Dan: All the posing that the city was doing. No summer's not over, summer's, not over. All the posing has stopped, so it's you know, what you would expect close to November. And anyway it's good, yeah, yeah. And we're going through a big thing here because the premier of the province, rob Ford, has decided that bicycle lanes are not good for traffic and he's now passing legislation or he's going to put into place legislation that if a bike lane is causing traffic congestion, the bike lane has to go. And this, of course, is you know. This is the work of the devil as far as a lot of politically inclined people, but it's a disaster. They did a lot of it during COVID. Dean: There wasn't much traffic. Dan: They took advantage when they put in a ridiculous number of bike lanes, which you know in Toronto get to about six months a year because nobody rides their bicycle in January and February and anyway. But it's causing, you know, it's causing a wonderfully satisfying outrage on the part of people that I don't vote the same as they vote. Oh yeah. Dean: This is going to be a big month here. We've got coming into, so we've got the election coming up. We've got we'll be in Phoenix right after the election for Genius Network and then we'll see you there. We'll see you there and then I'll see you again. I'm going to be back in Toronto. We've got our FreeZone first week in December and then I'm actually going to do a Breakthrough Blueprint event in Toronto the week of US Thanksgiving in toronto monday, tuesday, wednesday prior to our prior to free zone. Dan: So, yeah, lots going on I might have made it, except I'll be in buenos aires that week yeah, what's your? Dean: this is that's my big uh goal here. You know, 12 years in and we've still. It's a dan sullless Breakthrough Blueprint event 12 years 12 years Dan we haven't sunk your battles. Dan: Well, a little bit, you know, a little bit of marketing in our direction would probably help. Dean: You're susceptible to marketing Right. Exactly I love it. Dan: Yeah, I'm a sucker for a compelling offer. Dean: Listen, I'm excited to hear your. I'm interested to hear because you're coming up on. It's been a year now. Dan: Right for your stem cell Started yeah, just the first week of November last year was the first stem cell injections. Dean: So one year you've gone four times. Dan: Yeah, it's pretty good. But what we've discovered is, you know, it's an old injury, it's a torn meniscus in 19, so you know, pushing 50 years and so the cartilage got worn down because of the torn meniscus and now the cartilage is back to what it was regrown. It looks to be like a quarter inch of great cartilage, but there was damage to the ligaments, because when you have an injury like that, your body rearranges itself to cut down on the pain. Your body rearranges itself to cut down on the pain. And now, so in last week of November, probably close to Thanksgiving Day, I'll get stem cell injections in my ligaments and we'll take it to the next level, you know, but I, yeah, I will get better. And you know I had two torn Achilles tendons within a couple of years of the knee injury, and so I got injections for those two injuries last March. And within five weeks I regained all my flexibility in my ankles. So that went really fast, yeah, and you can't, you don't really fix them. You know they're because they're a bit shorter because of the injury. When they put them back together again. But, what happened is. There's a lot of calcification that grows up over 40, 40 year period and all the calcification disappeared. It was kind of strange. They said it'll take about five weeks and week one nothing, week two nothing. Week three nothing, week four nothing. First day of the fifth week, all the calcification disappeared. Dean: Yeah, Wow, that's awesome. Dan: And I'm sitting here rotating my ankles very proudly, even though you can't see it. Dean: I can see it in my mind. Dan: Yeah, I'm doing it. Yeah, a lot of push off that I didn't have and everything, so I'm a great believer. Dean: Maybe you'll be able to talk to basketball now? Dan: No, well, it depends on how. I yeah, I mean, it's a function of where the rim is, it's not a function of where the ground is. Dean: Oh, that's so funny, that's easy. Dan: That's easy. You just have to know the person who controls the rim. Dean: Uh-huh. Dan: Yeah, yeah, but it's been great and you know I've been doing a lot of, you know, interesting articles. There's just so many articles these days on artificial intelligence and you know the hype period seems to have reached its dismal end and you know they're not seeing the returns. You know the big corporations who pile billions and billions of dollars, they're just not seeing the returns and their investors in the stock market are not very happy with big payouts investment but so little return. I mean you're talking people who put in $100, $200 billion and then they're getting that $3 billion return, which is okay if you own the company 100%, but it's not good if you're a public stock. So I'm watching that and, but meanwhile I'm convinced that it's doing a lot of good. You know, I'm convinced that individuals are well, individuals are just using that to eliminate five hours of work here, five hours of work there. Yeah, I think it's happening in a billion different places. But one of the things that I think is depriving us of good news here is that I think AI is not good news for the news media, because if there's any jobs that are going to get eliminated, it's going to be news media jobs. Dean: I wonder, like part of the thing is that there's got to be some interesting you know developments in terms of how people are going to integrate this, you know. Like I said, it's funny how people are doing the different prompts Lee Orson, our FreeZone. One somebody had said you know asking. I asked ChatGPT what do you know about me, based on our interactions, that I might not know about myself? And she said you know. Here are a few insights based on our conversation, she said. One you enjoy sharing knowledge and helping others. You've created content for various audiences, from real estate agents and home sellers to law firms. This suggests you find value in sharing insights and helping people achieve their goals, whether through practical tips or specialized guidance. Two you value practicality and efficiency. Many of your projects emphasize actionable, practical advice, like your guide on teeth whitening and your tips for home sellers. You seem to appreciate solutions that are both effective and efficient, providing value without unnecessary complexity. Three, you're strategic and forward thinking. No-transcript. Whether it's exploring new content, marketing strategies for cybersecurity or learning how to maximize our relationships Because I asked her how can I maximize our relationship? You're always seeking ways to improve. This suggests a growth mindset where you're interested in both personal and professional development, and it was really then she said you're health conscious and self-aware. You've taken significant steps in improving your health, from weight loss to setting fitness goals. This shows a commitment to your well-being and a good sense of self-awareness regarding the changes you'd like to make. Dan: I thought, man, this is really like that's good observations, you know yeah, but, dean, if you for a meal at a french restaurant, I could have told you all that it's true, right it's much more enjoyable, you know. Yes, for close for close ups from close observation. Yeah well, I've done the same with perplexity you know I put a little sizzle into it because you know I read all the great books at St John's College. That was my college education. And so I asked perplexity. 10 ways in which Dan Sullivan's philosophy is superior to Plato's philosophy in the 21st century. Dean: Came back. Dan: I mean he never had a chance. I mean what you can get from Dan Sullivan in the 20s. First of all, he's alive, which is an advantage yeah. But if you pick a historical character and say, how does Dean Jackson's thinking differ? Or expand on somebody else, you get more useful information. Dean: I mean yeah. Dan: So all they're doing is picking up, you know, introductions that people have made when you were giving a talk, or you were doing a podcast and they're just. All they're doing is collecting all that and putting it into a form. But did you let me ask you a question putting it into a form? But did you let me ask you a question Did you get any insights from this that were new, besides what a lot of people have told you over the last 25 years? Dean: Yeah, right, exactly. Yeah, I didn't get any because I asked none of that, like if you think it all makes sense, but it was, yeah, that I might not know about myself. So none of the I didn't think anything in here was something that I wouldn't know about myself. Right, but that's what I wonder. Dan: I mean if there had been sort of like a statement that, unbeknownst to you, a great uncle of yours, who you never met, actually set aside a savings account for you 50 years ago and right now there's roughly $1 billion in it for you. That would be really useful information. Dean: That would be delightful, that would be fantastic yeah. Dan: Yeah. Dean: Yeah, I love it. Dan: I love it. I love it, yeah, no, but what I think is that, first of all, I think the Greatest progress right now using AI and it's being done on an individual basis, it's not being done on an organizational basis, it's on an individual basis is getting rid of annoying activities, annoying use of time. I think it's eliminating friction. That's interfering with teamwork and everything like that. So I think you know we value the elimination of irritation. Dean: That's true. Dan: And so I think it's just being used. Dean: Yeah. Dan: I think it's just being used where you just you know, eliminate things Like I've been using just exploring with notebook google notebook lm and I. I don't find I would never use it in a public way. So just for the listeners. If you take, you say you're right. I took an introduction to a book and I fed it into this, you know, into this ai app and it came back as a conversation between two individuals man and woman. And they were talking about what they got out of. You know the introduction to the book and I came up about with about three or four things that they said in a different way, which we then built into the text as a result of listening to it. Dean: Yeah, isn't that amazing? Like that, that has really upped the level. Like that kind of blew my mind when I saw we've done two of those. We did Glenn put in episode one of the I Love Marketing podcast and it really did a summary, a 10-minute summary of what and they're talking about us in third person, like you know, joe and Dean talked about this and you know this was their insight that even before they were entrepreneurs, their childhood really set them up for being entrepreneurs and the whole thing thing right. It was really pretty fascinating. And then that we did, I did a zoom consultation with sheree, with joe's, joe's- girlfriend sheree ong. She's a for anybody listening. She's a little plastic surgeon in Scottsdale and very renowned in that field and so we did a whole marketing brainstorm around that and we set that into and to hear them talk about and reiterate the ideas. If you just listened to it without any context there would be no, you would have a very hard time believing that was not two humans talking. I think that was really my like. That was up a level from the interaction you know. Dan: Yeah, I found it got. It was great to start and it wasn't so good after about the halfway point. Dean: Right. Dan: Okay. What I found was it was a little too enthusiastic. Dean: Yeah. Dan: You know, and it became almost like jargon near the end. Dean: Right. Dan: And I think the thing was that they were just running out of things to say yeah, but it sounded like after a while it didn't sound entrepreneurial, it sounded sort of corporate. This is sort of a corporate PR, but that has nothing to do with my use for it, because I'm not going to use it in a public way. Right? Dean: I'm just using that. Dan: I'm just getting some reflection back on the ideas that we have in the introduction to the book coming back in a different spoke and I got some new ideas for refining what we did just out of listening. So for me that was the value a video and I didn't. Dean: I haven't watched the whole thing, but the general idea is that somebody put a video to these two, the male and the female character AI, and they're having a discussion as they realize that they're not real, apparently we're not even real. Apparently we're ai, they look genuinely like surprised by this news, a little bit incredulous that I, I apparently I'm not real well, it brings up the question that maybe Dean and Dan aren't either. You know Well what I was bringing to mind with that, Dan, is I remember hearing Elon Musk? I was just thinking. Dan: I was just thinking. I was just thinking no, that's exactly who I went to when I brought up that idea, who I went to when I brought up that idea. Dean: Right. I remember somebody at a big conference asked him about the simulation theory the theory that we're living in a simulation and you know he talked about it like that. He and his brother have had so many conversations about AI and the simulation theory, so many conversations about AI and the simulation theory, that they had to have a rule that they would have no such conversations while in a hot tub so that they could take a break from that conversation and his reasoning was that if you go back 50 years, we had the state of the art in gaming was Pong, which was the two you know twisty paddle things playing a ping pong game. That was the entry into the digital gaming in the 70s virtual, visually amazing games that are played by millions of people simultaneously in a universe that's fully photorealistic and and created, and his idea is that, if you factor in any amount of improvement at all, that we're going to reach a point where, in a couple of years, vr is going to be visually indistinguishable from reality. We'll have the capability to create virtual simulation, ancestral games that would be indistinguishable from real life. And if that's the case, if we look back in the billions of years of the universe kind of thing, the odds that we're the first ones to have gotten to that level is very unlikely. His whole thing is that the odds that we are in base reality he called it is one in billions and I thought man, that's very I don't know what that means. Dan: I don't know what that means. Dean: Meaning that this is the real thing, that this is the one he's saying, that the odds that we're in the actual physical world of the thing is very rare or unlike Wow. Dan: Are you saying that what we're experiencing is not real, that it's a simulation? I'm not quite getting this point. Dean: Yes, yeah, that's what he's saying. No, well, real that it's a simulation. I'm not quite getting this point. Yes, yeah, that's what he's saying. Dan: No well, yeah, but it's a theory. Dean: Right, exactly, you can do anything with a theory. Yes. Dan: First of all, there isn't enough electricity in our solar system to power that, I mean just to power it. Our solar system to power that I mean just to power it, and you know I mean. They're running into a problem right now, projecting technological growth to 2030. The United States does not have the electricity to do it. Okay, so there has to be, there has to be a bit of an improvement there. Dean: You know. Dan: The other thing is visual, visual perception and maybe audio to go along with. It is a small part of what we experience. I mean we have spatial awareness, we have touch, we have taste, we have smell, and then there's other ways of communicating that we don't quite understand, but we, energetically we. And one of the things that I really noticed with my few explorations of virtual reality is how flat and boring it is. It's just flat and boring, and the reason is because it's the creation of one person or the creation of a team where if you go to Yorkville or you go to Winter Haven, you know, and you walk around and you experience everything. It's the creation of hundreds of thousands of people who made the adjustment here, adjustment there and everything like that. But my sense is that there's a deep, what I would say depression setting into the entrepreneurial world right now, and the scientific world for that matter, that they're never going to understand human consciousness, and it's pretty well. There's been no advance in 40 years of understanding what human consciousness is, and it's not fast computing, you know just to say what the thesis is. It's something else. One of it it's not measurable, because what you're experiencing right now is truly unique. You've just created something. As you're engaging in this discussion with someone you find interesting, and you have all sorts of thoughts coming out. This is all. None of this is measurable and never will it be measurable, Right, Okay, and so I think that's the real issue. But what I'm saying I was thinking of a book title I was wandering around yesterday is that I'm 80 now, so I was born in 44 and there's just been a lot of technological. There's just been a lot of technological change since 1940, 1944. So I no longer consider it magical, I just consider it normal. When a new thing, like when the LM, you know the notebook, I no longer have the phrase this is fascinating, this is wonderful, I said, well, this is normal, this is just, I'm just seeing something. Yeah well, this is a new thing and it's really interesting and we'll see if it's useful, you know, in the normal way. In other words, does it make money for you, you know, does it save time? And so I'm getting more and more where I'm absolutely immune to other people's sense of magic about technology. Dean: Yeah yeah, I use you as an example. You basically have had functional use of all of these things without it even being technological advancements. I always talk about my Tesla. Now I've got the full self driving supervised, which is like it can make all the turns and do all the things. But you've got to really be aware I can't hop in the back seat and go wherever I want to go. But I always say to people listen, Dan Sullivan's had it right, because for 30 years you've had autonomous driving for 30 years. Dan: Well, autonomous from my standpoint. Yes, that's what I mean. Dean: You've had the functionality of it right. And that's been the thing. It's so funny yeah. Dan: Well, yeah, and the other thing is, I don't know it comes down to. I think you know what your stand is on technology has a lot to do with. Are you okay with life just the way it is? And I am, you know and I am. But the way life just is that every once in a while a new technology pops up that I find really useful and then it becomes part of my normal, then it becomes my normal life, and that's been happening for 80 years. And I suspect it's going to keep. I suspect it's going to keep going that way. But you know, but the it tells me. You know, know, one of the things I'm really interested in is just a little experiment I've been running now for about eight months and it has to do with three questions and I've been kind of captured by this. It's a tool. It's called three crucial questions, you know, and we've talked about it, and the first first one is there any way that I can help by doing nothing. Number two is if there is something, what's the least I have to do, that's that. And if it's the least I have to do, is there someone who can do the least that I have to do? And it really struck me that if I had learned this when I was like six years old, struck me that if I had learned this when I was like six years old, my life would have really gone in a different direction. It would have really turned out different because I would have been really super acute to what other people could do for me. You, know, right from the beginning. Dean: Well, none of that involves technology. Dan: None of that directly. I mean I'm saying that if I had done this 300 years ago and somebody had those three questions, they probably would have lived a really interesting, productive, creative life. Dean: Well, there's so much in it. There's like a I mean, there's certainly a who, not how element to it, for sure and the. There's a unique ability. Dan: There's a unique ability, yeah, but there's also a workaround. Dean: There's a can I pray while I'm smoking instead of? Dan: smoking while you're praying. Dean: You know it resonated with me with the. You know I've been working with the. Imagine if you applied yourself and self is the acronym for fear, meaning something that you know. But that would be essentially your question one is there any service or anybody that you know that could be able to do that? And then the second level is E for energy, which is that's the things that only I can do. L is leadership, where I could just tell somebody else, and F is finances. So can I apply myself to get this accomplished? I like this idea of what are you calling this? You called it the Dan Sullivan. Dan: No, it's just called three crucial questions because it's a little-. Dean: Three crucial questions Okay. Dan: Yeah, so you pick three things that are, you know, projects or problems right now. But, I just choose problem. That's something you haven't solved. Dean: Yeah. Dan: And then you ask you you know you describe each of the three. So you're coming downward on the left hand column. Then you go across and you got a matrix of three questions. And the first question is there any way you can solve this by doing nothing, and I've never had, I've never said yes to the question. But the question itself is very useful because it immediately simplifies your thinking. You know, it simplifies your thinking. And yeah, the second one what's the least you have to? do now you're getting really simple. And then the third question is there anyone else who can do this very simple thing? You know and, and then, and, if there is. You've just answered question number one. Dean: That's what I mean. That's the can I pray while I'm smoking? You've worked in the back door there. Dan: No, you can't without doing nothing, okay well what do I? Dean: need to do. Well, you got to do this and this. Well, can somebody else do that? Dan: Yeah, that's okay. Yeah, and then you also you're questioning well, is it even enough of a problem to even be, you know, spending? Dean: thinking about what if I don't solve this problem? Is it okay if I just forget about it? Dan: Yeah, and what it does is that it's a measurement tool in the sense of you know you're going to be doing something with your time today anyway, and the question is are these three things anything that's worth your time today? Dean: Yes. Dan: And it keeps you from getting you know, getting too taken up with busyness. Yes, I love that, but it's funny because I the reason I brought it up as a topic on our talk here. Since I came up with it, it's a, it's one of those thinking tools that won't let me alone. Let you go. Right you know I've had a few and so, for example, example, without going through and actually counting them up, I would say I probably did it 20 times during the day where I was thinking about something and uh, you know, and my mind had wandered. You know, I was thinking about something and I immediately the question came up is there anything you can do about that? Can you solve this without doing anything? And immediately I was redirected to an activity that was right in the present, that I could be taking and I could be conscious about it and everything like that. So it's really interesting because I come up with a lot of tools, but they're for a purpose, they're for a workshop. They're for everything, but this is the first one that keeps coming back and bothering me In your daily, for your daily life. Yeah, yeah, it seems to want to be part of my daily life and that's you know. And yeah, it's just an. It's just an interesting thing that I'm doing and it's very useful because the moment I ask the question, is there any way I can solve this? By doing nothing and immediately, my attention is a hundred percent just on what I can do right now, which feels real good, which feels real good you know to be fully engaged. Dean: Not doing anything is. Not doing anything at all is also an option, do I even? Need to do anything at all about this. What would happen if I didn't? Dan: I've had. Dean: Joe Polish and I were talking the other day. I did a Zoom session in the Genius Network event last week, thursday, friday, and you know one of the things that he was talking about was Keith Cunningham's idea that more businesses they suffer from indigestion than starvation for ideas. They're not starving for new ideas, they've got indigestion of ideas too many things. And I realized, as a 10 quick start with a future orientation, that is definitely my. I have so way more ideas than I could possibly implement. You know, and I look at I've always. One of my personal kind of orientations is definitely, you know, future oriented. I see things, how they can be solved. But I've also learned that the reality you know, you and I've talked about the fact that life moves at the speed of reality, which is 60 minutes per hour and when you're actually practically doing anything in the now. That's the constraint, that is the biggest thing for a future-oriented shapeshifter. You know, like you and I. So I've been revisited our the idea of procrastination, the joy of procrastination in. You know, my number one thing is always has been that I know I'm being successful when I can wake up every day and say what would I like to do today? And I've started thinking about how I can make that more practical, like to have more to show for it at the end of the day than just drifting with. You know, all my time freedom and the funny little exercise that I've been playing is do you remember in the original Wheel of Fortune when you won on Wheel of Fortune you would have you could spend all your money on the showcase kind of thing. They'd have all the prizes all lined up and you can. I'll take this for a thousand and I'll take this for 500 and I'll take the rest on a gift certificate or whatever. I started thinking about, maybe going through my days. Yesterday was the first day that I kind of, you know, I've been playing with that mindset of looking at today, as with my 100 minute units for the day, looking at the you know prize, the gallery of all the things that I could do and looking to fill them into my day. I'll take a massage for six units and I'll take this. I'll take a movie for 10 units and I'll do some 50 minute focus finders for 10 units. And you start like looking at my day and realizing that what kind of creates a little sense of urgency or a present mindedness for the day is really thinking about maximizing for the next 100 minutes, like what am I really going to do in the next 100 minutes? Because even a day is a long, that's a long time to really kind of. You know it's slow if you were to just sit here and count the time for the day that go by, but really having things. I'm really making a conscious effort to have more intention around what I do with those units during the day rather than just getting sucked into screen time. Dan: It's really interesting. You mentioned that you're a 10 quick start with future orientation and I was just thinking, as you said that and I was thinking about your that I think I'm I actually am past focused. I'm very past focused and what I'm doing is I'm looking at something that's from the past and sort of saying how could that be better in the future? Like I'm not really interested because I've experienced the past. I haven't experienced the future. So I've got one thing I've got a lot more experience with the past. Now we could just take two minutes out and just ponder the thought that I've just spoken here and I think it's probably why I am not taken at all by the futurologists that show up at the various conferences that I'm to and I said you're talking about something that you have zero experience about. And I said you're talking about something that you have zero experience about. I said why don't you talk about something that you have 100% experience? with which is your past and then say this thing that happened to me. How could that happen to me? Better when I get to it in the future, you know so. I'm not really intrigued by the future at all because, first of all, I've got zero experience In the past. I've got a lot of experience, and it's readily available. Not only that, but it's unique. Only I know what my experience is, Only you know, what your experience is. Dean: Who else knows? Dan: So, I wonder if we I wonder if I'm kind of quick start so I wonder if we actually really are spending time with the future. Though I don't know, I can only answer it for myself. Dean: I like, you know, creating blueprints or create you know, like that's the thing I see. I like solving problems, as this is what we need to do, but then actually implementing the things is. I find that being in the present is almost like being in the past. Funny, but I mean, sounds odd to say that, right, but it's like I think that I've already solved this. Okay, I know what this needs to be, and it just feels like such a drag that I have to now, like take the time to do the actual thing that I've already seen in my mind, you know, it's almost like you know, yeah, it's very funny. I heard somebody talked about who invented the vaccine, the polio vaccine Pasture, pasture, okay, so it was him. Somebody said that he imagined the reason, the way he solved it was he put himself in the position of if he was the, the virus or whatever, how would he attack the system? And that was his. So he put himself in that perspective of where would he go, what would he do? And it reminded me of hearing that Einstein, his, the way he came with the theory of relativity was to imagine himself on riding a beam of light. What would that look like? How would he experience that? And so I look at the things like when I create a solution for something, I know I already see how it's going to, I've addressed all the issues, I see, okay, this is what we need to do, and in my mind it's a fait accompli, as they say, a completed thing, it's done. I know that this is going to be the thing, but now you have to in reality, the speed of reality, actually build out all the components of it. You know, that's like writing a book, for instance, has to be done in real time, you know like I can see the outline of the well, well that you know that's really. Dan: you know that's really why you want to have a lot of who's in your life, because the actual taking action and getting it done is interesting to you. But, having that? Well, let me ask you the question Taking action and getting it done is not interesting to you, but having it done, does that interest you? Yes, very interesting. Yeah, well, there's only one solution it's got to be someone else who does. Dean: Yeah Well, there's only one solution it's got to be someone else who does it. No-transcript. That's been really in the last little while here. That self-awareness it's not a character thing. It's not that it's that I work best when I'm contributing discernment and invention on the if we're looking at widget things, you know. Dan: yeah, well, it's really interesting abs and I have gone to to Rome three or four times and one of the things I mean, if you are interested at all in you know the ancient structures. Well, not so much Rome, but I mean Renaissance and things like that realize is that these individuals who we you know, we know them, you know leonardo and michelangelo, and we know them and we developed this image. How could one person do all this? And the answer is they didn't. Right, right, right, they did. They had a lot of people. It's like you know, I mean, it's like we think of these. Just because we only know their name doesn't mean that they're the one who actually did it. Just yeah, it had to be named and we somebody attached their name to it and yeah, and we think it, but they didn't do uh you know they, they really didn't. I mean, they're sculptors. And you say, how could that? How could he get all that done? Well, he didn't. He got the basic picture of it done and then he had other people who were nose people and ear people and finger people. And he brought them all in and they put together the whole. They put together the whole statue and they put together the whole statue and that's one of the valuable things you learn about the past that things didn't get done any differently in the past than they get done today through teamwork, through large numbers of different skills coming together. The big thing is to apply it to yourself, because I think one of the things and it's a function of the school system and I don't know if you could have it any other way is that you have to study on your own, you have to take tests on your own. And I think it tells people that it's all an individual effort. But what if you took another group of first graders and you taught them teamwork from day one? You studied as a team, you took tests as a team and then you measured over 18 years the one who did everything on his own and the one who was just part of a team that did it. And they did it as a team. I bet the ones on the team. One is I think they'd be a lot happier, and number two is I just think they'd get a lot more done. Yeah isn't that something? Dean: I had a friend who you know is teaching his kids. His idea is teaching his kids like being entrepreneurs, teaching that's the way right, the self-guided way. But they would do, you know they were in a virtual school and they would set up, you know he would have vas to to do like homework for them, like show them how to, like hire someone to do this, this, write this paper yeah or whatever realizing that if there's anybody else who could do it. If you don't need to know how to do it, then you know, kind of like taking your approach right. Is there any way I could do this without doing anything? And that's kind of yeah, that's a big thing. There's no reason for him to know. I remember that was the, that was I think it was henry ford or somebody that they were saying. You know his lack of general knowledge, but it doesn't matter. He says I have buttons on my desk. I can push this button and somebody will get me the answer to whatever I need. And now we've all got a PhD in our pocket. Dan: Yeah, yeah, you know, I think the big thing is that I'm not certain that everybody has the ability of seeing the future and the future use, the future use of other people's capabilities. So I think that's an. I have it and I suspect you have it, but I can see what something looks like and I can see what someone does and I can see it applied to a future result. But I'm not sure everybody has that. Dean: Yeah. I agree, yeah, I agree. Yeah, I agree, and that's kind of like the thing we just think. It's so second nature, right, like you don't know that there's anything different. I remember thinking about unique ability. I remember thinking that, well, that can't't be like, because that doesn't seem like work at all, like that doesn't seem like any effort. Dan: That can't be a thing, but it is you know, yeah, well, it has to do with impact, not you know not the activity itself. Yes, what's the impact? Yeah and yeah, so it's really interesting. But I think, think you know, I'm just to you know, we're near the end of the hour here and my sense is that a lot of confusion in society right now is that science is running into a wall and technology is running into a wall, and it's human consciousness and a lot of claims are being made what technology could do, but I, I think with less and less confidence, and people are saying, well, you mean there's something else, there's something else that we can't get to, and I said, well, yeah, you experience mean, we experience that personally. We experience that on an individual basis, why wouldn't it be on a general sense? Dean: And. Dan: I think there's going to be a lot of depression. I'm noticing the increase in the numbers of teenagers who have mental illness, and I think the reason is that they've been promised something that if you got this education, if you had this technology, if you had access to this and this, you would be happy. And they aren't no exactly. And none of the people who told them that can explain to them why they're not happy, why they're not happy and I think it's a general sense. I just think we've reached a point where we've been so science centric and we've been so technological centric pretty much for a century or maybe a little bit more than a century. And it was going to produce the utopian society and it was going to produce and it isn't. Dean: And now. Dan: I think that the most cynical people were the most idealistic people. If you take someone who's really cynical, they're the ones who were very idealistic. They said you know, everything's going to be solved, everything's going to be great, and then it wasn't. And they don everything's going to be solved, everything's going to be great, and then it wasn't. And they don't have a fallback position. Dean: Yeah. Dan: I'm noticing that with the election this year. Dean: Yes, absolutely. Dan: You know, the people who are going to be happy on November 6th are the people who just lead ordinary lives. Dean: You know, they just go around. Dan: They got a job, they have a house, you a house and everything else. And the people who are going to be very unhappy are the people who believe we can fundamentally change everything. I've just noticed that one of the parties, which was the Party of Joy three months ago, is now the Party of Rage. Dean: Oh man. Dan: Yeah, they're the Party of rage. Oh man, yeah, yeah, they're the party of rage. I mean, they were all out on stage over the last two or three days of how you know, he's a fascist, he's hitler, you know. And I said look, I've watched some world war ii films, I've seen hitler. This isn't hitler, he doesn't even speak german. I mean, if you're going to speak German. Dean:I mean, if you're going to be Hitler. Dan: If you're going to be Hitler, you got to at least get the language down right. Dean: Speak German. That's crazy, but. Dan: I'm just noticing it's more than just the political season. I just think there's a thing happening right now where there's sort of a collision between what was promised and sort of what isn't happening, and that's why I think AI is really being used, but it's not being used in the way that people predicted it was going to be used. I think it's being used in many other ways. Dean: Yeah, well, when are you traveling to Phoenix, dan Wednesday? Dan: We're going to Phoenix, then we're going to Tucson. So we're going to be in Canyon Ranch and then we drive up the day before the genius starts. I think Okay. Dean: But we should go to the. Dan: Henry, we should go to the Henry I was thinking the same thing. Dean: That's what I was hoping. Dan: Okay, good so are we on for next? Dean: week then. Dan: Yeah. I'll be in Tucson. No, I can do it. No, that'd be great. Dean: Okay, perfect. Well then, I will talk to you next week. Thanks, Dan. Dan: Okay. Dean: Great.

In this episode of Welcome to Cloudlandia, I share my experiences living in hurricane-prone areas, focusing on the looming threat of Hurricane Milton in Florida. We delve into how such natural disasters test our resilience, drawing parallels with historical floods in Ohio. These experiences serve as a backdrop for discussing the broader theme of adaptation and change. We explore the Strategic Coach framework's Free Zone concept, which redefines retirement as a time for continuous growth, fueled by innovation and technology. I express skepticism about Artificial General Intelligence, instead advocating for real-world applications of AI that enhance learning and productivity. The episode also dives into marketing strategies in the digital age, highlighting the Profit Activator Scorecard and AI tools like Perplexity and Google's Notebook. These tools help us identify gaps and enrich our marketing approaches, as illustrated through collaborations with Joe Polish and Dr. Cherie Ong. Our discussion extends to AI's role in creative and analytical tasks, showcasing how tools like Perplexity can generate insights and drive innovative conversations. We reflect on how these technologies can transform marketing strategies and enhance our understanding of complex topics. SHOW HIGHLIGHTS We discuss the impact of hurricanes and tornadoes, focusing on Hurricane Milton's impending threat to Florida, and share personal experiences living in hurricane-prone areas. We reflect on the resilience required to recover from natural disasters, drawing parallels to historical floods in Ohio and emphasizing how modern media amplifies the perception of storm severity. Devlin describes the Strategic Coach framework's Free Zone concept, highlighting its role in extending entrepreneurial lifetimes and promoting continuous personal and team development. We express skepticism about Artificial General Intelligence, advocating instead for the use of AI in specific, real-world applications to drive innovation and growth. Stuart explores the Profit Activator Scorecard, detailing how to leverage its results to enhance marketing strategies and fill gaps in reaching target audiences. We examine the application of AI tools like Perplexity and Google's Notebook in generating fresh perspectives and enriching marketing conversations. Devlin introduces a new AI tool, "How You're Always Luckier," and discusses its use in generating insights into entrepreneurial luck and societal trends. We compare the capabilities of AI tools like Perplexity and Google Notebook, highlighting their potential uses in strategic planning and productivity enhancement. Stuart shares insights into using AI-generated conversations to gain new perspectives on marketing strategies, illustrating with examples from collaborations with Joe Polish and Dr. Cherie Ong. We discuss personal plans and upcoming travel, setting homework assignments to further explore AI tools and reconnect in future episodes. Links: WelcomeToCloudlandia.com StrategicCoach.com DeanJackson.com ListingAgentLifestyle.com TRANSCRIPT (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors) Dean: Well, well, well, didn't even get to the course. Dan: Yeah, Mr Jackson. How are you, sir? So you were lucky with that hurricane, but you may get the next one. Dean: Holy cow, dan, this is exactly what I talk about with the week before we get the big red arrow, you know, the buzzsaw building in the Gulf and this one, if you take the track, of course, the cone, the probable cone right now and for anybody listening, we're talking about what will become Hurricane Milton, right on the heels of Hurricane Helene, is projected to go right over Tampa, to go right over Tampa, and if you take the red line in the center of the cone, the projected path is literally about a mile from my house, right through the Four Seasons, valhalla. Yeah, so, I don't know. I may hightail it to Chicago or something. Dan: You may have to move from one side of your garden to the other. Dean: That's right. No, this is. Yeah, this will be. This could be like direct path type of stuff. And, of course, the poor. You know people in Tampa and St Petersburg and Sarasota. Dan: They got, they always get it worse, absolutely. Dean: But this last one was, you know, crazy amounts of flooding, and that was not even that, was just the outskirts of a lane. This one is projected to make landfall right in Tampa. Dan: So I don't know. Dean: I don't know, but it's good, you know, to know the. It's good to know what's there. Dan: Yeah, and have forewarning. Dean: Yeah, exactly, you're on high ground in Florida. Dan: Right, You're on high ground in Florida. You're at least 10 feet above sea level, aren't you? Dean: I looked the other time, one of the times we were talking I looked and I'm actually at 150 feet above sea level, so like oh, you're like on Mount Everest in Florida, that's exactly right. Yeah, that's exactly right. Still I may, it's part of life though. You know, I mean, I tell people. Dan: It's part of life. I remember growing up in Ohio. I was in the north of Ohio, but Ohio River comes under the entire state from east to west and they had tremendous floods and there were people in my first 18 years living at home with my parents. I bet they got flooded out five, six times. You know where their houses would be gone and everything else. Yeah, you know, flood passes by, they rebuild and they go on with life and you know I mean the two things that the US Generally the US has great climate, has great weather. Dean: Yeah. Dan: But it's got a couple of things though Storms from the Gulf of Mexico or from the ocean, you know, from the way of Bahamas. You know, like out in the it comes from the east to the west, but usually it comes from south to northeast. I guess this would be south to east-north-east. It kind of rises a bit after it goes through Tampa right. Dean: Yeah, that's right. Dan: And the other thing is the tornadoes, which are largely unique to the United States. Largely unique to the United States, and it's because of the warm Gulf Gulf of Mexico, cold north, coming from Canada, and then they collide and they start creating a circle. And then they hit the mountains on the west and then they start coming east and Ohio doesn't get them that much. We never get the effects of the hurricanes. I mean by then it's petered out by the time it gets up to Ohio but the tornadoes are different because it's a flat, generally a flat geography in the north. It's where two roads meet. That's about six miles from where I grew up and they had like a church, a general store and a trailer park and three times when I was growing up the tornado hit the trailer park, didn't hit the church, didn't hit the general store. Oh, man Didn't hit, the church didn't hit the general story, oh man, and I said you know it's like a red flag for a bull. You know I mean you're just asking for trouble if you live in a trailer park, but I'm sure that you know people with manufactured homes really got a hard hit in North Carolina. Hard hit in North. Dean: Carolina, I can't even imagine, like Norman I mean yeah. Norman in South Carolina. Tech. That is the power company they're said we're estimating that power will be restored in four to five weeks. Yeah, I mean wild huh. Dan: Yeah. Dean: I mean so amazing, you know that's. I just can't even imagine like your whole, you know your whole uh town being cut off, like there's some of those things in the mountain roads in north carolina. You know in the mountains there that the only way to get to them is through this one road going up around the mountain, and if that washes out which it has I just wonder like how long the how long it's gonna take to rebuild everything it's gonna take a long time. Dan: Yeah, some of it, not at all, probably. I mean, there's probably some small hamlets that they just leave, you know they'll just leave you know anyway, but anyway it's really interesting the I mean every once in a while you get a really severe storm, which this one was. But you know, it's how people don't really understand population, that I mean. There were worse storms as far as people dying in the early part of the 20th century. Far more people got killed. I think there was a famous one in Texas, which. I think it was a couple of thousand people died. You know this one. But people don't realize. When there's a lot more people and a lot more houses, the storm seems more severe, because there's more damage, there's, you know, more wreckage, and plus there's television and there's well, that's what they're saying. Dean: Back in a hundred years ago, you had to depend on somebody's big toe swelling to get there's a storm coming yeah, there was a tornado. Dan: I think there was a tornado, I think it was in the 20s, 1920s and it went over three states. I think it's sort of like Nebraska, that area, you know, the real. Midwest, but it was clocked at close to 80 miles an hour and it stayed on the ground for three states. It didn't jump up, it just stayed on the and it really. I mean it just destroyed towns in its path and the way they know how fast it was going was the report in from the telegraph offices as it was going north. Yeah, funny, as long as you weren't there. Dean: Yeah, holy cow Anyway. Dan: I was just working on a new thinking tool. Dean: I'd like to hear all about that, yeah and actually two of them. Dan: I finished one and I'm starting another one today, and the first tool is called Strengthening your Strengths, and I happen to think that this is the number one entrepreneurial skill. Dean: Tell me all about it. Strengthening your strength sounds like something I would be completely interested in doing. Dan: Yeah, the other one's called how you're always luckier. Yeah, okay, so you got two tools. You got two tools in mind. Dean: Okay, we're going to talk about strengthening your strength. Yeah, the two tools in mind, I've got them. Dan: Talk about strengthening your strength, yeah, and then you categorize them what's your best strength right now? In other words, if you took a look at where you are right now, what's your best strength? And so mine, the number one, is just my teamwork with bats. You know, which goes back 40 years. That's my number one strength, okay. Number two is the team that we have our unique ability team, and number three is the entrepreneurs that I get to work with. Yeah, okay, and so, as you can see the way I'm laying it out, it's me and something outside of me. My biggest strength is that I'm 50% of the deal but there's another 50% of Babs in the team. And I have others, I have others, but those would be the top three. And then over on the right-hand side, is 12 strengthening. In other words, which are the ones that you would strengthen over the next 12 months? It's very interesting. It's a very interesting. The insights that come out. You know, because it's your strengths, are far more than you. Your strength is your connection to other, in collaboration with other people. Dean: Yeah, got it, I do. Dan: And then you know there's a lot of thinking, there's insights. You brainstorm in both of them and then you pick the top. You pick the top three. Dean: So how would you think about the? How would you think about your 12 month improvement in your strength of collaboration with? Dan: BabAPS yeah. So, the big thing right now is our clinics. You know, I mean it's a great teamwork and we want it to last a lot longer into the future. So the work that we do with David Hasse and Nashville will be going down in a couple of weeks. Dean: Your joint longevity project right? Yeah, Well, he's got. Dan: You know, I mean, he's got the full medical every 90 days. And then what needs to be adjusted. You know what's really working, what's not really working. So we get a full blood panel, top to bottom, for every 90 days. And then he creates a whole supplement things we take four times a day. And there's all sorts of adjustments every 90 days. And then the second one is the clinic in Buenos Aires that we will be going down again in November. And that's the stem cells. So yeah, so I mean we're good with each other on all levels, but it's keeping both of us healthy and fit. Dean: Yeah, keeping the racehorse healthy right. Dan: Keeping the races coming yeah exactly Right, right, right yeah. And then the team, the big thing is going to. We're going to make the four by four tool. So we just created the new book which you got. You came to your free zone, so casting that hiring, and we're going to make it every quarter. Every team member upgrades their own 4x4 and talks with their team about it, and the team leaders talk to Babs about it what they're doing. And just do this and get better at it, quarter by quarter, and I think that's going to really strengthen, really strengthen. You know, I mean our main capability and the third one with the entrepreneurs. The big thing my goal 20 years in the future is that the entire strategic coach program, all three levels, is in fact the free zone, and what we're doing now is that we're showing that every tool say, for example, the very first tool when people start coach is the lifetime extender, and that gives you a free zone, because the moment that you extend your life and have 20, 30, 50 extra years you weren't planning on. Yes, yeah, but the way you're looking at it is a free zone. Nobody else is looking at it this way and I already have proof after 30 years. So the lifetime extender has been there for 30 years, so the lifetime extender has been there for 30 years and I have proof now that I would say, on average, entrepreneurs are extending their working lifetime by probably 15 years as a result of that thinking exercise. Yeah, you know where they might be checking out at 60 or 65, know where they might be checking out at 60 or 65. Dean: Uh, they're pushing through to 80. So, yeah, it's very, it's really interesting to see just you know, being surrounded by your people in in strategic coach specifically, that are nobody's thinking about retirement, nobody's thinking about retirement, nobody's thinking about winding down or anything. You know, I think that's all part of you being the lead. You know the lead example the lead dog, the lead dog, exactly Moving into your ninth decade here with an aspiration to outperform your 70s, which was your greatest decade right. Dan: So that's on every level. Yeah, I would say, if you took any entrepreneurial gathering in the world, you know other programs or other associations and had the sort of the demographic mix that's the same as strategic coach, in other words, from, generally speaking, from your 30s to your 60s, generally, I mean that's where the majority of our clients would be. Strategic coach would be the only one where the word retirement is not used. Nobody ever talks about retirement Right exactly, and that's a free zone? Dean: Yeah, yeah, for sure. It's so great to watch too, to see just your momentum. I always tell you too, but I always tell people you're like the ghost of Christmas. Future 22 years ahead of me the ghost of Christmas future 22 years ahead of me, you know it's like you know, because I just love. It's so inspiring to me to see that you know, because a lot of times you start to think, okay, I'm 58 now and you know 60 is approaching, but then that's still. You know even the conversations that we've had about the. You know 60s approaching, but then that's still. You know even the conversations that we've had about the. You know 20 years now, if you take a 25 year framework and start another at 60, kind of thing, that's yeah, it's wide open fields, you know, and where we're where we are now. Who even knows? I had my mind blown the other day. I don't know whether you've seen or heard any examples of the Google Notebook. Dan: Yeah, a couple of our team members are working with it. I mean, they introduced it to me, I didn't introduce it to them. Yeah, I think it's. You know, I haven't tried it yet, but I think within the next quarter I will. I'll try it and it seems to me that it's a lot better format than having a chat bot that you ask questions you ask questions for sure. Dean: Yeah, I mean I heard for sure. Dan: Yeah, I mean, I heard, you know, I heard an example where they were taking apart, you know, a topic and they were just talking to each other and I found it more informative and more, what I would say stimulating to listen to the back and forth conversation than if I was asking a question or it was asking me a question. I just think it's a better format for bringing out the essence of three topic. Dean: And Dan. The realness of the voices and the inflection and the talking a little bit over each other, the interaction and the laughing and the jokes, like it blew my mind Like nothing I've ever seen Zero, I mean, it was just there. Every time I forward it to somebody, they're literally like you can't believe that this is AI, that this is not two humans talking right now and I just think I also read that, on the scale of things, we are at level two right now, on our way to level five, which is the AGI, you know, pinnacle or whatever, the super intelligence. Dan: So if you imagine that, you know how can I bring that up, Because I'm a firm, complete, total non-believer that there's such a thing as AGI. Okay, and the reason is because all intelligence is specific, it's all specific and there is. I mean, we've already created the agi. It's called god, you know, and it's been around for a long time yeah, no, but the whole point is not. I mean it would be meaningless because nobody would use AGI. Dean: What does AGI stand for? Dan: Well, it's Artificial General Intelligence. General Intelligence yeah right, yeah, but there is no general intelligence, there's just specific intelligence. It's just your interaction with something which stimulates your intelligence. Dean: You know, that's it, I mean. Dan: I have squirrels in the yard. You know, in Toronto I'm in Chicago today, but in Toronto we've got squirrels, we've got lots of oak trees and I just watch them. And you know, when it comes to acorns, my intelligence doesn't compare to what a squirrel can do with acorns. You know. They can go up the tree, they can shake a branch. Ten acorns come down. They come down, they gather them up. They got ten different. I have no comprehension how they do what they do. That's specific intelligence. Dean: Squirrel has specific intelligence. Dan: The oak trees have intelligence, no-transcript thing by talking yes, yeah anyway, but I love you know, and I think the terms of you know of applying iq to artificial intelligence is kind of meaningless Right. Because it's somehow that our intelligence and computer intelligence is the same thing going on, and I just don't think it is. Yeah, I think it's completely different. I think it's really fast computing. Dean: Yes, yeah. Dan: So that's my take on it. Dean: Yeah, so that's my take on it, yeah, but if that's, I mean if you, there's something happening and it is evolving, and we're two, you know, a month shy, six weeks shy, of it being two years old since chat GPT first came on the scene in November of 22. And so you'd think, if, just for context, if whatever level of amazement we're at right now is a two on a scale of five, whether we're calling five AGI or whatever, it is just the advance, the directional advance, is pretty, as they say, indistinguishable from magic you know. Dan: Yeah, question is what are you doing? What are you using it for? That's my question. Dean: I don't know what I'm using it for, like I'm really not. You know, that's the. I just have conversations sometimes with my juniper voice and I just recently switched to a British lady. You can switch the voices that you have the conversations with and I'm just kind of sitting with in my mind here. I think we're all woefully under utilizing it. You know like I think we're just to know, yeah. Dan: Yeah Well, I don't think we're underusing that, we just haven't found the use for it yeah, that's true. Well, that's true, that's true it's like there's some ideal use of it, but there isn't any ideal use search, too. Dean: I just look at it as like what would I, how would I treat it or what would I do if I personified it? You know, like I've been imagining Juniper being a real person and you know sitting beside me. Dan: Let's take the eight profit activators. Activators yeah. So, activators you've done complete walkthroughs of each of the activators. Dean: Yes, I have. Dan: Okay, take activator number one. What's activator number one? Dean: Select single target market Okay. Dan: Run it through Google Notebook and see what conversation comes out of it. Dean: Yeah. Dan: Okay, and then what do you learn? Dean Jackson, creator of the first, you know, the first activator. What are you learning there? My feeling is the first time you do it, you'll see all. I guess. Dean: If I imagine that the capability of me, you know, documenting, like you know you've heard the things of, you know like is everything you know written down somewhere. That's really what it comes down to right is if I were to convey, If I were to convey everything that I know about the, about the profit activators, into this language model, what I would love for it to be able to you know, take, do what I do in a way that it's doing the question asking. You know, like I think most of the things that I've seen so far are training up a language model, like loading up a language model but then saying isn't this great, Go ahead, ask it anything, but you've got to you and I talked about that. You've got to have batteries included. You know, you've got to be the one that now you're limited by your, your ability to ask the right questions, to draw it out, and I think it would be infinitely more valuable if we could train it to ask you questions, like I would ask you questions to see where the opportunity is within the profit activator. So I have a thing that I do called a 50-minute marketing sprint, and I basically go through the eight profit activators before, during, after we overlay it on your business and I teach people how to kind of think, how to divide their business into those categories, how to recognize what the driving you know metrics are for each of those and see where the opportunity is. And then, once you know, even with the we have the profit activator score card, using your scorecard model of the you know each of the eight that I think being able to interpret what somebody needs from that like if somebody's a four on profit activator number two, which is compel prospects to call you but they want to be a 12, that would be intelligent enough to say hey, Dan, it looks like you are. Say hey, Dan, it looks like you are. I mean, what we always say to people with the scorecards is you know, I'm looking for people who are clear on Profit Activator 1. They know who they want to attract and they're high on Profit Activator 5, which is deliver a dream come true experience for your prospects. But then they dip down in Profit Activator 2 and Profit Activator 4, which are, you know, compel your prospects to call you and make compelling offers. So I can help people bridge that gap If you know who you want and you can get them great results. Let's do this, let's take some, let's see how we can compel people to call you? Dan: Yeah, I think you're a week away. What I mean? A week away, actually two weeks. We're traveling next Sunday, but two weeks away, I think you're two weeks away from us having a conversation about your first experience of taking you know, creating a transcript for yourself and you can just walk through Profit Activator number one and then it's transcribed and then feed it into the notebook and it'll take it apart and create a conversation between two people. And then you get the recording back and you listen to it and it will take it apart and create a conversation between two people. And then you get the recording back and you listen to it. I bet you'll be very what I would say stimulated by the conversation that comes out and you'll learn three or four new things about how to explain profit activator number one. Dean: It's crazy. Dan: I mean, we did, I'm just telling you how I would approach it, and Hamish McDonald is doing it. I'm going to ask him. The book that we're writing right now, the first chapter, we have the transcript from it the recording. He'll just run it through and send me back for the recording. Okay, and see, I've got a smart human between me and the technology I'm just pointing out my approach to technology period I always have a smart human between you and the technology, but I'll get back to recording and I can listen to it. Okay, and yeah, I love that. I think you'll be, I think you'll be stimulated, I think I'll be stimulated. We can have a nice conversation about what our experiences were. Yeah, We've got an assignment for the next podcast. Dean: Wow, joe Polish and I, we did a Zoom this week with Cherie Dr Cherie Ong, joe's girlfriend, who's a vaginal plastic surgeon, and so we were talking about some marketing things for her and we went, so we did the Zoom. Joe had the honor transcript of the put it into that Google notebook. Transcript of the put it into that google notebook, and to hear this conversation about the conversation that we had was just, it was amazing. I mean, it really was. Dan: Yeah, it was, it's just something yeah, yeah, I mean, I have about you know not what you're talking about, but a different ai experience is every day I have two or three things that just occur to me and where I might have gone to google before I go to perplexity yeah, because google is a search and google is a search engine and perplexity is an answer engine, and there's a big difference between answers and searches. Okay, yeah, and yeah, I did one, because I'm creating this new tool which is called. We haven't talked about that yet, but how you're always luckier is the name of the tool. Okay, so I put in a perplexity 10 significant ways that successful entrepreneurs consider themselves lucky. That's my prompt for and five seconds later I had yeah, and it was useful. It was very useful. Like you know, they're very alert and curious about possible opportunities. You know they're very alert and curious about possible opportunities. That's one way that you know that entrepreneurs prepare themselves for luck. Ok, they have connections with you know creative people. They have connections with creative. So there's 10 of them, you know 10 of them, and I said that's very gratifying. I found that very gratifying, and I also have the suspicion that my prompts are sort of unique, so I'm getting a whole set of unique answers back. Okay, so there was another one. There's this general narrative out there that, because of the political polarization in the United States, that we were on the brink of civil war, and I said perplexity, give me 10 reasons why, in the midst of this political polarization, in 2024, there won't be a second civil war. Five seconds later I got the answer and they were all very plausible. There's absolutely almost nothing in common between 2024 and 1860. You see, it's just news media people with probably too much college education creating new theories. And you realize that, when it comes to getting things done outside of government, the United States is basically going on as normal. It's just things are being sold, things are being created, things are being shipped new ideas are being explored and everything like that. So, I've got this relationship with perplexity, that any topic comes along, I says perplexity, tell me 10 things about this, and then I get my 10 things back. So I've got a new book. One of the new quarterly books is coming up. Dean: It's the 10 reasons for anything. I like that. Dan: Yeah, and that is that anything you can mention. There's probably 10 reasons for it Maybe 100 reasons, but there's at least 10 reasons. You know 10 reasons why Dean Jackson and Dan Sullivan like talking to each other. Right, I bet there's 10. Dean: At least yeah. Did you ask the follow-up question? Dan? Did you ask the question of what are 10 reasons that there might be a civil war? Dan: I would, but I'm not looking for that. Dean: Right, right, right. I just wonder if they can build the argument the other way too. Dan: Oh, sure, sure sure, although perplexity is kind of, I haven't noticed any real bias yet. I've been working with it for six months and I haven't noticed any bias. They simply answer your prompt on the basis of what you wanted to explore and it explores it. But I wouldn't be interested in 10 reasons why there might be a civil war. Dean: Right but. Dan: I think perplexity would come back and say I'm sorry, but my information doesn't allow me to actually explain that Right. Yeah, it does not compute. Yeah, and you know, a couple of times it's come back and say there just isn't enough bases to support. You know the answer that you're looking for. Dean: Right, right, right. Do you use chat GPT for anything different than? Dan: what you use. Dean: Never used it oh okay so you use perplexity as the main thing right, that's it yeah. I'm a monogamous guy. Dan: I'm a monogamous guy. You want to? Dean: have that. Dan: Why would I have two? Dean: I mean, it's like having two wives. You want to grant someone a monopoly right, yeah, and then go deep with it. Dan: Then get really good at that. One thing I'll use this. I'll use the Google notebook, but I won't be the one doing it. Somebody else is going to be doing it for me. Dean: Yes, exactly Me too, that's, I've got Glenn doing that and that's really it's pretty amazing. We're right now on the thing of Okay, we have homework, we have homework. I'll get it done you get it done. Okay, and then? Dan: we'll talk about our. We'll talk about our results. Dean: Yes. Dan: We'll have as a matter of fact fact, we'll get them back and you can send me yours and I'll send you. Know, you just send the link and I'll send the link to mine and you can. Yes, I'll listen to yours, you'll listen to mine, and then we'll have a roaring conversation now. Dean: So what was the question? You wanted me to ask it again. So I'm feeding in Profit Activator 1 and then just seeing what the conversation is. Dan: Right yeah. What is the Google notebook conversation related to? Dean: I think what I'll do is I'll do the 50-minute marketing sprint and see what they say. I think that'll be amazing, yes. Dan: Yeah. Dean: That's pretty smart, you know I think it's not named properly. Dan: Google Notebook. I don't think it's named properly. It should be called the eavesdropping. Dean: Yes, exactly. Dan: No, I mean, wouldn't you like over here two people talking about Dean Jackson's? Dean: This is what's amazing is to hear them. Dan: You're eavesdropping on two very positive people talking in an excited way about your thinking. I mean, who wouldn't want to eavesdrop on that? Dean: Yeah, so, joe, I loaded up episode one of the I Love Marketing podcast and it came back. I mean it was so great to tell the. It was telling the story, so we do a deep dive. It's a conversation between two giants in the marketing world. Dean and Joe, two giants in the marketing world Dean and Joe and they're telling the stories about how they got started and how their earliest jobs really led the foundation. I mean to hear these things talking about it like they're just kind of enthusiastically. Dan: You know, can I tell you something? I think this is the end of social media at the intelligent level, the whole point of social media from the standpoint of Mark Zuckerberg, or anybody else that they've got your attention. This takes your attention away from them. This takes your attention away from them. This takes your attention away from them. Yeah, I mean, I've never been on social media, but I have observed that you're giving your attention away to somebody else. Okay, yes, yes, and with that, you're returning your attention to what's interesting to you. Yeah, you've just created something that's unique, okay. So, Dean takes Profit Activator number one, puts it into Google Notebook Okay, and it comes back with a totally uniquely produced conversation between two AI voices, strictly on Dean's thinking. My feeling is you've returned your attention. I think you've returned your attention to yourself. Dean: I think you're right and it's funny because we're going to take that now, take that conversation that they had and put it through another AI that will create supporting video. I've had this idea of doing the I Love Marketing podcast, which was my idea was to go back to the first 100 episodes and do a commentary on them, but I think that it might be fascinating to do you know, I love marketing AI to have the Google notebook do their summary on each of the first 100 episodes. It really is a really good 10 minute. 10 minute deep dive, as they say. Dan: Yeah, well, it's you know, to me it's really but I think what if you choose to apply this in a way that's beneficial to yourself? Dean: Yeah. Dan: I think you want your own thinking coming back at you, being discussed by two other people. Dean: Yeah that's. I love that. I really do. Like you're absolutely right, it's so. Yeah, it's a moving sidewalk for sure. Like it's definitely a catalyst for connective thinking, you know, to then have a conversation, yeah yeah, but anyway, it's really. Dan: I think it's really neat. You know, one thing that really occurs to me is the wow factor that everybody's talking about. Gee, it's just like human with a high IQ. No, it isn't. It's just a further advancement of technology. Dean: That's all it is. We've been living this. Dan: We've been living this. Humans have been living this forever. This is just a new extension of technology. Dean: It isn't magical. Dan: It isn't human, you know, it's just technological. I had a lot of religion when I was a kid and I can tell when other people are starting to get religious with technology. Dean: Uh-huh right. Dan: I said, you know, when people don't have religion as children, they tend to try to create it out of other experience when they get older. Dean: Yeah, that's true. So you have a. You got a big week this week coming. Dan: No, I just have one. I have a free zone on. Tuesday and I'm starting my next. I'm just starting my next round of connector calls. Dean: Okay, yeah, I'll have to look at the calendar when our next connector call is and get on board. Dan: Well, not free zone, but I have a 10 times connector call at 1030 your time tomorrow morning. Oh, okay, yeah. And this is where I'm testing out strengthening your strengths for the first time. Dean: Okay, oh, that's why it's hot off the press. Well, I mean I. There's a greater than zero percent chance that I might fly up to chicago for to get out of here. Dan: So we'll see when's it supposed to hit tampa? Dean: well, tuesday, wednesday, will be the peak fall, so we'll see it it supposed to hit Tampa. When's it supposed to hit Tampa? Well, tuesday, wednesday will be the peak fall, so we'll see it's supposed to. You know, form more, get more structure and stuff today, so they'll see what the expected path is and stuff. It could go further north or south, or it could fizzle out. You never know. Dan: Yeah, yeah. The news media loves this stuff, you know. So drama, you know, and they've got a narrative going now. These are the worst hurricanes in American history. I said no, they're just hitting more populated areas. Dean: Oh man Well now you know the whole conspiracy, now that is, that was enhanced hurricane, that they manipulated the weather, dan, and pushed it yeah, to North Carolina because they want. It just so happens that all these mountain towns. Dan: They want a lot of people not voting Republican. Dean: Well, they want the lithium underneath there. The mountain areas there sit on the highest concentrations of lithium in the world. Dan: We're talking real conspiracy here. Dean: Oh, yeah, yeah, no, that's exactly it. We're talking about like weaponized weather, to shut down, to make Asheville the next smart city. Dan: And I'll tell you something that there is actually something unique about North Carolina, that the finest quartz in the world that go into microchips, the finest quartz comes from one town in North Carolina. Dean: Yeah, I mean in the world. Dan: I'm talking. Well, this is not lithium, it's quartz, I mean maybe there's also lithium there, it's the same thing, yeah. But that town's been going for 30, 40 years, you know and everything else else. But it's really interesting that the finest grade quartz just comes from a mountain in one little town in north carolina, I think that's an interesting fact, it's proof of rule number three that's so funny, it's true. Number three is rule number three is there are no rules, no rules, no. Life's not fair. Dean: Life's not fair, right, sorry, right. Everything is made up, nobody's in charge and life isn't fair, that's right. Dan: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So yeah, you get those down pat and you know, you know, and life gets real simple. Dean: Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. I love it simple. Dan: Yeah, absolutely, absolutely I love it. Do you know the american one dollar bill, the left hand side of the american, backside you? Know, it's got the pyramid. Huh got one there I don't have paper bill I don't know. Dean: I don't think I have paper bill. No, I don't have one. Dan: I have lots. I have ATMs in my closet. I have ATMs in shoe boxes. I've got ATMs in the freezer compartment. I always have cash, but that's very interesting. But you see the pyramid there. That's the three rules. Dean: Oh, it's made up. Dan: Everything's made up. Everything's made up. That's one side of the pyramid. The other side to that second side, nobody's in charge. And number three is life's not fair. Dean: And if you get that, you're a happy American. And the I is. We're always watching. Dan: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, see if you've been good or bad, that's exactly right. Dean: That's exactly right, yeah. Dan: I love it Well anyway, we both have assignments. Dean: I'm excited about that. Dan: First thing tomorrow morning and it'll be really interesting. But I'll just go to Hamish, because Hamish is playing with it already and it's really great. And yeah, this is a neat site. We can have our listeners out there do the same thing, you know. Dean: I love it. Dan: I'm going to go to Perplexity and say tell me the 10 most important things about Google Notebook. Oh, very good yeah I like that Because I bet perplexity has a better notion of what it does than Google does. Dean: I wonder if perplexity I'm going to ask perplexity give me the top 10 things or top 10 ways I should be using you, the top 10 ways you could be useful to me. Dan: I asked it, the R factor question, you know the perplexity. I said perplexity if we were having this discussion three years from today and you're looking back over the three years, what has to happen for you to feel happy with your progress? Okay, okay. Five seconds later I had it Okay. And then I said what are the 10 biggest obstacles to you being happy with your progress? And then it said at the end if I solve these 10, if I overcome these 10 biggest obstacles, I'll be very happy with my progress. Obstacles I'll be very happy with my progress. That was a good answer. Dean: That was a good answer. Yeah, that's great, I'm going to do that. That's funny. I'm going to see what they say. Well, so next week you're traveling, and then so two weeks. Dan: Yeah, we're up to the cottage for Thanksgiving, which is and so, but we go up on Thursday, we have the big dinner on Saturday night and Babs and I come back to the city on Sunday. Dean: Drive back on Sunday. Yeah, yeah, okay, yeah, so Monday. Dan: Monday's the holiday, but right, yep. So two, two, two Sundays. Yeah, all right, you got homework I got homework, got homework, absolutely I'll talk to you soon, okay, bye.

In this episode of Cloudlandia, we explore how weather predictions and media sensationalism influence public views, especially regarding storms like impending Tropical Storm Debbie. Drawing on past hurricanes and climate patterns, we examine the normalized perceptions of living with these events.  Additionally, we delve into the evolution of creativity through technology and mind-altering substances. From early stone tools to therapeutic uses of psychotropics today, innovation is traced alongside historical cultural explosions. Comparisons are drawn between eras like the 1960s and perceptions of creativity now.  These chapters emerge from a common thread of challenging assumptions, spanning climate activism, human creative drives, and digital changes. SHOW HIGHLIGHTS Dan and I discuss preparing for Tropical Storm Debbie in Florida and the normalization of living with hurricanes. We delve into how media influences public perception of weather events and examine Bjorn Lomborg's critique of climate activism, discussing resilient polar bears and the myth of the Maldives sinking. We explore the evolution of technology and creativity, from early stone tools to the influence of mind-altering substances on human history. We question whether the creative explosion of the 1960s was an anomaly and consider if today's society is experiencing a creative drought. Insights from a recent Joe Rogan and Jordan Peterson podcast are shared, focusing on the impact of psychotropics on human culture and creativity. The conversation transitions to the benefits of the carnivore diet and personal experiences with diet changes, including the use of air fryers for cooking meat. We highlight the importance of critical thinking and self-interpretation in navigating the abundance of unfiltered information available today. Platforms like Real Clear Politics and Perplexity are discussed as valuable tools for accessing diverse perspectives and balanced information. We note that major corporations have yet to profit from AI investments, despite substantial funding, and discuss the potential reasons behind this trend. The episode concludes with a reflection on the importance of discerning what information to allow into our thinking, emphasizing the responsibility we have in the age of information unfiltered. Links: WelcomeToCloudlandia.com StrategicCoach.com DeanJackson.com ListingAgentLifestyle.com TRANSCRIPT (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors) Dean: Mr Sullivan, mr Jackson, welcome to Cloudlandia. Dan: And I hope you're enjoying all the extraordinary benefits of your own four seasons. Dean: I really am. We're battening down the hatches. We're just getting ready for Tropical Storm Debbie, which is making its way through the Gulf of Mexico, beating towards the coast of Florida. Dan: And it's so funny, yeah, yeah. Dean: So it won't be. It's apparently it's going to be a lot of rain and wind and stuff for us. You know I'm so I'm very close to the highest point in peninsular Florida, so we're not going to get flooding, we're on high dry. Dan: That puts you at about 60 feet above sea level. Right, you know it's so funny. It is funny I think I can see. Dean: Let's see sea level reading. There's, yeah, the highest point in. Florida is three feet above sea level, which is Bock Tower, which you've been to, and so, yeah, so we're sitting here ready to go. But you would never know, dan, what's coming, because right now it's still. It's slightly overcast, but it's still. Yesterday was beautiful, today slightly overcast. You'd never know what was coming if it wasn't for the big. You know buzzsaw visuals in the news right now, but seeing it marking its way and with a huge, wide swath of the path of the potential storm, you know. Dan: When you first moved there, did it take you a while to get to normalize the fact that, yes, we get tropical storms, we get hurricanes. Dean: Yeah, Exactly Did it take you? Dan: two or three times before you said oh well, I guess it's just normal. Dean: It is normal, that's exactly right, and every year you know what I would say. It's so funny that there's never a year in memory that I can remember somebody saying, or the news media saying should be a light year for hurricanes, this year Doesn't sell newspaper or drink advertising. Dan: I remember, after Katrina, but Katrina didn't really hit it for it. It hit Louisiana. Dean: Yeah right. Dan: But I remember the alarmist saying well, every year it's going to get worse. Now and then there was almost a year, maybe two years, when they didn't have any hurricanes at all. Dean: Yeah, exactly that's what's so funny, right? It's like the things like you know, and it is funny how the whole, how it all has cycles you know, because California, you know, had the. You know everybody's talking about the water levels in California. Now you just it's all reported right now that you know Lake Tahoe is at the highest maximum allowable level for Ever, ever, yes, exactly, it's at its peak, it could be poor flooding. Yeah, exactly, it's like 15 feet off of the highest level allowed and because of all of the snow cap melting and all the stuff. But anyway, it's just so. You know, I definitely see those. It's all part of the balance for our minds, you know yeah, it was really interesting. Dan: Did you ever read bjorn lawnberg? He's, uh, danish. He started off as a you know you know a card carrying climate. You know, I don't know what you call them. I guess they're called climate activists. Dean: Okay, yeah. Dan: I feel that I'm very activated by the climate, so I don't know, what the distinction is there. Are you activated by the climate? I am, you know. When the climate is this way, I'm activated this way, and when the climate's a different way, I'm activated a different way. He wrote an amazing article in the Wall Street Journal. I think it was Wednesday and this past Wednesday, and he just points out that, first of all, the whole climate activism movement is an industry. There's a lot of jobs that are financed by the climate. It might be in the millions the number of people who make money off of doomsday predictions about the climate. So whenever a movement, someone once said everything starts off as a cause and it's just the people emotionally involved. In other words, they said we're not paying attention to this, we have to pay more attention to this. But then when government gets involved, it becomes a movement because large amounts of government money start flowing in a particular direction and then it becomes an industry. The fourth stage is it becomes a racket. I think we're in the climate racket period right now. Yeah, but Bjorn Lomborg was going back to 20, 25 years ago when he had a revelation that the climate does change. But he says that's the nature of the climate. The very nature of the climate is that the climate changes. But he said the first, if you'll remember this, with Al Gore, this was right around when he lost. Dean: Yeah, it was right around 2001. Dan: Yeah, yeah, he was right after the 2000 election Right 2000 election and I suspect he needed some money. So he started the movement and he used the polar bear as an example. There was this one polar bear who was just floating on a very small ice sheet, you know. And they said, you know the bears will be gone within 20 years because of the warming. It turns out the population in the last 20 years has doubled. The number of polar bears has doubled, even though it's gotten warmer. According to the climate racket people, it's gotten warmer, but the polar bears, you know, have been around forever. I guess they know how to adapt to changing conditions. Dean: They were all grizzly bears. Dan: They were all grizzly bears at one time. I don't know if you know that. Dean: I did not. That's where they started. Dan: Yeah. They found the white yeah, they rebranded it as polar bears, I guess extended their territory and that was it, so they've doubled since Al Gore's warning. And then the other thing was that the let's see, there's two more. Well, I'll mention number three. Number three is that all the low islands in the Indian Ocean were going to sink below sea level. The sea level was going to flood the Maldives and some of the other things, and for the most part, all of them have expanded their landmass in the last 20 years. They've actually gotten bigger. They've increased their height above sea level by possibly six inches. Dean: Oh man. Dan: You'd appreciate that. Living in Florida, so it hasn't happened. The other one was the deaths from warming. Last year in the United States I don't know if it was last year or the year before, I don't know if it was last year or the year before 25 times more people died of extreme cold than died of extreme heat. So if you're a betting man, I call it the Gore factor, that if Al Gore says something, bet the other way. Dean: Ah right. Dan: Yeah, yeah, this is you know. Dean: The man is impossibly rich because of his creating a movement, creating an industry, and now it's a racket. Yeah, I mean, it's amazing how invisible he is now. I mean he really is like I haven't seen or heard anything from Al Gore. I can't remember the last time. Dan: Well, it's passive income now. Dean: Right, just stay quiet, stay low. Dan: Just stay quiet, just stay quiet. The dollars just keep rolling in yeah, yeah. But it's interesting. My suspicion is I've been thinking about this because I'm writing my next quarterly book. We just wrapped up Casting Not Hiring, which will come out in September this one with Jeff Madoff, this one with Jeff and it really really worked. This book really worked the Casting Not Hiring but the next one is going to be called Timeless. Technology, and the idea here is that technology is a way of thinking. It's not so much particular technology, but it's a way, and my been that it's actually one of the crucial factors. Technological thinking is one of the crucial factors that differentiates humans from the other species, and what I mean by that it's the intentional and yet unpredictable utilizing stuff from our environment to enhance our capabilities. Dean: And. Dan: I did a search on perplexity what would be reckoned from perplexity doing a search of what would be sort of the 10 early breakthroughs, the technological breakthroughs, and one of them was just stones that you could throw. You could pick up a stone and throw it and it actually changed how the human body evolved. Is that the ability of using our hand and our arm and getting that tremendous arm strength that you can throw a stone and, you know, kill something. Right Kill an animal or kill it. Kill another human yeah, and everything. Dean: I wonder even about that, the evolution of technology, like that, like thinking a rock and then realize that, hey, if I just chisel this away now I make this sharp on this end. Dan: And now all of a sudden we got an axe, you know yeah, and then actually they think that glue was an early adaption, that you could take sticks and stones and put them together. You could glue things together and you could actually. So they looked for probably really sticky saps or something from trees you know that they would use. Then pottery, of course, and it's interesting with pottery that the very earliest samples that we have. clearly they took clay and made it into some sort of cup or yeah, a bowl of some sort, but whenever they find it and it goes back hundreds of thousands of years they can detect alcohol. They can detect that there was alcohol, which kind of shows you how early that must have been. Consciousness transformer that's what I call alcohol. It's a consciousness transformer, would you not say? Dean: Yeah, I mean I was listening to Joe Rogan. I had Jordan Peterson on his podcast just recently. Dan: That's a good podcast partnership. Dean: Yeah, yeah, and he was talking about the, you know psychotropics and the things that are. You know that psilocybin and all the all of those things, marijuana was all what was sort of responsible for the revolutionary change that happened. You know the difference from the fifties to the sixties and his thing was, you know, in the mid to late 60s. You know that's what started the whole. Every single one of those things was made schedule one, narcotic and illegal and completely controlled right, and that his thing is that we haven't seen anything revolutionary, like any kind of change happening from since then, since the 60s, into now. Dan: Which kind of indicates that it's good enough? Dean: Well, it's just kind of funny. You know, like that, you wonder what the you know where he was kind of going with that, but he was using as an example like the creativity in the 60s, like he talked about the difference of the car. Even the cars and the things, the designs of things that were being made in the 60s are iconic and desirable and different than, like you compared to, you know, a camaro or the muscle car, this, the corvette, and the things in the 60s compared to like nobody wants your 19 camaro. That's not desirable at all, not in the the way that the 60s, Except maybe NASCAR. Dan: Except NASCAR, I think Camaros have a very niche use because they're really souped up. Mark Young, his team has won. At the latest count, his team had won three races this year so far. Discount this team had won three races this year so far and he was talking about it at the podcast dinner that we had after doing the podcast, the four-person podcast. But Camaros always play a very active role. They establish themselves as this amazing niche, you know, souped up, NASCAR type of car. But I really take what you're saying there that there's been no blockbuster new designs of cars that have really you know that you think that they'll still be around. In other words, these are real breakthrough cars. Yeah, Just going a little deeper into the Joe Rogan, Peterson, the Jordan. Dean: Peterson conversation. Dan: Did they go any deeper into why the creativity was then? But the creativity hasn't gone any further. Dean: Well, I think it was Joe's sort of. You know, I'm halfway through the podcast right now, but his basic assertion was that those access to those drugs or those not I will call I use the word drugs those, those we could say technologies are new. Access to those things opened up the part of the brain that is creative linkers, like that that's really they're saying all the way back, like going, if you take it all the way back evolutionarily, that they believe, like what you just said, back in, as far back as they go, there's access. You know they're seeing alcohol in, yeah, as mind-altering things. They would revere mushrooms, mushrooms were abundant and things that were mind-altering. And you think through all of these things, even in Indian or Native lore, that the peyote and the things that were, that part of a trip out of reality is a rite of passage or a thing that activates another part of your brain. You know, makes the connections that aren't otherwise accessible. Dan: Yeah, I'm totally, you know, I'm convinced that's probably true. Dean: And I think that we're starting to see now that these hallucinogenic what do we call it? Not hallucinogenics, but psychotropics. What's the right word for? Dan: it Psychotropic, I think. Dean: Yeah, so whatever now in treatment of PTSD and addiction and all of these beneficial things that are coming as part of using it therapeutically and but because it's just now starting to become more accessible or more active, it used to be like you've always heard we you and I both know a lot of people that have gone down the Iowa or the you know version and have had, you know, all sort of mind altering experiences doing that. I've never done it, yeah. Dan: I mean, I mean, it was very interesting. I was at Richard Rossi's Da Vinci 50. This was the last one I was I think it was february and scottsdale and two or three there. We had two or three coach clients there who were just doing a look. See, you know if they wanted to join the previewing and they were having a conversation about psychotropic drugs and they asked me if I had experimented and I said you mean, right beyond dealing with my own brain every day? You mean I said I have to tell you I don't have time for that stuff. Just dealing with my own brain every day is sure, you know, it's a full-time job. You know, because it's switching, it's switching channels continually and it takes a full-time job. You know, because it's switching channels continually and it takes a lot of work to get it focused on something useful. Yeah, I just wonder about that because it's when one of the political parties went really strange. I noticed the Democrats, since, well, kamala seems to me to be a sympathetic candidate for the president. Dean: Unbelievable, this is all craziness. Dan: Yeah, yeah, but they're using the word weird to describe the Republicans. Dean: Yeah. Dan: If there was ever a weird party. I mean, this is sheer projection, this is psychological projection. You know of weird, you know. Dean: Yeah, but it's amazing. Dan: That's when the Democratic Party changed, and it changed quite radically. I remember speaking about you know, psychedelics. I was in the army in Korea for two years. Us Army. Dean: And. Dan: I came back to the West Coast. When we flew back, we went into Seattle. I had a brother who was a professor at University of San Francisco, so I took a jump down to San Francisco before I flew back to my home in Ohio and he said I'm going to show you something really interesting. And he took me to Haight-Ashbury. This is the summer that Haight-Ashbury, San Francisco, became really famous and it was the beginning of the whole hippie movement. And he walked me around and I could tell by interacting with him that he wasn't just an observer, you know that, he was actually a participant. And he didn't do him any good, because he eventually dropped out of, you know, being a professor and became more or less a vagrant. Dean: Tune in turn on drop out. Dan: Yeah well, he dropped out. He dropped out and then, about I would say, 12 years later, he committed suicide. Oh, no, and yeah, I mean, he's the one real casualty in my family. But I remember him how unreal his conversations were starting to become when I talked to him about this. You know this, and he was never and he was very smart. He was very smart I mean before that he was very bright and he was sort of practical and he became a professor, a university professor. Dean: That says something right there. Yeah, yeah. Dan: Yeah and anyway. But that was my first awareness, that was my first introduction to it. I mean, I mean I didn't drink alcohol until I was 27 years old. I never drank until I was 27. Wow, I'll have a glass of wine, that I'll do anything, but I've never I've never actually enjoyed. I had pot a couple of times back in the early 60s, 70s and I found it disconnected me from other people. Alcohol does just the opposite. Alcohol kind of connects you. It does just the opposite. It kind of disconnects you and so it's very definitely. it's a reality since that period of time. But the one thing I want to say is that there's a really interesting thing the Democratic Party, up until the late 60s, was the party of the working class you know, working class, blue collar workers, and they had a real disaster in 1968 because they had huge riots in Chicago. So it's interesting In two weeks they'll be in Chicago and I think they've done one previous convention in Chicago. I think one of Obama's conventions was in Chicago. But anyway, they made a decision that they were no longer the working class and I think it was the result of all the tremendous growth of the student population as a result of the baby boomer generation. So between between, I think, 1940s, when the baby boomer generation starts to 64. Ok, and that would be 18 years there were I think it was, I don't know the exact number, but there was like 75 million babies who were born during that period and the front end of them were going to university in the 60s boomer generation. And so they saw the party start looking. Well, these are our future voters. They're not blue collar workers, they're college students and graduates and professors, and then the entire new working cadre. They're all going to be professionals. They're going to be professionals. And they changed their entire focus in 1960. I think it was in 1969 or 70. George McGovern, who was a senator at that time, did a commission and said we're no longer the party of the working class. And and so they're not, you know, 65 years later. And it's funny because the Republicans were always considered sort of the Pluto class, they were the class of the rich people, and now they've just shipped positions. So 60 years later, it's the billionaires and it's the college professors and media people and the bureaucratic class the government bureaucrats they're the Democrats. And the working class class the government bureaucrats they're the Democrats and the working class is the Republicans. Dean: Yeah, the Midwestern. Yeah, that's true, yeah yeah, yeah yeah. Dan: And Trump is the working class billionaire. Dean: Yes, that's true. I wanted to say it is kind of I'll use the word weird. What is kind of weird about this increased use of the word weird to describe the Republicans now is that it's so widespread. It's like the it's the Democratic talking point now. Like I love the videos now that kind of expose, the, you know, the Democrat party line sort of thing, and it happens on both sides actually. But I mean this idea of that, you know, with the media, all the soundbites are, you know, planting that thought that Republicans are weird, that this is weird. Dan: They're testing it. It's just that it's. I think it's hard for them to say it plausibly. There's no traditional values that the Democrats represent. Yeah, but it's interesting. And now I'm especially interested in your Joe Rogan, Jordan Peterson podcast. Dean: And I'm going to watch that after. Dan: Watch that and Jordan Peterson I think I mean the two people together is a very interesting partnership for a podcast, because I think Jordan Peterson is, you know, came out of the university class. He was a professor here in Toronto and where he became. He became very famous for his book, which was basically very popular Rules for life you know, like before you leave your bedroom in the morning, make your bed and, yeah, stand up straight. You know, stand up straight and when you visit with your, your friends and meet their parents, be the sort of person that their parents would like to have come back as a guest. Pretty basic, fundamental rules of life. But then he really became infamous, if you want to call it that here in Toronto, because he had a real objection to the whole university class saying that people could be whatever gender they wanted to be, and they could self-identify, and they were opposed to the he and her or he and she thing, and he said no, he said I'm not going to do that. He said if it's a female, I'm going to call her she. And they said oh, this is an attack. This is an attack on equality. This is an attack on diversity. This is an attack on inclusion. So he became very famous and it actually ultimately had forced him his hand to leave the university. He was called up and they said we're going to take away your professional degree and everything like that. Right, right, okay, which you know. I think there's something weird about that. Dean: I mean just my own opinion here, but yeah and I think Joe knows him. Dan: I think he's had Joe's had conversations. Joe Polish has had conversations with Jordan Peele. But all his videos where he's being interviewed by people who obviously don't like him, he comes off really well. He comes off as the sort of sane, rational person in all the you know, in all his interviews. I enjoy watching him. He strikes me as being kind of on the depressed side. You know he seems not to. I think he's a psychologist. I think that by training. And anyway, but I think it's interesting because this all started with the conversation of alcohol on the ancient pottery. Dean: Yeah. Dan: You know our thing here, but I think that probably throughout history, generation by generation, place after place, they found substances which can alter their consciousness, and I think it's probably been with human beings forever. Dean: Yeah, these whole. You're absolutely right, that whole yeah. Dan: It's not as good as steak for breakfast. Dean: No, I'll tell you what Dan. Dan: I have Steak for breakfast. Steak for breakfast. I just started it 12 days ago and it makes a big difference. Dean: You've started Carnivore. Dan: Well, not Carnivore, but I just don't have Cheerios for breakfast. Dean: Ah, right, right, Protein for breakfast. Yeah, I've been this week has been because I've been leaning more and more, as you know, working with jj on prioritizing pro no, babs was telling me about your call, abs was telling me about your call yesterday yeah and your air dryer. Dan: Your air, my air fryer. Dean: Yeah, and I'll tell you your air fryer and I made yesterday, yesterday for the first time, the most amazing ribeye in the air fryer. That was so juicy and delicious it was and so easy. I mean literally. I took the ribeye, I put salt and pepper and just a little bit. Dan: Yes, came out just like so your adventures get around you. Now I know, yeah, you're absolutely right. Dean: But I mean that's just, it's so good, who knew? Dan: Yeah, I mean yeah, it was I texted that. Dean: Well, we've got the whole. I'm very fortunate that you see second hand through, babs, but you know there's been a real support network, a gathering of what we're lovingly calling Team Dean on a text thread, and so I texted a picture of that last night to the group. Dan: Let's keep Dean in the mainland for a while, right? Dean: We don't want him drifting off into Glanlandia for eternity At least until we can get my mind melded up there somehow, right, but this week has been a breakthrough. Like this week I've been, this is the first week of full carnivore, like only meat. Oh so I started on Monday and it's been, you know, an interesting thing. But I had my highest weight loss week since we've been doing this by by this and I actually feel great. It took a couple of days to kind of get through the Van Allen belt of carbohydrate craving, you know. But now that I'm in, I'm through, I'm out of the atmosphere, I'm kind of floating that I think I can do this, you know, perpetually here for a while, and one of the reasons yeah, yeah Well. Dan: yeah well, I mean you talk about the air fryer, but there's a direct connection between the management of fire and your air fryer. you know, I mean hundreds of thousands of years and the human, the first humans who got a handle on fire. You know, it happened, probably accidentally, it was a lightning strike or something. But then they began to realize once we have fire, let's find a way of keeping it going. So we have access and that was a huge jump, because eating raw meat almost uses as many calories as you're getting from the meat, In other words you really have to work to digest. Let's call it steak. You know the steak. It takes a lot of calories to digest it. You really have to work to digest it but once they added fire to the mix and you could cook the food it made it much easier to digest and you got your calories much easier, yeah, but the other thing is that it's filling it's very filling, I mean the more carnivore you are, the less you're attracted to the sugar. That's the truth, easy caps. I mean, I don't feel particularly hungry. I had breakfast around 8 o'clock this morning Steak. I have steak and avocado. Okay, it's ribeye, but we're going to get. As a result of your yesterday information, babs is going to get an air fryer. We're going to get an air fryer, and then Stephen Poulter had even more. Dean: I saw that. He put up a fancy thing, exotic thing you would know that Stephen tracked it down, because that's what Stephen does. Dan: Yeah, but it's very interesting this getting enough calories to do interesting mind work. It's about if you're going to. I read a report that one of the great advantages of North America is right from the beginning. Right from when the first people came to the East Coast, they had a lot of protein right from the beginning. There was lots of game. There was lots of fish, you know. They had a lot of game and Americans have. Except for two periods of history, during the Revolutionary War and, I think, great Depression, americans have always had as many calories as they wanted. But there's a reading that high-level mental work requires roughly, you know, in the neighborhood of above 2,000 calories a day. You have to have 2,000 calories to be doing mental work. Dean: That's interesting. Dan: Yeah, yeah. And North America, the US and Canada have always had enormous amount of calories, protein calories, you know. So you can do hard labor, you can do high level of mental work. Makes for an industrious, you know, makes for an industrious population. Dean: Yeah, yeah, that's really you know. Jordan Peterson has been carnivore for five years. Dan: He's been carnivore for five years, yeah to save his life really. Dean: Right. Dan: And he mentioned that. Dean: you know he looks at when the that everything got shifted when they came out with the food pyramid in the 70s, that was not by any nutritionist but by the agriculture department to get people getting grains and breads and stuff as the foundation of a healthy lifestyle, healthy nutrition plan. Dan: That sounds like a four-stage cause movement, industry, racket. Racket yeah, I think it's now at the racket stage yeah, you know I mean halfway when we go. We were at the cottage for the last two weeks and halfway to the cottage is tim hortons. Tim hortons, okay, and I will tell you, based on your present heading in life, dean, you've probably been to your last Tim Hortons, because there's nothing in there that's actually good for you. Dean: Right, right, right, right. Yeah, that's true, isn't it? Dan: I mean that's something I call it Tim Hortons, where white people go to get whiter. Dean: Oh man, Do you go up 400 when you go to the cottage, Like do you go past? No, we go 404. Dan: We go 404. Dean: Okay, so you don't go by Weber's. Dan: No, weber's is good, weber's is a high-protein, but that's what I mean. You don't pass that on your way to your cottage. Dean: You're one freeway over on your way to york, got it, you're one. We go one freeway over right, right, right. Yeah, I got it. Yeah, that's interesting, but that you know there's a great example what a canadian institution you know tim horton's corner, really it's, uh, it's funny, yeah, but I had a thought about, you know, jordan Peterson being. You know like I think that where the revolution has really discussion of is this the best of times or the worst of times? My thought was that the battle for our minds is the thing. Yes, you're absolutely right, but just like cancel culture, I think we're in a period where our access to more information that's not being just packaged and filtered for us. We have access to unfilled information, and I think that you're seeing a resurgence, that we're moving towards in big swaths of categories, that the consensus, things that actually make a difference, and that we have access to more and more people who can do that, plus the diagnostic tools that we have support and show which methodologies are the most. And we're starting to see that in. You know, just like cancel culture was able to, the reason that we brought on cancel culture is that the consensus we were able to, everything was being exposed. You know that more people had a voice to say to, to the checks and balances kind of thing of being observed, and that when people find out things, you know you've got access to that. So I see things like nutrition, like it's like I'm noticing a trending, you know, more examination of christ, of Christianity as a thing that's becoming more mainstream as well, and that's just an observation of you know, seeing all these things. You know. Dan: yeah, One of the things that's really interesting is the variety of choices that you can make that actually cancel out a whole other part of where the information or news is coming out. You know, for example, I haven't as I mentioned, I haven't watched television at all for now more than six years, and so what ABC thinks, what CBS thinks, what NBC thinks, what NPR, public television, msnbc, cnn think about anything I'm not the target here anymore because I don't know what they're saying about anything but I found all sorts of sites on the internet that I find really interesting. Real Clear Politics is my go-to. First thing in the morning I always look at Real Clear Politics, and what they do is they just aggregate headlines for the entire spectrum. So if you want to go to all the other sites, you can go there. But what they find, you know. I find that they're making pretty widespread choices of what goes on there. In other words, if you're left wing politically, you'll find articles on RealClearPolitics. If you're right wing, you'll find real clear. But one of the things I find really interesting is when they mentioned the most popular articles for the last seven days, for the last 24 hours. They're all right wing, they're not left wing. So interesting. Although, yeah, I've never seen a left wing article be most watched or most read during the last seven days or the last 24 hours. They're all using the definitions of what would be left-wing or right-wing in today's setting. So it means that the people who are going to RealClearPolitics are mainly right-wing and they're interested in knowing what the left is saying, wayne, and they're interested in knowing what the left is saying, but they're not really. They're not really reinforcing themselves with the articles. I mean a and you can tell just by the nature of the headline, which where the bias is whether it's left or right and in any way. And but the interesting thing is how much I'm using perplexity now. Dean: Me too. Dan: Yeah, and I just got this format Tell me the 10 most important aspects of this particular topic. Five seconds later, I got the 10. And what I find is it's having an effect on my mind that there's never one reason for anything. There's always. I mean, I use 10 reasons, but if I did 20, they could probably do 20, you know but what it does? It gives you a more balanced sense of what's true, okay, but I've discovered this on myself. I mean, if you talk to 100 people, maybe three of them are using perplexity and perplexity. You know I may. I know there's other sites but it does for me what I want it to do. It gives me a background to think about things, and is that? What you're talking about is non-controlled? Dean: Because it's my question. Yeah, like that's what I think is that we've got access. Dan: It's my probes my probes that are revealing the information. Dean: Yeah. Dan: No one is packaging this for me. It's that I'm asking clarify me on this particular subject and bang you know within a matter of seconds I have clarification. Dean: Yeah, yeah. Dan: Is that what you're saying here? Dean: and I, but I think that the onus is on us to do our own interpretation and, you know, measuring whether this fits with what we think. Whereas, you know, we were sort of when we were exposed to information like all of our whole adult lives, up until the last say, you know, 10 years has really been filtered through the lenses of the mainstream media, like I think about curators, often curators, curators. Yeah, they were the curators. Yeah, or the guardians, local minority. You remember, I mean, even in the closest thing was I remember when City TV came out with Speaker's Corner. Dan: You remember that they would have a little booth set up and you could go in and speak your mind. Dean: Yeah you could go in and speak your mind and that's how you got to think, see what other people were thinking. Otherwise, you had to go to Young and Dundas and you know, on the corner there and hear everybody up on their soapbox or whatever it was. That's always been. You know, that's kind of where everybody's megaphone now is. You don't have to go out to the corner where all the people are. You can sit in your basement and you've got a megaphone to the whole world. Dan: Yeah, you know, this probably helps explain something. I read an article Friday, I downloaded it and I read it about three or four times, and that is that none of the big corporations are making any money on AI. Right, they're investing enormously in it, but they're not making any money on it, and I think the reason is that it wasn't designed for them. Dean: Ah right. Dan: It was designed for individuals to do whatever the hell they wanted to do. And if anything, it works against the corporations, because if people are using AI to pursue their own interests, that means it's time and attention that they're not giving to the corporations. Yeah, yes. Dean: And I would say there's a real panic. Dan: I would say there's a real panic setting in, because it's when ChatGPT came out. Everybody said, oh, now this is going to enhance our ability to get our message across. Well, that's only true if people are paying attention. But what if the impact of AI is actually to take people's attention away from you? Dean: Yeah, it is changing so much. So I mean yeah, it is changing so much, you know. Dan: I mean. Dean if you're going carnivore, Tim Hortons' messaging isn't getting to you. Dean: Yeah. Dan: I mean All that money they're spending on Tim Hortons' advertising is wasted money on you. Wasted on me. Dean: That's exactly it. Yeah, it's so amazing how to waste your money on Dean Jack. Dan: How to waste your money on Dean Jack. How to waste your money on Dean Jack Uh-huh. Dean: Man so funny. Well, yeah, I should. This would be great, though, to get a. You know, start spreading the word about the air fryer. Get an air fryer deal. I mean, the salmon and the steak are amazing. Dan: And apparently JJ thinks pork chops are good. That's right. So you got the whole good. That's right, exactly. Dean: So you got the whole scoop. Dan: I love it that you've got a buffer between you and the technology. Well, she controls the checkbook, so she might as well get the information, because she controls the checks. Yes, and Babs has been my authority on eating since I've met her. I mean that's one of the great benefits of being in relation she's always been good about that. You know, my life is two parts, before Babs and after Babs. Dean: Yeah, I know Absolutely. I'm much healthier since I've met her. Dan: I'm much healthier since I met her. Yeah, Anyway, yeah, but it's really interesting. You know that what you're introducing here to the Cloudlandia conversation is that we now have the opportunity to be much more discerning than we were before. Dean: Yeah, we have not only the opportunity but the responsibility, and that's what I think we wrestle with is that we can't just take all of the information and take it at face value to realize that that there's a level of building your own internal filters. Timeless Technology is that we're looking for advantage. Dan: That's what. I established right at the beginning is that you're looking for an advantage that, for a while, other people don't have, because that improves your status. That improves your status that you have an advantage, and it creates inequality. One of the things that people don't realize is that every time you create a new advantage, it creates inequality in your surrounding area, okay, and then other people have to respond to that, either by using your advantage, like imitating your advantage, or they canitating your advantage, or they can create their own advantage, or they can try to stop you from having your advantage, and I think that depends on your framework. So I think a lot of cancel culture is people not wanting you to have that advantage, so they won't let you talk about it, they won't let you do certain things and I think the cancel culture has probably been there right from the beginning, it just takes different forms. She's a witch, yeah, yeah, there's a witch, yeah, yeah. Can I tell you something about? That the salem, and also the ones that happened in Europe the witch thing, was. It was moldy grain, so usually the witch seasons happen to do happen when there was a lot of rain. Okay, and the grains got moldy and my sense is they created, they created, and so that a lot of the Fermenting. Yeah, there was a fermentation, but also it drove people a little bit crazy and there's a lot of investigation now of the which periods. Dean: Okay, salem is the most famous US. Dan: But it didn't happen. It didn't except for Salem Massachusetts. But they had several really wet seasons where the grain got moldy and my sense is that people were getting fermented grain on a daily basis and it drove me kind of crazy, yeah that made him weird. Dean: Weird it made him weird. I saw james carville. James carville said that the democrats should stop saying they're weird and start calling them creeps. Weird Weird is creeps as a label. They're creeps, you know yeah. Dan: Yeah. Dean: Yeah, yeah. Dan: I think it's funny to see. I would love to hear. Dean: I'd love to hear a podcast or a panel interview between you. Know, luntz the. I forget what his first name is Jeffrey Luntz? Is it the Republican wordsmith guy? I think it's Jeffrey. Dan: Luntz, I don't know him oh. Dean: Luntz yeah. Dan: Jeffrey Luntz. He's the one who does the panel discussions, that's right. Dean: And he gets the messaging, for he's the Republican wordsmith and James Carville is essentially that for the Democrats. I'd love to hear that. Dan: Yeah, I think James Carville is essentially that for the Democrats. I'd love to hear that. Dean: Yeah, I think James Carville is now. He's like the crazy ant upstairs. Yeah, I think so. Right, right, right. Dan: Because the last couple of weeks he said you know you better get over this mania real fast that you're having with Kamala Harris and he says, because he said you have no idea what's coming back against you. It'll take the Republicans three or four weeks to figure out what the target is here, and he says you better get over this real fast. He says it's going to be incredibly hard work over the next three months to get to the election, make sure your grains are dry here, don't get that fermented grain brain. Make sure your powder is dry too. Yeah, yeah, but it's an interesting thesis. This is where we've added a new dimension to Cloudlandia the psychotropic part of Cloudlandia yeah, I agree. Dean: There was a. Dan: Greek player, one of the Greek writers, playwrights. He talked about a place called Cloud Cuckoo Land. Dean: Okay, that's funny. Dan: Yeah, and he was talking about people who would just go off and make up new stuff and everything like that had no basis in current reality and he called it cloud cuckoo land. You know well, you know we've had a lot of that over the last 50 or 60 years yeah, I think what we're really introducing. Dean: Dan is the intersection you know the venn diagram of the mainland cloudlandia and Danlandia or Deanlandia. That's the one that we can actually control. Is Danlandia, yeah. Dan: Well, the big thing is, if you truly want to be a uniquely creative individual today, the resources are available for you to do it. Dean: Yeah. Dan: But you got to be really discerning about what gets allowed in across the borders into your thinking that's it exactly. Dean: Yeah, All right Dan. Dan: Yeah, I mean, yeah, I have to jump too. One thing about it is I'm going to watch that Joe Rogan church because I think that's interesting. Dean: I have to watch that Joe Rogan George because I think that's interesting. Dan: I have to laugh when Joe Rogan had. Dean: Peter Zion for a loop. Dan: I've never seen Joe Rogan thrown so much for a loop, because Peter Zion is nothing if not confident about his point of view. I mean, he's a very confident guy about his point of view and Joe wasn't ready for it and about every you know, every 90 seconds he said holy cow, oh wow. Oh yeah. Dean: Oh, I got to watch that one too, jesus Christ yeah. Dan: And you can see Joe sitting there. He said yeah he said next time I have this guy on no pot for 24 hours beforehand. This is moving, this is moving. I'm too slow here. I can't keep up with this you know, Peter Zion is like a jackhammer when he starts going you know he does a whack, whack, whack. Yeah, that would be Actually Jordan Peterson and Peter Zion would be an interesting one. Two brains, yeah, yeah, for sure. Maybe Elon Musk as a third person, jordan Peterson and Peter Zion would be an interesting one. Mm-hmm, Two brains yeah yeah for sure, Maybe Elon Musk as a third person. Dean: Imagine a panel. Yeah, exactly, there was a great. There was a show called Dinner for Five and it was a. It was an entertainment like movie one, where they'd have different directors and actors at dinner, just a mix of people and having just recording their conversation. No real thing. Jon Favreau did that show it was really great. Dan: No curating really. Yeah, anyway. Dean: Okay Dan. Dan: Very entertaining. We'll be here next week, yes, I always enjoy these. Dean: They go so fast. Yeah, thanks a lot. Okay, thanks, dan, I'll talk to you soon. Bye.

Welcome to Day 2371 of Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom – Theology Thursday – Even The Bible Needed Upgrading – I Dare You Not To Bore Me With The Bible Wisdom-Trek Podcast Script - Day 2371 Welcome to Wisdom-Trek with Gramps! I am Guthrie Chamberlain, and we are on Day 2371 of our Trek. The Purpose of Wisdom-Trek is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, and to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before. Today is the third lesson in our segment, Theology Thursday. Utilizing excerpts from a book titled: I Dare You Not To Bore Me With The Bible written by Hebrew Bible scholar and professor Dr. Michael S Heiser, we will invest a couple of years going through the entire Bible, exploring short Biblical lessons that you may not have received in Bible classes or Church. The Bible is a wonderful book. Its pages reveal the epic story of God's redemption of humankind and the long, bitter conflict against evil. Yet it's also a book that seems strange to us. While God's Word was written for us, it wasn't written to us. Today, our lesson is Even The Bible Needed Upgrading. Wait a minute. The Bible needed an upgrade? Those sound like fighting words to anyone with a high view of Scripture. An upgrade implies that something needs updating, but the Bible is timeless! That's true, but in this case, I would have to excuse myself from the ring. I wouldn't want to tangle with those responsible for the improvements: the biblical writers and, well, the Spirit of God. Believe it or not, there is evidence that the Bible was updated.- That may sound strange, but if you read closely, it's undeniable. Take Genesis 14:14 as an illustration: When Abram heard that his nephew Lot had been captured, he mobilized the 318 trained men who had been born into his household. Then he pursued Kedorlaomer's army until he caught up with them at Dan. Did you notice the problem? This is the time of Abram, a time before Moses and Joshua—before there was a promised land divided among the tribes of Israel. There wasn't even an Israel yet. So, what's up with the reference to the land that belonged to the tribe of Dan? If we plotted out the battle between Abram described in this verse on a map, with place names appropriate for Abram's day, we'd see that the writer meant that the enemy was pursued all the way to a place called Laish, not Dan. Many Bible critics would call this an error, but it isn't. Much later, in the days of Israel's judges, Laish was renamed as Dan: They renamed the town Dan after their ancestor, Israel's son, but it had originally been called Laish. (Judg 18:29). Evidently, an unnamed editor updated the text of Genesis 14:14 after the name change took place. The editor likely did this to make sure readers of his own day would understand the geography. In other instances, an editor repurposed something already written in the Bible to make it preach to their community. Psalm 51 is well known as a record of David's repentance after his sin with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah. The psalm, though, ends by asking God to “Look with favor on Zion” and, with the command, “rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.” (Psa 51:18-19). The walls of Jerusalem were not in need of repair until after God's people were exiled,...

Fransmart is a global leader in franchise development. For over 20 years, they've excelled at turning emerging concepts into national and global brands. Led by company founder Dan Rowe, Fransmart is known throughout the franchising community for spotting and growing brands like Five Guys Burgers & Fries and Qdoba Mexican Grill, from single unit businesses to the powerhouse chains they are today. Fransmart has built restaurants in all of the top 150 media markets in North America. Fransmart's success stories include Five Guys, Qdoba Mexican Grill and Halal Guys – a franchise that started from a success food cart in New York City. Today, Halal Guys is the most successful Middle Eastern restaurant in America. Dan's success stems from his knowledge of each market and the potential franchisees in each market. With that knowledge, he can often predict whether a restaurant will find franchisees and be successful. The biggest mistake a lot of franchisees make is picking the wrong brand to invest in. Another mistake franchisees make is not following the system put in place by the brand they're investing in.  QUOTES “A good franchisee wants to follow somebody else's system. A bad franchisee buys a franchise and tries to do everything different.” (Dan)  “In every market, we know where the best operators are, we know where the best intersections are, where the best projects are, the best architects, contractors, food distributors, so we just sort of developed this knack for understanding the best way to do everything in these markets.” (Dan) “I want to be relentless about getting the right site (for a new restaurant). For any concept, there's 10 or 15 or 20 potential sites. But there's really only three or four first sites. You have to be very careful when you're building a brand in a brand new market. There's something very strategic about using real estate and real estate's role in marketing.” (Dan) “You have to be really good at knowing exactly where your bullseye's are and coming up with some logic around what order you should be growing.” (Dan) “You have staff for the sales you want and you have to staff for the company you're trying to build.” (Dan) “I've never seen a concept that I can't figure out how to drive sales and lower costs.” (Dan)  TRANSCRIPT 00:00.00vigorbrandingHello if you’re a restaurant looking to become an an international restaurant chain or if you’re um, you know I’m gonna start over I’m sorry it’s kind of fumble that all just yeah, hello if you’re a restaurant looking to become an international restaurant chain or if you’re an entrepreneur who wants to own a franchise today’s episode is for you. My guest is Dan Rowe he’s the Ceo and founder of fransmart and he takes emerging restaurant concepts and turns them into national and international franchises. He’s been called the chainmakerr and we’re gonna talk to him today about his process. Dan. Thank you so much for joining us. 00:32.74dan_fransmart_comUm, yeah, thanks, thanks for having me. 00:36.52vigorbrandingWell let’s just jump right in. Let’s start with Fransmart tell me a little bit about it How you started maybe a little bit about your history and where you got your start. 00:44.96dan_fransmart_comsure sure I I started washing dishes and cooking got into technology if id never went to college so barelegged out of high school. So I but I was lucky enough when I was like nineteen eighteen and a half nineteen for about 5 years I got into technology. Worked for a guy that grew software companies made some money and what do I do go right back in the restaurant business I bought a franchise of a bagel bakery and it was a 6 unit bagel chain in Washington d c I lived in California the idea originally was to bring the franchise to California ah, because there’s no bagel shops near me. And I went into business with a buddy mine and his wife and they wanted to move to Denver so we opened up our first franchise in Denver I had negotiated a deal I said hey if we’re successful with this I want to also do your franchising and because I’m proving you outside of Dc where all your stores are. We were very successful and I was 23 I think he was 25 enty five or 26 and we were more successful than most of the stores that they had in Dc so we did their franchise development and we grew them from 6 stores to around 200 in about 4 years sold the company. 01:51.64vigorbrandingWow. 01:57.90dan_fransmart_com1 of my shops in Denver was across from the first Chipotle we tried to get him to franchise. He wasn’t interest in he did just fine without us but somebody who copied him was ah Kudoba Kudoba mexican so we approached Kudoba we got involved with Kedoba when they were only open a couple months. 01:59.35vigorbrandingI. 02:13.86dan_fransmart_comHelped him put together the whole franchise program grew that to think about 100 open and few hundred in development sold that to Jack in the box and at that point I had grown 2 companies at a time as individual, you know, like 2 different companies at a time under 2 different companies. And then I said it was 2000. Everything was a.com back then and I said you know what I’m going to I’m going to start a new company instead of growing one brand at a time I’m going to grow a portfolio at a time so we started fransmart. 02:45.15vigorbrandingThat’s brilliant Now you know, ah and talking with you I’ve learned a couple things number one I did 2 work in the restaurant first and I believe wholeheartedly that everyone should start out working a restaurant. You’ve got to take orders. You’ve got to get things Done. You have to execute you have to talk to people by and large. You have to get to know how to handle problems I mean there’s a whole lot of education that happens in a restaurant doesn’t it. The other thing I It’s very humbling. Ah, that’s right, That’s absolutely right? The other thing I will say is I also did not. 03:04.41dan_fransmart_comYeah, yeah, yeah, it’s It’s also humiliating and it’s humbling and it’s ah it’s good. It’s good to see why you should treat people better. 03:17.44vigorbrandingGo to college I I was a creative guy so I just like thought well hell I’m really smart at doing these big ideas and creating stuff I don’t need to go school so I didn’t and you know at the end of the day. It’s it’s kind of funny because 1 time my daughter was asked in school like hey do your parents ever have any sayings you know like you know what? what are they known for saying and. 03:23.23dan_fransmart_comYeah. 03:34.41vigorbrandingMy my daughter raised your hands and my dad said C students run the world so that was me I was just like yeah an underachiever. But just I worked really hard. So anyway, um so look with frasmar. Essentially you take this guesswork out of franchising right? You’re connecting entrepreneurs. 03:36.80dan_fransmart_comYeah. 03:51.90vigorbrandingAh, the one to get into the restaurant ownership business with emerging restaurants and I mean so you’re’re, you’re finding great ideas or you have these great ideas. You’re finding people that that are business people and maybe good operators but also teaching them how to operate um you know So what? at the end of the day. What makes a good franchisee. 04:05.99dan_fransmart_comA good franchisee wants to follow somebody else’s system a bad franchisee buys a franchise and then tries to do everything different or or argues with the the company. But yeah I mean franspart’s main business were franchise development company. We have big picture vision. So like with 5 guys. You know we didn’t invent burgers. We just saw a micro niche of you know, fresh burgers and nobody really owned that segment we saw burger King Wendy’s Mcdonald’s but nobody was really doing high quality. Um chefy food and. So 5 guys was in Dc they were near us. They won these awards all the time for best burgers. They had a really really good hamburger. It was more expensive than the other guys. Whatever but they had 4 units and I just said you know what? I’ve already grown you know mexican chain a bagel chain all across the country There’s nobody else doing this in any other market around the country and so our playbook is basically become we. We’ve built restaurants and all the top hundred and fifty biggest media markets in North america so New York’s the biggest something around Savannah Georgia or something like that is somewhere around one fifty 05:12.95vigorbrandingMe. 05:20.00dan_fransmart_comAnd in in every market we know who the best operators are we know where the best intersections are the best projects are the best architects contractors food distributors and so we’ve just sort of developed this knack for understanding the best known way to do everything in every one of these markets and so yeah, we did it with 5 guys. We. You know, wound up growing those guys I think we grew them from 6 4 4 locations to about 100 open a few hundred in development we sold. They’re like 2000 stores. Um, we did with halal guys. So here’s another thing like my premise was gosh. There’s a billion and a half muslims in the world. And when I go to Chipotle or Starbucks I’d ask my wife like do you know any muslim actors or singers or apparel companies or tech companies or car companies or food brands. There’s a no no no no no I’m like well wait a minute There’s a the biggest demographic population in the world and there’s no brand. 06:10.71vigorbrandingA. 06:16.28dan_fransmart_comAnd so and we were opening american brands over in the Middle East and so you know most of our franchisees are super wealthy. Many of them are royal family and the first night they gee whiz you with their homes and just the way that they live. Second day they’re like what do you want to do and I said I want to go get street food and they would take you to some of this amazing amazing middle eastern street food and I tell myself I’m like somebody’s going to figure out how to build a brand out of this and so we did with the halal guys. Ah, we hal. All guys was a cart in New York City for 25 years They had 3 carts in the city. Not even a food truck just a cart but they made really good kind of chicken or gyro over rice with this white sauce and. 06:47.34vigorbrandingUm, yeah. 07:00.43dan_fransmart_comAnd people stood in line for it and I’m like okay here we go so I found that same thing same playbook biggest 150 media markets. Best franchise operators you know exactly where to put them so anyone I mean sometimes these locations anybody could succeed there. 07:16.49vigorbrandingYeah. 07:16.65dan_fransmart_comBut that’s part of the hack. That’s part of the hack is is going into these markets and we’d pick great operators I remember the the 2 corporate stores that we built in New York City both did like ridiculous volume like 2 times what a 5 guys in the same location would do because we picked the right site. 07:34.20vigorbrandingHe. 07:36.18dan_fransmart_comThe first franchisee in Chicago opened up to like $80000 a week or some weird number the first California in first the first California store that we opened up clear across the country did over 100 grand it’s first week in sales. So. 07:48.67vigorbrandingWell. 07:51.51dan_fransmart_comYou take a good concept you package it right? and then you just have to build the right teams that can handle the volume pick the right locations and but that’s our playbook. We just keep doing it over and over. 08:01.41vigorbrandingThat’s fantastic That makes it mean it’s awesome and so like I have to ask like so the Halal guys I mean I’ve eaten it I mean I know know the carts I know that I know the whole deal Did you just like walk up there one day and say hey guys I’d like to talk to you about an idea I have. 08:12.41dan_fransmart_comSo they didn’t even have a website they didn’t have a website. They didn’t have a social media page. They had a fan page So a fan had created what I thought was the website. It wasn’t a website it was called. 08:21.50vigorbrandingScott. 08:26.38dan_fransmart_comFifty third and 6 are dot com or whatever it was but it was a fan page and I so and I basically emailed and they said hey I’ve done this and this and this and this and I want to do middle eastern and the guy’s like hey ah I don’t actually own it I’m just creating a fan page because I love these guys I’m like can you introduce me to them and they introduce me to him. 08:42.85vigorbrandingWow. 08:46.36dan_fransmart_comBut it was funny I’ll never forget when I went to go meet him I’m like hey I’m the guy that did 5 guys in qdoba and they’re like what’s that like they don’t know these were super religious muslim. They come to America looking for the american dream I mean. 08:53.20vigorbrandingYeah, yeah, yeah, so yeah. 09:01.88dan_fransmart_comAwesome founders, amazing! Beautiful people, great people. They came to America look they all had advanced degrees came here looking to the american dream and America basically shut the door and they started off driving cabs and they just you know, kind of worked really hard and then they opened a street cart. Was originally a hot dog cart that that they converted to halal food and they would use it as a way to sort of give people jobs like bring family members and friends over here and give them jobs and they had a couple of these carts but it’s like in the beginning when I was first trying to tell them. Oh I’ve got this big vision I want to go do all this stuff. 09:25.29vigorbrandingMay he. 09:36.38vigorbrandingYeah. 09:36.82dan_fransmart_comThey’re like what are you talking about and you know because they they just weren’t they didn’t realize they didn’t see what I saw and they and they were not taken at all with my background they could care less. Yeah. 09:44.63vigorbrandingWell, and yeah, they they had to start with they start with probably nothing right? So to get the cart and be able to get a corner probably was like they felt like they had they’d achieved a you know a lot which they had but they had no idea with with the capacity of that you could bring them like in in the locations and everything. 09:57.46dan_fransmart_comNo no and and and they didn’t care they frankly they said we don’t want to open what they didn’t want to do was be embarrassed, be ashamed. They’re like very prideful of what they do. It’s funny when you talk to the owners. They still talk about they could talk for. 10:03.10vigorbrandingWow. 10:15.46dan_fransmart_com10 minutes just about this plate of food and how to make that plate of food perfect and it’s like that’s why they have those long lines right? So like a guy like me I’m not the reason that they’re successful. They’re successful because they care about that plate of food tasting the way it tastes. 10:15.96vigorbrandingHe. Yeah. 10:30.31dan_fransmart_comYou know my job is not to screw it up but that it took a year from the time I first met him to the time that they finally said let’s go and it was mainly me convincing them that I wasn’t going to screw it up like this is a way that they’re feeding their family. They’re very proud of what they built and even though they didn’t have social media or whatever everybody knew what it was it was just 10:39.27vigorbrandingMy home. 10:49.71dan_fransmart_comThere’s 8000000 carts in the city and 3 of them have long long like absurdly long lines and they just didn’t want me to screw that up. So yeah. 10:55.79vigorbrandingUm, so I mean for us I mean you know we we do marketing and advertising so we focus on the restaurant segment with vigor and like they they took off is it because I kind of think it might be but. Because of the long lines in New York because of the word of mouth. Do you think it was just one of those things once they start getting locations people just kind of knew of it already because they had been exposed to it from the street or or is it like a lot of word of mouth or how do you think the explosion happened. 11:17.40dan_fransmart_comUm, well well yeah I mean well to take a step back a million people tried to knock him off none of them have none of a have a million people when this thing started to fly everybody who’s put the word halal. 11:26.40vigorbrandingHe wow. 11:35.29dan_fransmart_comOn their cart in their storefront or whatever when when I started franchising this. There was all these metoo copycats. None of them are around and it’s because they’re not authentic and they didn’t do the right thing but no, it took off what I did is the way I marketed it to people outside of New York was funny. The first few franchisees. 11:36.52vigorbrandingYep. 11:42.10vigorbrandingWow. 11:53.96vigorbrandingIn here. 11:54.63dan_fransmart_comKnew it from New York like when they would come to New York they would go there and so like my Chicago franchisee my vegas franchise or my um southern cow in my Houston franchisees even my Dc franchisee they they every time they went up to New York they went there so the minute that they found out we were franchising they they bought it. Everybody else? What? what? What would happen is we would just market pictures of the line so initially it was lines of the cart and so people would be like what is roe babbling on about and it’s like this long line would at least stop them to get them to look you know at the next line or at the next page. 12:17.41vigorbrandingHere here. 12:31.38dan_fransmart_comAnd then as soon as the first couple stores opened this the Southern California store doing 100 grandits first week that line looked like ah I mean it was Quarter mile long and so like even the news was taking pictures of it. So all I did is reposted what the news because. 12:41.45vigorbrandingA. 12:48.90vigorbrandingSure no doubt. 12:49.70dan_fransmart_comYou know it’s also a credibility technique. It’s like if I if I post a long long line people like yeah if the news posts it. It seems more credible. So yeah, we we just. In the beginning we would we kind of did that I didn’t want to explain with a lot of words what the concept was or what I thought it could be I just wanted to show long lines and then that would get people to come see it. Try it eat it and then you meet the owners and you just know like this this we had. 13:12.92vigorbrandingYeah, it’s authentic. 13:16.35dan_fransmart_comAlmost everybody who came in for Discovery day wanted a franchise but they wouldn’t approve him. They were very picky about who they let in I mean it’s funny. We had a guy that came in and the minute that they that they gave in the indication they weren’t going to run the place right? or hire the right team out like they would even get up and leave the meeting and um. 13:28.82vigorbrandingE well. 13:35.74dan_fransmart_comAnd then we even had a guy come in I’ll never forget it. He goes does the meat really have to be halal does it have to be halal because halal food’s more expensive and and I’ll never forget it like we’re all looking at each other like did he just say that and he did and it’s like meeting was over guy flew clear across the country for the meeting and within 8 minutes the meeting was over. 13:43.57vigorbrandingYeah. He had done. 13:55.41dan_fransmart_comAnd so yeah, it was but it’s a funny story but it’s’s ah I mean it’s such a great concept. It’s just a great concept. You think about billion and a half people no brands. It’s really the largest I mean certainly the largest restaurant chain MiddleEastern restaurant chain in North America 14:00.40vigorbrandingGood. 14:12.54vigorbrandingYeah. 14:12.74dan_fransmart_comBut now we’re open in London we’re open in Korea we’re open. You know we’re we’re we’re growing. So my goal with that and you know also when I started I’ll never forget when I first started growing the company. We got an interview with 1 of the big New York papers and I said this is going to and we only had carts and in. I said this is Goingnna be the biggest middle eastern brand in the world. The biggest muslim brand the biggest halal brand blah bla blah bla blah and the lady was laughing on the phone and I’m like what are you laughing about she was Dan They have carts and I’m like I know but I see something bigger so I’m not always right? But in halauge’s case I was. 14:35.62vigorbrandingIn. 14:43.11vigorbrandingYep, that’s fantastic. Well I love your line I’ve heard you say it many times that you let people vote people vote with their wallets right? So you followed the line that’s bright I mean ah and your marketing was smart too I mean using the the news and all that and showing the lines I mean that’s the proof and that’s ah. 14:50.15dan_fransmart_comYeah, yeah, yeah. 15:00.48vigorbrandingThat’s masterful marketing and so that that brings me to sort of another question because it’s really an interesting ah like I’m really interested in what you do I mean you find these great products and these great brands you you look at the lines you say?? Okay, this is. There’s ah, there’s some white space in the ah in this in the restaurant world for this. This can be the next big thing. But then there’s also ah you need to know a fair amount about real estate right? There’s certain you just said. There’s some real estate that you could put anything in there I’m sure that’s not true, but probably any of your products you could put in there and they’d be successful. But then there’s also the the franchisees people want to own a restaurant or maybe Master franchise. These folks that have like a. You know they have a serious office and they own a bunch of different brands in some cases talk about like the whole thing coming together that whole thing coming together. Well just you have these the master franchisees right? So you got to find them then there’s the the actual then there’s the real estate part right. 15:37.93dan_fransmart_comYeah. Wait wait which part. Um, yeah, yeah, oh um, yeah, so for me I always start with the end in mind I I see a chain for what it can be 10 years down the road and that in that tells me the. 15:52.73vigorbrandingAnd then there’s also sort of the restaurant part. How does that all work together. 16:07.16dan_fransmart_comYou know the 150 biggest markets in North America US and canada canada most of the canadian markets behave like us. So I always talk about North America but um and then certain international markets like we’ve sold tons and tons and tons of deals internationally so like I already know where this is going to go. 16:22.24vigorbrandingA. 16:24.47dan_fransmart_comI Already know the franchisees in those markets and so I know which ones are going to like the brand and why and how I have to package or maybe I have to cook it a little longer before I show it to a certain guy like I already kind of know that whenever I take on a brand. The most important thing. 16:38.66vigorbrandingNate. 16:40.62dan_fransmart_comWhen I get a new brand because I’m getting them at a very early very early stage. They’re still hair on them. They’re still rough around the edges. They still don’t know what they don’t know 5 guys didn’t have pos systems for example, like the whole all guys didn’t have dead carts right? They didn’t have pos they they. 16:44.30vigorbrandingMe. 16:54.48vigorbrandingYeah, say they had carts. 16:58.36dan_fransmart_comYeah, so it’s like that’s okay, that’s okay, it’s like I know the other stuff but that and ironically like what I know is not um, as important is the fact that 5 guys had a line out the door or ha all guys had a line down the block like I can figure out how to build a system or manual. Way faster than I can ever figure out how to organically get a line down the road like that’s that’s a different level. So yeah, that is the magic but what I do is is it’s really interesting like when I I don’t leave anything to chance. No matter who I’m selling no matter what brand what market and who the franchisee is. 17:15.21vigorbrandingRight? That’s the magic. 17:30.87dan_fransmart_comI I act like they’ve never been in this business before because I want to be relentless about getting the right site. So like here I’m in Scottsdale right in Phoenix Arizona there’s for any concept. There’s 10 or 15 or 20 potential sites. But there’s really only 3 or 4 first sites. 17:36.65vigorbrandingYeah, he. 17:48.15dan_fransmart_comLike yeah to be very careful when you’re building a brand in a brand New Market is like there’s something very strategic about using real estate in real estate’s role in marketing and real estate’s role in branding and so you have to be really good of knowing exactly where your bull’s-eyes are and coming up with some logic around. 17:56.12vigorbrandingA. 18:07.15dan_fransmart_comWhat kind of order you should be growing and so we’re that kind of pedantic even about real estate. It’s not just about hey I need a twelve hundred foot space or fifteen hundred foot space like no, no, no there’s so much more to it and then once you have the right spot you have to make sure that your unit economics hit. So that that’s the thing is like you can’t you can’t go into a spot and then have cost overruns or you can’t have what you know it needs the cost. What everyone thought it was going to cost to open it needs to open above. Whatever sales everybody was thinking originally it needs to hit profitability faster because there’s all these weird things in people’s minds that like even if it’s a great site and for some reason it gets off to a slow start all of a sudden people like oops not going like plan. And psychological psychological. Ah they’ll start making dumb decisions. They’ll start cutting people cutting marketing cutting problems like wait a minute and so we we assume all that stuff’s going to happen so we’re relentless about how we pick real estate how we market how we build the team I always say you got a staff for the sales you want. And you have to staff for the company you’re trying to build. We never sell mom and pop franchises ones e toosey’s we sell territories and so whenever we’re selling like a halal guys. For example, the California franchisee opened with a director of operations from Panera. 19:11.99vigorbrandingHere. 19:25.37dan_fransmart_comAh, director of operations from Chipotle and I think a director of culinary from one of those 2 concepts too. Plus the manager plus the owners were there well, that’s also why that first store in California self-funded 7 more is because you you know you basically open up with the the team’s bandwidth could easily handle. 19:32.00vigorbrandingWell. 19:37.32vigorbrandingAre here. 19:45.32dan_fransmart_comThe kind of sales I think it was doing over three million a year and so you you have to sta for that if you if you open up doing you know $5000000 run rate with a million dollar team your sales go down. They never come back up and so like all of that little stuff. It’s like Dan you’re just the sales guy. It’s like mm. 19:46.10vigorbrandingWow. 19:55.19vigorbrandingAnd he. 20:02.92dan_fransmart_comI I sell a lot of franchises not because I’m good at sales I sell a lot of franchises because I make the brand sell themselves So all the things we talk about are kind of how do we get the brands to sell themselves the best the best marketing tool Any brand would ever have selling a franchise is the existing franchisees and so. 20:07.58vigorbrandingMan. 20:19.58vigorbrandingYeah. 20:22.35dan_fransmart_comYou have to make those franchisees So successful. So happy so referenceable that even when you’re not, they’re trying to orchestrate just the right reference even if they just run into somebody what they’re saying sells your franchise. 20:34.20vigorbrandingSure I mean it’s the experience the the customers get the franchisees get everybody. It’s got to be. You know everyone’s a customer at that point right? You know they’re selling the the actual brands to to new franchisees. So that’s. I mean that’s ah, that’s a really really great point. So what is the biggest mistake you see like franchisees making like when they you know they’re first coming to you. 20:57.35dan_fransmart_comUm, Fran when a franchisee ah picking the wrong brand like if they pick I mean I if they pick the wrong brand if they don’t staff the right way like everybody think about why somebody wants a franchise in the first place. The only reason to own a franchise is to get wealthy like there otherwise. 21:00.70vigorbrandingMan. 21:15.40dan_fransmart_comIt’s not worth the risk like you’re risking capital you’re risking an Sba loan or A Loan you’re risking signing a lease now you’re on the hook for that lease for years. The liability, the cash outlay the liabilities and the contingent liabilities those are real costs. The only reason to do that is because you’re trying to get to a completely different level in life and so now the question is what’s the right vehicle to get there. So what’s the thing that that’s going to make so much profit that I want to keep doing it and how do I do it and so the mistake a lot of people make is they’ll pick the wrong brand. 21:45.53vigorbrandingUm. 21:49.50dan_fransmart_comSo they want to get to never never land. They just pick on the wrong the wrong brand to get there when they buy a territory so somebody that wants to own 5 or 10 or 20 units when they open up their first store and they open up with a skeleton crew. You know we all have we have so much turnover in the restaurant business. You open up a store. 22:03.81vigorbrandingSure. 22:07.62dan_fransmart_comWith the skeleton crew and you even just have normal attrition. You’re constantly in a hole right? So you have to staff for the volume you want you have to staff for the company you’re trying to build that has to include redundancy has to include turnover so a franchisee who thinks a franchise only costs 300 grand to open. 22:09.63vigorbrandingHe. 22:27.40dan_fransmart_comIt’s like yeah but you need another 100000 in these extra soft costs to basically get to the point you know to get to this point and so it’s people not really thinking that through or at the first sign of things didn’t go like I thought. They start cutting. They abandon the big picture and they go start focusing internally and what happens is you start managing that business down so that’s the biggest mistake and then another big mistake is people just not following the systems like I interview from my podcast. All these franchisees of other brands I’m like tell me the difference between you and the. 22:46.60vigorbrandingAnd. 22:59.60dan_fransmart_comI Mean you like you’re one of the most successful franchisees and whatever the brand is I’m interviewing the guy for like what’s the difference between you and someone who struggles with the same brand almost to a T they go. We just follow the system and I said whenever you buy a struggling franchisee stores. How do you make them successful. 23:10.22vigorbrandingA. 23:17.45dan_fransmart_comGo back and follow the systems just execute like people are buying 5 guys because they want that burger those fries to taste exactly like they think they don’t want chicken sandwich. They’re not there to get you know salad or whatever they want that like just go back to making that. That’s all you got to do and it’s people overthink it and it’s like. 23:17.80vigorbrandingLeave you. 23:31.72vigorbrandingInconsistency. Yeah. 23:37.53dan_fransmart_comThat’s all you got to do if you’re buying a jack on the box at Mcdonald’s if you’re buying you know a Jiffy Lube right it’s like whatever it is. It’s like people are going to that brand because they want that experience all you have to do is give give it that give that to them. 23:51.50vigorbrandingYeah, well I mean we always say like in in marketing what we do. We always say ah the definition of a brand is brand is a promise and you know in the case with the restaurants I mean if I go to 5 guys no matter which one I go to I want I want them to basically promise me and give me that same thing I want that same product I don’t want it to vary from place to place. So. 24:03.60dan_fransmart_comYeah. 24:08.98vigorbrandingI think that’s amazing. Do you find yourself because I have to think this is is somewhat the case because you find these I’ll say these raw concepts these great concepts whether it’s halal guys or 5 guys or or probably Qdoba when you start with them I mean you’ve you’ve launched them. Are you bringing? you always talk about a playbook. Are you bringing that playbook to them. Are you kind of saying. Yeah, this is great here’s how we operationalize this thing. Do you find yourself really kind of setting up the operations a lot I figured. 24:32.20dan_fransmart_comUm, almost always so not not I mean not only setting maybe some sometimes it’s just tweaking right or giving them some best known tool we have because some people in me actually have really good systems for. 24:37.50vigorbrandingE e. 24:47.70dan_fransmart_comThere are 1 or 2 or 3 stores that the owners are constantly there and even if they don’t have a written system. They kind of all know how each other thinks and you know all that stuff. So there’s there’s really just technique about the best known way to do everything I mean marketing staffing operations time and motion studies like everything you can think of. 25:06.70vigorbrandingMe. 25:06.79dan_fransmart_comLike we have a tool in our toolbox for it and those tools keep getting changed. They keep getting retrofitted because think about marketing twenty years ago versus marketing today or tech the tech stack like there wasn’t even a tech stack twenty years ago so it’s like you have to keep evolving but our ecosystem in the restaurant business. 25:14.36vigorbrandingSure right. 25:25.52dan_fransmart_comIsn’t only every restaurant brand I’ve ever worked with I’m on the board of the national restaurant association. So there’s not really a Ceo I don’t know there’s not a big franchisee of any brand that I don’t know um I’m I’m ah oh and then kitchen fund. So we have a fund a kitchen fund. 25:29.85vigorbrandingUm, yeah. 25:39.51vigorbrandingThe. 25:42.51dan_fransmart_comWe were early investors in like sweet green and Kava and you know all kinds of different brands. So like our ecosystem’s pretty good and pretty valuable like we have a lot of really successful successful access in our in our ecosystem to always getting the best answer and so if there’s something coming up or something my brands are dealing with. Like I just go find 2 or 3 people that I know are just knocking it out of the park and you know we sort of get those answers and then we weave that back into our brand so it’s it’s a little bit of cheating. But. 26:14.52vigorbrandingUm, you know? yeah. 26:14.64dan_fransmart_comYeah, it’s something that we’re able to do you and I are on ypo together. There’s like most of the most successful franchisors and franchisees are in ypo and if you reach out to ah I mean I always say success leaves clues like if you’re trying to get a better answer like most people are pretty generous with their time like as long as you’re not overtly. 26:29.76vigorbrandingUm, yeah. 26:34.18dan_fransmart_comCompeting with them or annoying them. They’ll kind of help they’ll they’ll kind of help you figure that out. but but yeah but back to what the stuff we bring to the table is I think I liken it to a chain that goes around your neck like every link in the chain it takes to open a restaurant and operate a restaurant. Every link in a chain. It takes to what do I have to buy when do I have to buy it. What’s supposed to cost every link in the chain we feel like we have the best known chain with the best known links and so any brand that we take on who’s used to only having 1 or 2 or 5 or 9 or whatever it is like we’ll just have. 26:57.48vigorbrandingMe here a hint. 27:09.24dan_fransmart_comAll these links in the chain were like you know like some of the things they they may say no I’ve already got that I don’t need that but most often they they want help with that and then I’ve never seen a concept that I can’t figure out how to drive sales and lower costs like ah like drive drive sales I was on a call earlier today with a brand that that we’re looking at. 27:21.38vigorbrandingA. 27:28.90dan_fransmart_comBut it’s like you know it’s some of the stuff. It’s sort of like you and marketing like you could conversationally talk about marketing of stuff That’s just second nature to you to someone who’s not a marketing expert and they think you ah are you know a guru and it’s like I’m not really a guru I’ve just had we just have so many of these conversations. 27:38.24vigorbrandingRight mean he. 27:48.31dan_fransmart_comAnd we’re constantly trying to figure out how how who’s doing something better than everyone else. So we’re constantly having this conversation about the best known way So when these conversations come up. We’re able to just rattle them all up and it’s not. You know it’s just nature of our business. 27:52.40vigorbrandingMe. 28:03.61vigorbrandingYeah, and just we got to be refined, always refining so like I’m interested tonight. So someone called you and and I know you probably can’t say which I totally respect. But you’re looking at something I mean is it somebody that says hey I’ve got two like stores and I really think I have something here that could be. 28:12.14dan_fransmart_comYeah, yeah. 28:19.50vigorbrandingThe next big thing the next 5 guys. Ah or is it stuff that like you might have stumbled on to something or heard about something I mean how does that? How do how do they come to you or how does that work. 28:28.61dan_fransmart_comOh ah, well well those are 2 2 different things the way we get brands half the time they’re coming to us or someone will refer someone or someone says hey have you checked this out the other time we know what we’re looking for like we know what we’re looking for and we. We go after the best known players and whatever the market is so I’m I’m on this whole latin kick that nobody nobody’s done anything new in latin since Chipotle and they’re not even latin and so they’re as wide as I am and so we’re on this whole kick I met pitbull the rapper. 28:43.28vigorbrandingGot you? he. 28:59.86dan_fransmart_comAnd he’s like how come no Mexican chains are owned by Mexicans and how come no latins own the big Latino restaurant brands I’m like let’s fix that because probably because they might have like some of the best tacos or its best best restaurants you’ve ever been or in the hands of authentic latinos. 29:00.16vigorbrandingUm, he. 29:14.88vigorbrandingRight? Bum pop. 29:17.96dan_fransmart_comWhy haven’t they figured out how to build chains like I don’t know. Maybe it’s capital. Maybe it’s confidence. Maybe it’s know-how it’s like well we have plenty of all those. So now we’re targeting Latinos like pitbull and I are targeting Latinos with really good concepts we’re given a. 29:24.24vigorbrandingHe he. 29:33.10dan_fransmart_comEverything that both of us know think about his ecosystem like we’re giving him everything that we know to make to drive um success around that brand So we’re actually going to and we want to get wealthy helping Latinos get wealthy right? So that’s. 29:34.50vigorbrandingUm, yeah. 29:47.57vigorbrandingThat’s fantastic. 29:48.95dan_fransmart_comThat’s like but that that was one of these things where as soon as he and I came up with this I’m like okay now I got to go find a really great brand and in that case, what I did is I went to Us foods the biggest supplier in the country or one of the biggest suppliers in the country said here’s what pit bull and I are looking for who do you know. And all of a sudden they’re like this brand in Chicago we think is the next thing could be the next chipotle blah blah blah blah blah fly out to Chicago and it like you are right right? So that that goes from you know, somebody a Us foods we we told us foods like I told 90 people what I’m looking for us foods. Basically you know. Said here’s we have a lot of latin brands here’s one that’s a standout and you think about that too is like like us foods has something to gain too because now they have a client that goes from I think it was 8 stores when we got there now. It’s 13 with 6 or 8 new territories around the country. Now. They’re going to have instead of a 8 unit brand they’re going to wind up having a 500 unit customer you know and it was because they basically brought it up to us. 30:49.54vigorbrandingThat’s awesome. So do you think a latino brand. Do you think that’s going to be Franz Mars Next big big thing in the portfolio or you have something else cooking or what? what do you think the next big big thing is. 30:57.31dan_fransmart_comWe we? Yeah, we have a few brands that are doing record numbers like this this latin brands called cilantro it’s growing faster for me so far than 5 guys did like our first several months is growing faster. 31:06.43vigorbrandingI Love the name. 31:11.34dan_fransmart_comAnd it’s growing every franchisee is a franchisee of another brand and so they all have experience. They all know what they’re doing. They have capital but they also have a perspective of why they like this brand better than what they’re doing and so um, it’s interesting. Keep an eye on cilantra. That’s gonna be a fun one and then we’re. 31:25.93vigorbrandingAnd again I don’t know who does your naming but I love that I Love the name Slanic because I think that’s so approachable yet It’s intriguing. You know. 31:33.69dan_fransmart_comYeah, but it’s it’s like Chipotle right? So it’s like cilantro and and ah but it’s I mean it’s a real authentic story because I’m like the world doesn’t need another chipotle another mexican created by a white guy like they need. It should be like so our tagline or our. 31:43.75vigorbrandingE. 31:49.14dan_fransmart_comPositioning is the next big thing in Mexican is actually really mexican and so this is a family that kind of you know snuck into the country and like so many do and started off ah humbly through life in America you know like the halal guys. 31:50.94vigorbrandingShe. 31:56.48vigorbrandingHe. 32:06.56dan_fransmart_comAh, yeah, but they you know they came across and they they literally started opened up a restaurant to make a living to feed people to make a living turned out that what they were serving and it was latin for latinos so they started off their whole career is making this amazing. So think about how tough that customer is it’s not Latin Latino for gringos. 32:18.00vigorbrandingBriefly. 32:25.61vigorbrandingWe hear. 32:25.73dan_fransmart_comThis is latino for latinos and it was a standout brand that was doing crazy numbers and then all of a sudden they had opened 2 locations. They took over a failed baha fresh and it’s doing crazy numbers. They took over a failed chipotle right? That’s America’s darling is chipotle. 32:41.70vigorbrandingUm, right. 32:44.30dan_fransmart_comWhere Chipotle couldn’t succeed in this area of Chicago they’re packed. They’re busy and so you’re like wait a minute latino for latinos yeah, people like it and I’m like this thing’s going to be a monster and that’s why like I think we had 6 or 8 people come look at it all 6 or 8 of them are our franchisees now. 32:47.27vigorbrandingYeah, and again so it’s it’s quality. Yeah. 33:01.87dan_fransmart_comSo they’re all buying the franchise but that and then the other thing I’m excited about we got approach and beginning a covid if you you remember when Covid first happened the government was scrambling every day with new rules and regulations and restaurants had to close or could only open every other seat or had to do dividers Whatever was driving the industry crazy. 33:02.11vigorbrandingThat’s awesome. 33:20.40dan_fransmart_comAnd I had a franchise lawyer that said hey I’ve got this electronics Brand Would you take it on I’m like I don’t think so I don’t know anything about electronics Long story short. We took it on that thing’s growing faster than any brand I’ve ever grown. It’s way more successful than any restaurant has ever been. It’s called pay more pay more electronics. It’s. 33:35.64vigorbrandingThat’s great, very cool. 33:37.90dan_fransmart_comBuy sell trade new and used electronics and the irony is a lot of food guys are building it and then all of a sudden I run across um, a ah facial Studio Skincare Studio called Glow thirty. So it’s a small little and and I was approached by her. 33:40.57vigorbrandingShe. 33:53.68vigorbrandingYou know. 33:54.36dan_fransmart_comHer commercial broker her real estate broker. She goes hey would you ever do like a facial place I’m like I don’t know I’ve never even had a facial and I I talked to the lady and she said hey I want to be the orange theory of skin care I’m like I don’t know what that means and I’ve never been to orange theory and I’ve never had a facial but I. 34:06.19vigorbrandingAnd then. 34:13.40dan_fransmart_comAnd I saw the lady who was in Bethesda Maryland I looked on through my Linkedin I found somebody at orange theory and Bethesda and I said hey can I venmow you some money and you go check this place out and she said sure I’ve venmoed her some cash she went and checked it out. She looked up my background she goes I don’t know what your plan is with this brand but whatever it is I’m in. 34:30.79vigorbrandingYeah, yeah. 34:33.90dan_fransmart_comAnd so she actually left orange theory came to work for me. She’s the vice president of 4 us growing low 30 and this is skincare clinic that’s growing faster than I mean it’s just grown like crazy. So we’ve gone from being a restaurant franchise development company to a franchise development company and um. 34:50.48vigorbrandingThat’s awesome. 34:51.84dan_fransmart_comBut we keep looking for food like I’m I’m I’m ah I can’t offline I’ll tell you who, but it’s but we’re we’re working on a pretty pretty big project right now like I’m still I’m at the end of the day I like to feed people. There’s just something very rewarding about feeding somebody someone pays you for the food that you give them. 34:59.73vigorbrandingUm, yes, yeah. 35:11.33dan_fransmart_comAnd they say thank you and they come back and they bring friends like there’s just something instantly gratification gratify gratifying about about that. So like I’ll always be in the in the restaurant business but the restaurant industry is getting a little wakeup call because it’s from a business perspective. It’s hard. 35:12.11vigorbrandingYeah, he. 35:29.54dan_fransmart_comHarder to make money nowadays in restaurants which is why so many like at this places glow 30 like we just sold all of Arizona to a huge food franchisee Greg Flynn the biggest franchisee in the world is this starting to expand with nonfoo and and ah yeah. 35:39.47vigorbrandingUm, sure. Yeah, the the glow 30 thing look I’ll be very very honest I think it’s fantastic because I know that look feeding people makes you feel great. If you haven’t gotten a facial i. Absolutely recommend it I look I’m a father of daughters I’ll admit it I go every two months. It is the greatest thing on earth. So the fact that you are in the on the but the ground floor of a franchise for this brilliant I guarantee it will explode I mean I just ah, in fact I buy a bunch of the gift cards and I give them out to folks here in the office because I just think it’s like. 36:02.53dan_fransmart_comUm, yeah. 36:11.60dan_fransmart_comYeah, well I it will now I can’t now so glow 30 It’s one of these members. It’s a membership skincare which is another thing it’s sort of like memberships is the ultimate hack because you make money while you sleep. You basically make money whether people use. 36:11.71vigorbrandingAh, great hour of your life. You know? So if you if you haven’t done it. Do it. Ah perfect. Yeah yeah, right. 36:28.82dan_fransmart_comSomething or not when you have a membership think about fitness studios how many times you buy a membership and you don’t go and the fitness studio is happy. They’re happy because you’re not there so they wind up selling one hundred and fifty percent of capacity knowing that the third of the morons never show up. So um. 36:31.63vigorbrandingYep, yeah. 36:41.56vigorbrandingUm, that’s right. 36:44.97dan_fransmart_comBut that’s that’s sort of the membership model and it’s like man this thing you buy a membership and the ah but the irony here is people don’t not use it. So it’s ah every month the the facial changes right? So like in October it was like a pumpkin facialin. 36:52.97vigorbrandingAre a are. 36:59.45dan_fransmart_comJuly I think it was like lemoncello or whatever but every month it’s a different carefully curated facial and people don’t miss it. So it’s not like you just get a facial and no big deal I get one next week it’s people like no, it’s the end of the month they’re going to change this month into next month I don’t want to miss last month so the reason I still haven’t ever been to glow is every time I come in for discovery day. These guys are booked out three weeks in advance. So like if you said you wanted a franchise right now for glow the earliest I could book your discovery day is like three weeks because we want you to get a facial as part of your discovery day. It’s like yeah and so. 37:19.90vigorbrandingOh yeah, yeah yeah. 37:26.37vigorbrandingWow Yeah in the in the facial is the product’s holding it up right. 37:35.15dan_fransmart_comSo yeah, so it’s ah but it’s yeah, it’s funny, but but now I mean it’s franchising like we had. We is weird. We had a record year last year we we had more new franchise sales last year than ever the first quarter of this year doubled last year so like been doing this for 30 years and 37:48.56vigorbrandingA. 37:54.11dan_fransmart_comAnd that’s even food like I mean our food brands like cilantro we have. We have the largest fastest growing indian brand called curry up now. So there’s another one. There’s a billion and a half indians when you think about how many indians and pakistani eat what looks like to you and I indian food. It’s like no one’s ever built a brand. 37:54.65vigorbrandingUm, yeah. 38:11.40vigorbrandingUm, right. 38:12.55dan_fransmart_comAnd so we you know now we have 100 units in development for curry up now. We just sold London so that’s now international. So the London franchisee is the subway franchisee for for all of Uk. He actually bought all of Uk for curry up now. So yeah, we’re going we’re going nuts we got dessert franchises. We got. You know we we got really good things but I’m drawn to things that have really good numbers. So like I have a cookie franchise called smackery in New York City and no one. There’s no real number 2 to crumble and nobody I mean crumble just went like a monster I tried to get smackery 6 or 7 5 five five 38:38.32vigorbranding8 38:44.17vigorbrandingYeah, yeah. 38:50.41dan_fransmart_comYears ago before I ever saw crumble and I couldn’t even get him to call me back and then finally I knew someone who knew him and we made a deal about a year ago but there’s no number 2 to to crumble all the people that are trying to build cookie shops are all doing six hundred Grand seven hundred Grand a year this guy is. He’s in Eight hundred Square feet and I think he did two point three million dollars last year. So yeah, yeah, cookies 3 yeah so I mean ridiculous sales and and um, but he’s doing a difference. It was like well even in New York there’s a lot of other places that do under a million dollars why is he doing. 39:09.85vigorbrandingWow Cookies That’s fantastic. 39:27.26dan_fransmart_comMore than double what everyone else is doing. It’s like that’s what I look for so like I look for concepts that just do like haa guys. There’s a lot of people selling meat over rice with sauce in New York only 1 guy had a line down the block. So I got him it was smackerys only 1 guy is doing whatever. 39:33.77vigorbrandingNo. 39:39.46vigorbrandingYeah, that’s right. 39:46.65dan_fransmart_comThousand dollars a foot in sales. He’s $3000 a foot in sales or whatever he’s doing even in New York like by New York standards that’s still 2 times the sales per foot than any other chain does and it’s like well you know so there’s something about that which makes yeah which makes my life easy because I don’t have. 39:56.93vigorbrandingUm, there’s some there. Yeah. 40:02.94dan_fransmart_comYou know like I don’t have the guy that’s only doing 7 or eight hundred Grand a year in cookies I have the guy doing two point three million so makes my life a little bit easier. 40:06.62vigorbrandingYeah, very cool. Let’s let’s talk 1 more thing about that you’re’re you’re embarking on the podcast journey you’re gonna do smart franise you go talk a little bit about that. 40:16.50dan_fransmart_comSure so I started a franchise. It’s the first question I ask whenever I meet successful franchisees or franchisors I’m like what makes you successful. What are you doing? What do you know that I don’t or what you know why are you getting results that other people are getting and so. 40:31.22vigorbrandingIs. 40:33.95dan_fransmart_comStarted smart franchising with frans smart I just believe success leaves clues and I feel like people are willing to share and so my first guest on was the biggest franchisee in the world. Greg Flynn he owns 2700 something franchises all over the world. He’s now going I mean I think he’s targeting 5000 franchises. He’s going to go to some weird number and it’s like okay, well and I’d ask him right on the podcast What do you do different like why are you getting the results you’re getting why are you and without saying it I’m kind of like why are you better than everyone else or what are you doing that people can learn from. 41:06.64vigorbrandingMe here. 41:10.85dan_fransmart_comAnd surprisingly I mean he’s he’s obviously um, careful. Ah, but he gave some really good. Um, really good tidbits and then but like I had franchisees of 5 guys and and um, franchisee really successful franchisee from um, red robin. 41:27.74vigorbrandingHe sure. 41:29.52dan_fransmart_comRight? So casual dining is taking a beating right now. Well here’s a guy that’s doing double-digit sales increases and he’s still growing. So I’m like what thell are you doing that like Chilis can’t figure out in Fridays are closing restaurants and you’re building more restaurants you’re doing great. What are you doing and he’ll tell you he’ll tell you exactly as secrets as success. 41:38.98vigorbrandingSo in here. 41:44.92vigorbrandingYeah. 41:49.00dan_fransmart_comAh, 5 guys franchisees like why? Why do you have 80 stores. Why do you? This other guy had 17 another guy had 80 like what is it, you do different than everyone else they leave that and one I had 2 other guys on that are really really cool by bunch but 1 of them was Don Fox from Firehouse sold a sandwich shop right? You think there’s not room for another sandwich shop or he builds one he sells it for $1000000000 so it’s like how did you do it like what can what can my audience learn or Freddy’s like even after fiveges. Freddy is the burger and and milk shake company. 42:08.98vigorbrandingYou’re right. Shift a. 42:22.10dan_fransmart_comSame thing like you get his whole story and you get how he did it and they tell it in a way that tells you if you follow what they did. You’re going to have the same result and then 1 thing right now that I think is mystifying a lot of people is the restaurant tech stack people don’t understand restaurant marketing or the tech stack. Most. 42:31.42vigorbrandingMan. 42:38.63vigorbrandingPerformance. 42:41.80dan_fransmart_comMost people don’t get it I had a guy on that I think is the best and most brilliant in the space and he decoded the whole thing and not only decoded it I’m like give me the app to fix this. Give me the app to fix that if you were a franchisee. What are the first 3 things that you’d make sure that you did. 42:57.90vigorbrandingMe. 42:59.16dan_fransmart_comAnd he went into detail about everything and so it’s you know stuff that he charges a lot of money as a consultant. He’s giving it all away for free so smart franchising with Fransmar is really just that. It’s like what’s this. What’s the best known way to do everything um in a way that people can learn from. 43:15.69vigorbrandingYeah I mean it seems to me and I don’t know if you found this but I feel like there’s a lot of the same ingredients I mean it typically starts with a really good quality product I think people think a lot of times when there’s a franchise or whatever. It’s like you figure out ways to ah ah skip. And to save money and certainly have to run the operation but it’s usually a quality product. Um consistency. Ah great operations and then I go back to that sort of that brand promise like there’s a story. There’s there’s this great authenticity that that kind of exudes and and kind of you can carry from place to place. We just had. I just had betsy ham ah from duck donuts on and that that’s a franchise that kind of grew I mean yeah, did the world need another donut shop I mean you know Russ Degiio the the founder thought so and and a great story I mean was it he was at the outer banks ah always thought of like you know going and getting fresh donuts at the beach the jersey shore we are. Lots of places have you know, fresh. You know, homemade Duck. He didn’t he couldn’t find one so he thought he should start a donut place at the outer banks out in duck and that’s where that’s where it came from and it was like I mean you know puts this together and it’s this. Ah, it’s this great franchise. So I feel like a lot of these guys have ah just a great story. A passion. 44:17.76dan_fransmart_comYeah. 44:29.72vigorbrandingAnd it’s an authenticity that you know makes it makes it kind of ah ah, magnetic that other people want it and and want to grow from it. Yeah. 44:33.49dan_fransmart_comYeah, yeah, yeah I agree but that I duck don’t I Love duck donuts and they’re delicious, but you think about it’s like well how did he create that it’s like because he created it like how did I do what I did because he did it. 44:43.90vigorbrandingYeah, yeah, that’s it. Yeah yeah, yeah, that’s right, you know execute That’s right, you know don’t be afraid to fail the whole thing I tell my I tell my daughters all the time I mean look I failed a lot. So. 44:49.77dan_fransmart_comIt’s like that’s the biggest thing is people sitting on the sidelines like you got to get going life is short. Yeah. 45:01.28dan_fransmart_comYeah, yeah. 45:01.81vigorbrandingThe C student guy Again, you know you you fail. You just go out there and you know hey look hopefully you get an a here bring that average up to a C but you know you’re allowed to fail you go out and try things and pivot and and keep going. It’s it’s exciting. So you said you start your podcast out with the same question I end mine with the same question. So I’m going to. 45:09.78dan_fransmart_comYeah. 45:17.85vigorbrandingI’m gonna ask this? Um I look forward to your answer, you’ve created a lot of restaurants you’ve built brands all over the the world. So your last meal one final meal. What would you eat where and why and there’s a disclosure you’re not going to assault any of your ah ah franchisees. You can just pick anything. So. 45:31.60dan_fransmart_comOh man, probably my last meal would be my last meal is going to be Italian and it’s probably going to be. 45:47.32dan_fransmart_comI don’t know got to think about this? um I wish you said it ahead of time but ah, but there’s a restaurant in New York City it’s my favorite in the world and it’s because the dad cooks the mom’s the hostess and the son’s the waiter. It’s called Sandros Sandros 46:04.57vigorbrandingSandros. Okay. 46:05.57dan_fransmart_comAnd it’s the best food I’ve ever had. It’s dinky teeny tiny but everything that comes out’s unbelievable. It’s the opposite of pretentious. It’s the ah I mean it’s just a neighborhood place that you could walk by a hundred times and never know it was there every time I go to New York I 46:13.37vigorbrandingE. 46:22.30vigorbrandingI I just wrote it down I’m in New York all the time. So I’m gonna I’m gonna try and fight is it in Manhattan it’s okay Sandros. 46:23.10dan_fransmart_comBlock time to go there. That’s probably my favorite meal of all places sandros. Yeah yeah, yeah in the upper East but it’s like it’s awesome. Food’s good. Price are reasonable. You know and you all and you go there and you feel like they appreciate that you’re there the whole the whole load but it was definitely my last meal of no matter where would be Italian like favorite food I could I mean I Just can’t get enough of that. So I Love it. But yeah, Thanks ma’am. 46:39.42vigorbrandingHe. Yeah, you go? Yeah hey I Appreciate you know I could talk to you for hours is fascinating I Absolutely enjoy it. Thank you so much soon. 46:57.21dan_fransmart_comYou’re welcome. We’ll see you soon. 

In today's episode of Welcome to Cloudlandia, I share insights from my experience at the Cloudland Summit. We discuss the carefully constructed approach to selecting impactful speakers and crafting their messages. Dan and I explore deeper implications of habits. From influencing personal growth to organizational culture and nations. Recent tech and political events show how biases stem from ingrained habits. We cover self-tracking progress through a daily habit-scoring system and cooking's role in health, wealth, and innovation. Overall, it's a thought-provoking look at intentional living and leveraging the mundane for extraordinary results. SHOW HIGHLIGHTS We discuss the Cloudland Summit and how major tech breakthroughs often come from the convergence of three pre-existing technologies. I share insights from my upcoming book "Everything is Created Backward," suggesting that innovation stems from remixing the past. We explore Perplexity, an AI tool that aids in research by suggesting further inquiries and providing references. We analyze the creation of iTunes as an example of innovation by combining existing elements in novel ways. I introduce the 'Top 50 Tool' I've devised to identify and refine daily habits that shape our lives and future selves. We examine the role of present habits in shaping our future selves and the effectiveness of setting goals for personal growth. We touch on the biases of Google's chatbot and the financial repercussions of such biases on a company's valuation. We discuss the number 51's significance in politics and business and the importance of counting fundamentals. We talk about the transformative power of cooking habits on health and wallets, and the broader implications on personal and national success. We tease the introduction of a new tool designed to track and score daily progress, highlighting the importance of consistent habits. Links: WelcomeToCloudlandia.com StrategicCoach.com DeanJackson.com ListingAgentLifestyle.com TRANSCRIPT (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors) Dean: Mr Sullivan, yes, it's Welcome to cloudland at time. Dan: Amen. I heard it's being recorded, so that's half the job right there. Dean: Yeah, and it's never going to let you down. Dan: That's right, Well, yeah what a what a whirlwind week. It was so good to see you and babs and everybody. Dean: We were shooting for one meal and we were shooting for one meal and that kind of ended up as five. Dan: Yes, what what can happen. Oh, that's, yeah. Nothing wrong with that. I like it. They were all playful. Dean: Yeah. Yeah, it was really interesting because I spent probably a day preparing for the Friso summit for our listeners. We just had our annual being the top level of strategic coach and and we have this every year it's it's a meeting Squeezed in between two drinking parties. Oh man, that's funny. Yeah, the meeting is so you can recover for the first from the first drinking parties so that you're ready to go for the second one. Dan: And I'll tell you what. I sold that to those pokeballs short, that was those are delicious. Dean: Yeah, I always find that alcohol is the almost failproof Of 10 times multiplier. There you go one dollar invested in alcohol Somewhere along the line, that always produces the 10 times positive result. Dan: Oh, good, that's noted. Dean: Yeah, I'm not sure that marijuana does that. Dan: Oh no. Dean: Yeah, yeah, anyway, yeah, but I spent a day on that conference and. What I did is we chose the speakers and then alanora called each of them to see if that was okay and we specified the topic, and that was all done by you know, alanora. And then what I did is I wrote a fast filter for each of the speakers, not on what they were going to talk about, but how they were going to talk, okay. And I thought it worked really well. I thought it worked really well. Dan: It really did. I mean the panels were, you know. It seemed like the whole thing moved quickly. Everybody was bringing valuable insight, even just the. The resources they were recommending, especially your. The ai panel, was fantastic, not too much. You know I I immediately came back and started using perplexity and I downloaded perplexity as so let we should probably set the stage for what perplexity is as a chat, gpt alternative and combined with kind of Google and yeah, well, it's interesting because I've done it on about 10 different Questions, you know. Dean: I asked a question and then I get an answer and uh then, but it's got Uh two neat things about it. At down below it has three more questions that you might ask. Okay, three more. Dan: Um, yeah, on the topic. Dean: That first of all gives you the original answer, and then it suggests three more things you might look into. But, at the top it's got four boxes and these are references that you can go to that indicate where it got you know the information to answer your question. And if you do all, if you do the first thing. And what I was asking was mark mills, who is a tech Thinker. He thinks a lot about what technology is doing to the world and he mentioned in one of his books it's called the cloud revolution that if you look at technology, almost all the breakthroughs happen as a result of combining three existing technologies. And he goes back and he goes rake back to Samuel Morris in the mid 19th century with the telegraph, and then he comes all the way forward to not to ai, but to when how the internet came into existence. You know, he puts the internet and talks about the three things that had to be there first before you could even think about Creating this new technology. And the reason is I'm writing a quarterly book right now which is called everything is created backward, and and what I mean by that is that you can't you can't create the future out of the future, because there's nothing there. Dan: Right right. Where's the stuff you know First of all, I've never been rendered in the simulation. Here it's unrendered. Yeah, nobody's ever been nobody's ever been there. Dean: You know they I mean. But the problem with it is that you have to do a awful lot of convincing With something you try to create out of the future, you know and but I gave the anxiety. I just wrote the first chapter, but the actually the introduction, and I use itunes as the example that steve jobs simply took three things that already existed. One was the mp3 player, which he apple already had. The ipod Okay, it already had millions of people already using the ipod, so he had a build-in. He had a build-in audience to go through with something new. The second thing is that nabster had already pretty well figured out how you use the internet to download single songs. Yes, okay and their only problem with their model was that it was illegal. They were stealing, they were stealing and that's that. Never has long shelf life. Dan: They were sharing something they were sharing. Dean: No, they weren't sharing, they were stealing. They were stealing other people's property and making money on it. Yeah, that's called theft, and and then apple had its operating system, so it was the mp3 player, the nabster innovation with the internet and the apple, you know, apples operating system for all of its computers, which it had many more already existing Customers, you know customers were already using it. And then he put it together and he created iJudon. You know it was an app that went on your apple platform and you could download music and then put it in your ipod. Dan: That's great and you're right, like it's. I see the triple play the things now I can. Just I'm looking at it. Dean: I mean, if you look at, artificial intelligence and work backwards as a result of three things. I haven't really analyzed that, but it seems to be three things that had to exist before, and so what I'm suggesting in the book is that the key to your future is actually what you're doing with the past, your past experience, what's available to you, yeah, and so that's. I think that's a tremendous breakthrough. I think this is a keen insight. Dan: Yeah, I mean, what was a keen insight for me? My biggest takeaway from the free zone. Dean: I was looking for a little bit more excitement on your part. Dan: No, I'm totally excited and this is where it's. It's related to what you're saying that when we had the conversation about Looking back at the habits that you've established, oh, yeah, now, yeah, that's what I meant is that, looking working Backwards, like that, everything that we've created right now is the some, you know, the accumulation of all of the Daily habits that I have instilled, right, the behaviors and habits and choices, and that only you know. I think it goes in that. I think that fits with what you're saying, that you can't. It's not about, you know, picking something in the future. When you said, what are the habits, what are the daily present habits of future dan or future dean, of where you want, and that's the real thing is that having to establish, though, those habits? Yeah, I've had a couple more thoughts. Dean: I've had a couple of birth thoughts since we talked in palm beach about how you could approach this, and so one of things and I have a tool that I've created which really hasn't gone into the program at all. It's called the top 50 tool and it's just a page and it's got 50 boxes, okay, and what you do, and what you do is when you have a number of things. So let's just Apply it to the present project. You have 50 existing daily Habits right now. Everybody does, you know everybody in the world and I'm just arbitrarily picking 50. Yeah, my sense is it's if you put all the habits, the little things that you've woven together to produce who you are today. Yeah you know it could be in the hundreds, you know hundreds or thousands, but you know it fills up the time. Yeah, you can account for it. Yeah, in the 24 hours, and then the waking hours. Probably there's probably habits you have at life and nighttime which bear Examination. But I said okay. So the first part of the project is just create a sheet. That's got, you know, it's got 50 boxes. You know five by 10, okay, okay, and number them one through 50. And then just you know, and every day as you go through, observe something else. For example, in our house I do the dishes, okay. Mm-hmm babs cooks and I do the dishes. So usually it hangs around, you know it hangs around. We have supper. You know we have not so much breakfast, but we had lunch and dinner and there's dishes and I just put them next to the sink, close to the dishwasher, and then I go about doing something and then I, and then you know I open the dishwasher and there's a previous meals already, clean dishes there, so I have to unload it and you know, put everything in the shelf and then I load it. Okay, and it's not a kind of how that I really like doing, but it's the agreement, you know Okay, so within the last three weeks I've adapted as soon as the meals finished, I do the dishes, okay. And in order I put the dishes in the dishwasher, and in order to do that, before the meal I look at the dishwasher and I unload it and put everything away so that when the meals finished, it's just a matter of rinsing the dishes and putting them in a dishwasher. Well that's two habits. That's two habits right there. Okay, so they would go down in boxes. You know two of the boxes, okay, but once I do it, and I'm doing it the way that I would like to see it, see me doing it in the future, you know. And you know, and sometimes we have staff in the house and they do it so that it gets taken care of, but it's not my, but when it's just Babs and me at our home and at our cottage. You know, two homes in Toronto, and a home in Toronto, a home in Chicago and then a cottage up north in Canada. Anyway, and I'm the dishwasher, you know. Dan: And I had to do it. Dean: So I said, since I'm gonna be doing this for the rest of my life, I might as well you know kind of improve it so that I actually enjoy the activity. Dan: Yes, I really like this, Dan, Like you're saying the same thing. I mean the things that have been triggered from our conversation about it in Palm Beach. You know, Like you just described, it's one of those things If, even if you ask yourself the question is there any way to not do anything? I mean, the thing is that the dish has gotta get done. Dean: Well, the other thing that's part of my relationship with Babs, you know, and she's commented a couple of times during the last two weeks and she said I really like it that you get it done right away. Yeah. Dan: Oh, there you go. Yeah, that's your target audience. Right there, I'm getting social proof from your target audience. That's the exact thing. Dean: This is. I can tell you, this is my number one target audience. Yeah, so let's say you go through and you fill up your 50, okay. You know, you get them. You know, maybe I'll take you two or three weeks and you just notice little things. You know how you get up in the morning, you know, you know how you get ready for the day and everything, but there's a lot of little habits. There's a lot of little habits there, and then you sort of reach 50 and you say now, how many of these? How many of these tomorrow, can I improve? I'll look at the habit. And then I'll say to myself how would I like this always to be going forward? And then you do it that way. You do it that way, and then you have to attach a point system to it, so you're scoring every day. Because, I don't stick to things I can't score. Dan: Right, well, you may like, dan, there's James Clear just launched his. Adams app, which is Adams A-T-O-M-S, and he's the guy that wrote you know Atomic Habits and this is exactly what you are talking about here. You know you can make, you can create habits that you want you can, and it gives you prompts or you can track. It's almost like wind streak in a way, right when you're adding things on it, but daily you can. So I set up my first habit that I set up just on Wednesday or Thursday I downloaded the app. Actually, I set up that I said I want to start with the first thing in the morning that I drink half a liter of water, the 500 milliliters of water. The first thing that I do when I wake up to rehydrate and do that. So I've done that. Now I've had Thursday, friday, saturday, sunday four rounds of that and it tracks your streak and it shows you your progress and so I've had four total repetitions so far. And the way they set it up is you put a purpose around the habit, like why you're trying to do this right. So the habit is that it's always like a place and a time and a reason. I think right, so it's a vote. And when they do your thing, when they give you the report, it's like congratulations, that's four votes for your healthy dean or whatever You're making. Every day you're making a vote. Dean: I think that's great yeah. Dan: I'm voting for this. So habits is the name of the, or Adams is the name of the app on iTunes. Dean: It's done in the app store, right. Dan: It's in the app store and it's just a yellow stacking yellow with like a white stacking thing. Dean: But yeah, I've periodically over the last dozen years been conferences for James's, you know, and I've always enjoyed his take on things. Dan: Yeah, and that's I mean. I like this Dan a lot. This is kind of gamifying thing. Dean: Yeah. Dan: Now. Dean: I can tell you what my if you call it my top 50 tool. Then there's a little arrow in each of the boxes and what you do is you press the arrow and it takes you to a page where you develop your criteria for what constitutes a great habit. Okay and then you attach numbers to the to that, and there's room, I think, for 10 criteria. Okay, and then you go through, and one of them is that I want to be more and more doing habits every day that are going to last the Rest of my life. Yes so that's that would be one criteria and I give my, I can establish the range, and and then you all you have to do is the criteria for one, and then that applies the criteria to all of them, and Then, as you go along, you start improving the criteria, and the moment you improve the criteria, it improves it for all of them. Okay, and then, as you go through, you notice that certain certain habits get a better importance score than others and it automatically, automatically prioritizes the 50, that this is number one, this is number two, this is number three. Rate to 50. What do you think about that? I really I mean would you? Dan: like to get that. Dean: Would you love to get? Dan: that. Where would one get one of these? Dean: Only from a particular person. Yeah, and it's right. Now, it's a file maker file, a file maker no longer Exists, but that this continues to work. Okay, this continues to work, okay, so I'll just send you the file maker oh, I like that a file maker form and, as you're going along, what it does is it give. I mean, I think the combination of the atom, the atom app and this tool probably Complets the circle it might be. Dan: I mean, I'd love to discuss what you're describing. Dean: Here's the tip sounds like as you go along, there's habits that are less important and they don't belong on the top 50. So there's another backup 50 and that they're in the backup 50. Dan: Okay, the farm team. Dean: Yes. Yes you can't have major league without a farm team. That's exactly right. Dan: I, like you know what's very. What's really interesting about this, dan, is if I was really Reflecting on my accumulated daily habits, right, if I look at what are my observable habitual behaviors? Right, and I went through the way I went through it was looking at the vignettes of each day, like looking at a timeline from the, the moment I wake up and and I was saying, you know, I have established Really good sleep habit of you know, my sleep window is Very uniform, my, you know, I woke up this morning I'm, you know, 8786 on my sleep and readiness score for my or ring. I get enough deep sleep and all that. So I've established that habit of Really a really good sleep window there. Then I started looking at, you know, my observable, if we were just somebody was following me around, logging my movements, like in a computer program or whatever, like just line items like Lining, describing every step or everything that I took part of. It is, you know, look, replacing now looking for the opportunities, like where do I want to establish this habit? And I think that little window of you know right, when I get up the first, you know the first hour of being awake. What do we want those habits to look like? Yeah, would future deans habits be? Dean: You know something there are constraints and deans, future habits. You know what? They are deans present habits? Dan: are yes, that's exactly it. I get it and that's what you're saying. I'm like you. Dean: Do anything in the future now you can't do anything in the future. You can only do things in the present. Yeah, the future. Dan: That's exactly right. Dean: Yeah, but I've been around the tech people and you know I mean, like the environmental movement, no more fossil fuels. That's a bullshit, is such a bullshit goal Because 80% of all the energy on the planet comes from fossil fuels. Okay, the other thing is that the people have these kind of goals are really not very good at getting anything done. Dan: Yeah. Dean: They went to university. They've been in university for six years, you know they've been in school since they were four years old. They've never actually done anything in the real world, you know and. But they're going to change the entire structure of the world and the problem is that it's not a plausible goal. Like no fossil Fields, you know, the other one is no borders. You know the thing we shouldn't have borders. Well, there are borders and people will kill for the borders. Yeah, right, but the thing is the people who set these type of goals in the future are some of the most incompetent people on the planet and it's really interesting that the the way you described it there. Dan: All these people, they're not accountable for the day we have. They're talking. They're just going and admonish people about this future. There's no fossil fuel because it's not actionable. Dean: It's not actually, and what they're trying to generate is tax money. They're trying to generate Donations. They're trying to but without ever producing any kind of satisfactory result you know, yeah, because they're just painting the ideal. Dan: And I wonder, how do we do that in our own lives? I mean, well, the big thing. Dean: Well, one of my things that have occurred to me is that all your goals for the future are actually you Operating, you personally as an individual operating at a higher level of capability, you know I mean you know, if you have a, you have one house and you have a house, another house that's bigger, it's better. You know it's got far more, it's more in the right place, it's. You know it's got about 10 Better criteria that you could say. And you say, well, that's my goal and I said no, that's actually the result of you being a Different and more productive person in the future. So every goal you have to bring back that it's you as a person operating at a higher level. You're making more money, you know, and that's number one. You know, yeah, and in order for you to make more money, you've got to look at what you're doing right now to make money and improve it. There may be, between you and that house, there may be, 10 Improvements that you have to make to how you're making money right now. Yes, yeah, this is yeah maybe eight profit activators. Dan: Which one? Dean: all the profit activators are habits, aren't they? Dan: they are, yeah. Yeah, you're absolutely right with metrics. I mean, that's part of the thing I think is that's measurable, right, everything you're describing. That be a good habit horrible habits. Yeah, huh, yeah, and I was dawned on me how long these habits, many of them, have been established. Like, I like your idea of the ranking of the habits. I mean that's it's, you know the numbering them, you know there's probably a Habit you know, but this is endless pursuit. It feels like you know an endless. Well, it's a daily person. Dean: It's a daily improvement activity. You know because what I'm finding? I've been doing this for about four months. Daily habits, and the first one and what I've been doing is I've been going to Buenos Aires. I've done it three times, for the fourth that's coming up in two weeks. And and there's basically six weeks before visits to Buenos Aires. So I said I'm going to create a 42 day cycle of changing certain habits. Okay, oh, wow, anchors is something right. Well, you anchor it in time, you give it a, and then so that's. You know, six weeks is 42 days. It's an odd time period and that intrigues me, you know. So I've got these 42 improvement, 42 day improvement periods. Dan: And then I say Just a lot to support the 42 is that. You know they say it takes 21 days to establish a habit and 42 is just twice that. So you get two cracks at 21 days to establish. Dean: You just explained why I did it. You just explained why I did that, but I didn't know that. Dan: There you go. No, that's great, though right Like that's a. Dean: I'm doubling down. Yeah, yeah yeah, I hadn't seen that. I had not seen that. Dan: Yeah. Dean: Anyway, but what I did? The first one, it was very simple no snacking between meals. I don't get into trouble with meals. I get in trouble with what happens between meals. Okay, okay. Dan: And. Dean: I aced it, I aced it, I aced it over 42 days, and then I started adding so the second one had two or three habits, the third one, you know, the 42, because I'm getting used to it, okay, and you know. And then all of a sudden I said pay attention to all your habits and just do it right. If there's something you have to do that day, do it the way you would like to have it done in the future, and then give yourself points for that. You know, and so. But there's an enormous Well. First of all, there's a dopamine hit to it, because it means that every day is valuable for learning and growth, and that's a, you know, that's a great thing. Dan: This is fascinating because that dopamine is healthy. Good, you're the beneficiary of the dopamine compared to like watching. Dean: You're your own dealer, yeah. Dan: Be your own dopamine dealer. Dean: Be your own dealer. Dan: That's a great title for a quarterly book, Ben. Dean: I just logged in. Dan: I mean, that's the truth. Dean: You never know. Anytime you talk to Dan, to Dean, you're going to get a new quarterly book out of it. Dan: Sometimes you get a major market book out of it. You never know. Dean: That's a good habit, that's a good habit. I don't know what it is about, dean, but anytime I'm around him I can count about you know, half a year down the road, and something he said is now a book. Oh wait for this. Dan: You know what the elegance of your 42, the 42 days, six weeks is? That you could get two rounds of that per quarter. It's just another nice, elegant fit. Dean: Well, you can get basically 42, you can get two rounds and basically oh right, then a quarter yeah. Dan: You can yeah 12 weeks. Dean: And then you get some free days to. Yeah. Dan: Go wild, I'm better. Yeah, enough of this structure. Dean: Enough of this structure, you know. But the interesting thing about it is you're actually, every time you improve a daily habit, you're exponentially improving your future. Yes, yes. And it's the only way. Yeah. And the thing is, there's certain habits you would like to change today, but you have to change some other habits before you can get to it. Yeah, so yeah, I'll give you an example. I've been listening to people talking about intermittent fasting. Yeah, Like you go a weekend without eating. I said no, I'm not anywhere near that. But what I've noticed is on Saturday and Sunday I can have 16-hour periods between meals. Dan: Okay, yeah. Dean: And I said, you know so, on Saturday we have dinner at three o'clock in the afternoon and then I don't eat again until so that's nine hours before midnight, and then I have, you know, I eat breakfast at seven and then that's 16 hours. Dan: Okay, yep. Dean: And that's intermittent fasting. Dan: Yeah. Dean: And I can do the same thing on Sunday over Sunday night and breakfast. So I said, no, I'll just start off. Once on a weekend I'll do it. And now I'm at the point where I can do it twice on a weekend. You know people said well, you know, it doesn't matter, unless you do it for a couple of days. And I said I can't do it for a couple of days. Dan: Right. Dean: My habits. Don't support it yeah. Dan: Yeah, and I mean I don't know what to do about it. Dean: So whenever people say you should do something, you have to check back and say, ah, interesting, but my habits don't support what you're talking about. Dan: Right, right. Yeah, this is amazing. I mean, I'm not really a dashboard and scorecard, but you're totally in control of that. Dean: You won't. Dan: Yeah, you're the only one who knows the habits? Dean: You're the only one that knows how you want the habits to be in the future. Here. Dan: Yeah. Dean: There's complete agency here on the part of an individual. You know, and you can know all the ramblings of other people about what you should do and you have to do this. No, it's not so. It's bullshit Right. Dan: Yeah, yeah, I mean this is yeah. And then there's a. There's a guy, rob Dierdek. I don't know if you know him. Dean: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I did mention him. Dan: Okay, yeah, that you know. Everything that we're talking about is exactly. You know what he's on board with. Everything he's talking about is Dave Tuchad, chad Jenkins. Dean: Willard oh Chad Jenkins. Dan: Chad Jenkins I gave him and Steve Dastante actually, yeah, Rob Dierdek back to back two podcasts called the most unrelatable podcast episode you'll ever listen to. And it was him describing to the what ends he goes to track and quantify and establish his daily habits. And it's fascinating, I mean just to see, you know, make things inevitable, you know. Dean: Yeah, and there one thing that makes you appreciate that nervous systems are really different. You know human nervous systems are really. You know, what appeals to one person doesn't appeal to other people, and I think that's a tough nut to crack for a lot of people, because they want what they're doing to be the truth. And I said well, it is the truth. Dan: It is the truth. Dean: It is the truth, but don't go beyond yourself with it. You know, you know and and I think it has a lot to do with your you know your early experiences in life, what you got used to doing, what you like to do, things that you didn't like, and I think and these are forming before we have the ability to be conscious about them. Dan: How many of your habits Dan in on looking at your list are 50 year old oak trees? Oh, yeah, yeah, I mean some of the habits are oh yeah. Yeah. Dean: Some of them are. Some of them are beyond 75 years. Dan: Right, and some of them you know. Dean: I'm probably not going to fool around with those. Dan: No. Dean: Not at first, not at first. Do not take on a 75 year habit. Right, exactly, yeah, but it's really interesting Now, as you know, this happens to if we we can shift the context. I've been very interested in the, the reason why, in the last two weeks, google has lost $90 billion it's market value because of that Right. Because of a stupid AI chat. Okay. Dan: Yeah, I don't know what happened, so you know well what they do. Dean: it's a new chat chat bot that, when you put in directions, it'll create graphics for you. Okay, Okay. I'll give you an example. A guy says can you give me a picture of Vikings? And it comes back and they're all black. Dan: Okay. Dean: Now. Vikings were the whitest people in the world. Dan: Yes, right, right. Dean: Northern European. Not much sunlight, you know. Dan: Yes. Dean: So, anyway, and that says show, give me a picture of the founding fathers of the United States. And there are a whole bunch of them sitting on that table and a number of them were black. So what? Okay, so just giving you the general context, that what's being reflected in the Google chat bot is the dominant political views of the organization. Interesting, isn't it so? And they're getting such backlash. Well, their stock valuation went down by 90 billion in about a week and a half, 90 billion they just dropped, you know, their stock value. Now I would interpret that as someone giving you feedback. Right, right. Dan: Right. Dean: Right, you know, because what a stock price is an estimation of the future value of something you know and what I realize is that now they're scrambling. They had everybody had to work all this weekend to correct the problem. But the problem isn't their chat bot, the chat. The problem is Google's dominant thought process. Okay, so what's being reflected in any organization's cloudlandia presence is what their mainland habits are. I mean I don't think you can communicate too much beyond what your dominant habits are as an individual and as an organization. Dan: Yeah, this is you know, and I wonder if that so you're thinking like the Google things as reflecting their own biases are coming through in the stuff that it's how do I? Dean: that they have a bigger game to change how people think you know I think they do. You know, and you know, and you know, and maybe they shouldn't be that ambitious. Maybe they should just change the way that they think. Dan: Yeah, there's no. It's so amazing to me that there really is no. Like it's difficult now to get objective stuff, to get objective information without that. You know I saw that sort of you see it coming through in the biggest companies like Google, all the media, the mainstream, meta, meta, yeah, that, you see the whole. You know I look at. I was sharing with you the headline, you know, when Donald Trump just won South Carolina by a landslide. You know over 60% of the votes, 39% to Haley, and the headline on Drudge was 40% of Republicans don't want Donald Trump. It was like, what an amazing like flip of not mentioning the historical trouncing that she got in her own home state. Dean: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah well, you know you know, in politics and in business the number 51 is really important. I tell people you know, when you own a business. There are two numbers that matter 51 and 49. 51 is the same as 100%, 51 is the same as 100% and 49 is the same as zero. Yeah, you don't understand the difference, the crucial difference, between 51 and 49, you're gonna have a rough life. You're gonna have a rough life. Yeah, and he has won three more tomorrow, and they were. You know, they were equal to the that he's been achieving everywhere else. He's now. There's now been seven states and he's won all seven. Yeah, but 40% of people don't want him. Dan: Yeah, 40% of Republicans don't want Donald Trump. That's right. Dean: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So the interesting, I think next Tuesday there's 15, you know, there's like 15, it's called. Super Tuesday Super Tuesday, yeah yeah, super Tuesday, and probably he'll be up by 22,. It'll be 22 to nothing by the end of Tuesday night, you know. And he said, and she'll be saying I'm gaining on him. Dan: Gaining on him. Don't give up yeah. Yeah, yes but it's like, it's like 22, 22 flesh wounds. Right, exactly, yes, I'm not dead yet I'm not dead yet Just a stump. Dean: no legs, no arms, but I can still bite you. Dan: Yeah, yeah, I can still bite you I can't quite. Dean: I can't quite figure out what her lawn game is by doing this short. You know her short term activity. I can't figure out what her lawn term plan is. Dan: Yeah, this. I mean what a year this is gonna be. It's gonna be a great year. Dean: This is a I think this is a tectonic shift year, and it's not just in the States. That happened in Argentina when we were down there, the new you know the new government that came in. It happened in Holland. It's kind of happening all over the world right now that people who know how to count are replacing people who don't know how to count. Dan: Yes, so amazing, Dan. I'm excited about the, about this, the 50. I'm excited to get that too. Dean: Yeah, I'll, I'll be in the office tomorrow and I'll have our tech team send you it. And it's just, you know, you just punch on it and it opens up and it's self-explanatory. There's it's called the top 50 tool. And then you know, you use 50 boxes on the first page and then you have a backup page that has 52 and you just start listing them and then you wanna grade them in terms of their priority as a habit, and then I think it fits in really well with what James is doing. Dan: Yes, I'm just that's the only habit I've established on there so far, but I think it's really, yeah, it's really, I think gonna be a great thing because you can anchor it to times, you know, like when you want to, when you want to establish this habit, like you were saying the dinner, the dishes, is what are you, how are you triggering that in measuring? So you're saying-. Dean: Well, you never lose if you do a habit that's from the past and it's not what you want in the future. You don't lose points if you do that. There's no losing points. You can only gain points, okay. Dan: Okay. Dean: So I've got a daily scorecard, okay, and like in the first 42 days, in. I've got a total of 122 points for you know, sticking to no snacks between meals. Dan: Oh good, that's great. So you're keeping like the tally of it. Dean: Yeah, I'm keeping a tally. And then when I go back to Buenos Aires and I said, next time I'm coming back and I you know, I don't remember exactly, but I added two or three more habits, you know, to it and as you're going through the day, you're becoming more and more conscious of your daily habits. If you do it 10 days in a row and you're tracking habits, the next habits on the list will suggest themselves to you. You don't have to go looking for them. You know you don't have to go looking for them, they're looking for you now. Dan: They want to get points they want to get points and they build. You get the momentum of the feedback too, right? Yeah, you know. Did Babs know what you're up to, or did she? Yeah, and just your observation. Dean: She's starting to do it herself. I mean, she was inspired to start. You know, start doing it. She won't do it to the maximum way that I do, because that's not what she does. But she knows she's with me, so she knows things will get better. Dan: Right, right right. Dean: Yeah, I'm around a good habit-forming person. I mean, that's just, I'll just hook on and I know things will get better, but anyway, yeah, and. But you know, what it's doing is that all humans are completely equal and that they only get 24 hours per day. That's true. Dan: That is true, your comment, the speed of reality. Dean: That's the speed. That's the speed of reality. Dan: Yeah, and I don't. I mean, it's funny when you say it. When I first started thinking about it I thought you know, is that too obvious? But it's, yeah, I think it's one of those. It's been right there. Dean: Well, the other thing that I can tell you a lot of the problem they're having in their life is they don't account for that truth, right? Dan: yeah, I think that's really the thing, right. It's tuning into the speed of reality and looking at the only times. The only time we can really have any action is today, and there's a hard stop. I mean, there's a hard stop on it that your sleep, you know, is a. There's no possible way for us to do anything tomorrow. Dean: Yeah, and the only impact you can have on yesterday is what you're changing today. Dan: Yes, and that's the thing I was having. So Joe Polish came up, came back with me from Palm Beach. He just left yesterday, but he spent three to four days with me here and I mean, we went through, we set up my total environment here for success, you know, in terms of eating, and we went through my kitchen and cleared out everything that isn't supporting the habit of future healthy being right, and we went through that kind of it was. So we were talking about the four C's two is the commitment, and then courage and capability. And so we went I don't cook and I've never cooked. I've never. You know, yeah, I've never cooked. No, don't really have any skill in that, but we went. Dean: That means that if we catch you cooking, we know something that's deeply wrong. That or? Dan: deeply right. I mean we went and got an Instapot. I don't know if you've heard of this device, but so the Instapot is a miracle vessel. I mean, you just put stuff in and push a button and then it cooks. It's like. So we went to the grocery store and we got some, you know, some organic chicken legs and chicken thighs and chicken breast, and we got some grass-fed ground beef 90-10 and we got some. We've had some. We've cooked the entire the whole four days that he was here. And so the thing is now I left this with a new capability, right Like. So now I've got and I said to Joe it's kind of like reframing. I think it's almost like getting back to my, to building a primal habit of going to the grocery store and hunting some dinner, hunting food. Right, go, hunt some chicken and bring it home and clean it and cook it and enjoy and eat it, you know, but how easy Rather than having food hunting you. Absolutely, that's exactly right. And so that capability, you know, like we, we literally just take the chicken, wash it some salt and pepper, put it in the pot, put some potatoes in there on top, whole, you know whole, just washed, you know, Yukon gold or gold potatoes, put it in there, press the button 11 minutes and it's the most delicious. Whole, you know whole, some. No, no oils, no anything. It's just so clean, right, You've got organic chicken, you've got the stuff, and it's delicious. And then we, you know, got on the pan. I learned some pan skills right Of being able to, just with some butter in the pan, you know, grass fed, organic butter, of course, and putting. We got some steaks that were like, thin cut. We got some pork chops that were thin cut, ground beef, all of those, just the same thing, just taking the meat, salt and pepper and a little bit of, if I wanted to add any spice or whatever to it, cook it on, you know, both sides, and there you go. We even chopped up zucchini and squash into little medallions and sauteed them in the in the pan. So this capability now of being able to see this is a better habit to do than well driving through somewhere, right. Dean: The big thing is that it's got a future reference, that you have a sense of who you'd like to be in the future as an individual. You know and you can only be that in relationship to the habits that you form right. Because you know, there's part of our day which requires focus. Concentration because it's new stuff, yeah, and therefore the habits have to be good. When we're not focusing directly on the activity, you have to have great habits, you know yeah and and yeah. the book I just came out with the great meltdown is that the US is the top country in the world because it's got the best widespread habits of people using innovative skills to lower the cost of money, lowering the cost of energy, lowering the cost of labor, lower cost and no country in the world can possibly match it. You know, yeah, yeah, the prices of things are up and down, unpredictable around the world, and but the US has a habit of always trying to lower the cost of anything. you know yeah and other countries don't have this, and so you know. You can see the difference between Canada and the United States right now. I mean it's really extreme. From the last time you were here, the difference the average per capita income in the United States is now lower than the per capita income of Mississippi. Dan: Wow, the United States, the in. Dean: Mississippi is number 50 and per capita income and the average. Canadian is now below, below the per capita is in the low Wow, yeah, I wasn't. Dan: it wouldn't have expected that. Dean: Yeah, and not only that, they don't freeze to death in Mississippi. Right that's exactly right. At least I got that going for them and that's basically. You can measure it from when the president, prime minister, came in, has been going downhill since this prime minister came in because he wants to save the world. Dan: Yeah, it's interesting, right, that's been funny to watch the. You know my algorithm, for you know, sending me things, video clips and stuff is now I get a lot of those, Pierre Polly. Dean: Yeah, yeah, smart guy. I had breakfast with him about five years ago. Yeah, smart guy, very smart, yeah, and from Alberta French speaking from Alberta, that's a pretty good. You know, that's a pretty good background. Dan: You know he's got a triple. Dean: That's a triple play Canadian that's a triple play for a Canadian. That's French, french. Dan: I mean that's, he's got it all covered because, it just doesn't get it. Dean: And then his wife is from Venezuela, she's a refugee. So she knows what a country gone wrong early looks like yeah, oh, that's funny. Yeah, yeah, and you know, so so anyway, but you can just see the difference that the United States is better at handling milk costs than Canada is. Dan: Yeah, wow. Well, dan, I'm excited, this is great. Seven days? Yeah, well, I'll tell you the tool I can promise you you'll have the tool by this time. Dean: Not this time, but by the end of the day. Tomorrow you'll have top 50 tool and just play around with it. I mean it's self-explanatory, you don't have to. There's no rule book that comes with it. You'll just play with it. Just remember, in every square where you put something, if you press the arrow it takes you to the criteria page. Okay, perfect. Dan: I'll do it. Dean: Yeah. Okay, then I'm interested in the teamwork between the top 50 tool and the Adams app. That'll be really interesting because I've been lacking a daily scoring system. You know, people won't stay with something unless they can score on a daily basis. That's the truth. Dan: That is true. Dean: Yeah. Dan: I can't wait. Dean: All right. Dan: I'll see you. I can't wait. I'll have it tomorrow. Dean: All righty. Thanks, Dan. I'll be on next week if you are, I am absolutely Okay. Dan: Okay, thanks, dan, okay, bye, bye.

In today's episode of "Welcome to Cloudlandia", Dan and I discuss the unexpected cold weather that recently swept through Florida and Ontario. We talk about how the weather can affect our moods and the emotional connection between climate and architecture. We share personal stories about winters and pay tribute to oak trees that stand steadfast throughout the seasons. We also consider community planning and how neighborhoods can either embrace nature or ignore natural elements. Additionally, we explore innovative housing, such as modular and 3D-printed designs, while considering ideas on population growth. The future of shelter looks promising. Finally, we wrap up by examining the impact of advertising on media polarization and the changing news landscape. SHOW HIGHLIGHTS Dan and I discuss the unexpected cold in Florida and Ontario, touching on Seasonal Affective Disorder and the psychological impact of weather on mood. We pay tribute to the significance of oak trees and their presence through the seasons, exploring how community planning can integrate with nature. Dan reminisces about the grandiose architecture of the Gilded Age and contrasts it with the simplicity and utilitarian focus of modern home designs. We explore the historical context of Craftsman-style homes and the influence of income tax and antitrust laws on architectural styles. We delve into the topic of U.S. population growth predictions and Peter Zeihan's perspective on the country's capacity to double its population without feeling more congested. The conversation shifts to the current political landscape, analyzing the dichotomy between Biden and Trump, and the challenges faced by third-party candidacies. We examine the accuracy and influence of betting markets on political forecasting and their reflection of public sentiment. Dan describes the impact of the pandemic on education and considers potential long-term effects on future generations. We discuss the shift from advertising to subscription models in media, considering the New York Times as a case study and touching on media polarization and the influence of digital giants. The episode concludes with reflections on the concept of climate as a statistical average of weather and historical climate patterns, challenging the narrative of global warming. Links: WelcomeToCloudlandia.com StrategicCoach.com DeanJackson.com ListingAgentLifestyle.com TRANSCRIPT (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors) Dean: Mr Sullivan. Dan: Mr Jackson Well well, well. Is it hot or cold? Didn't forward that to me. Dean: Well, it is middling. I would say it's a little bit of a cast, but I think it's on its way. We had yesterday like the first day in several weeks that I felt a warmth in the air. There's been. We've had a bit of a cold overtone to everything. Dan: Yeah, I think cold in Florida in January is worse than cold in. Ontario. Yes In your brain yeah. Dean: And especially disappointing for people who come from Canada expecting. Dan: I was contemplating this on the plane flight we flew it to Chicago yesterday afternoon and I was complaining at how oblivious I am generally to weather. Like I know, there are people who I don't know what the exact term is, but they have seasonal, seasonal mood disorder or something like that. Dean: Seasonal affective effective disorder. Yeah, Sad. Dan: Seasonal affective disorder. Right, yeah, and you know I don't exactly know what goes on there, but the only thing I can say I don't have it, yeah, exactly. Dean: I don't mind overcast either. That's funny, but you know I am 24 years now into a snow free millennium with only two asterisks, and those asterisks are both because of you. The only time I've seen snow in this whole millennium is on the occasions when I've been in Toronto in the winter because of the cold In the winter, because of going to 10 times when you started the 10 times program, and then I believe there was one time in Chicago that there was some snow, usually three out of the four dates you get away with no snow, but there's always that December till, you know, april time when it somewhere in there you might end up with some snow. Dan: Yeah, well, we have snow on the ground, I mean fresh to overnight, but the sidewalks are already dry, naturally, and I already arranged. Dean: I already arranged, with the powers that be, to put the asterisks beside my thing, because although I've seen snow and been in the presence of snow, I've not had snow touch me, so the purity of it is intact, although the technicality of it is. Dan: I've been in snow, so yeah, I remember our very first client from Australia mid 90s, from Sydney, and he came to his workshop in Toronto one winter and his wife came with him and he got a call from her while he was at the workshop that she had gone outside in a snow head fell on her. Dean: In Australia or in no. In in Toronto, all right, a snow head falling on her. Dan: It's the first time in her life that a snow she was talking about a flake. Dean: She was talking about a flake yeah yeah, I got it A snow. Yeah, usually you can have as many as you want. Dan: Front all you want, yeah. But I have very memorable childhood winters of hiking through fields and woods in the snowy season, and you know, and of course when you're six years old, the snow is deeper than it is when you're 80. Yeah, but I, so my I have a real warm spot in my heart about snowy treks, you know, and imagining that you're a member of, you know, an arctic exploration, everything things that you do, you make up, you know, you make up, you know romantic images based on your reading regarding snow. But I like the forest seasons. I'm a real fan of the change from one season to the other. And then, you know, we have these massive oak trees in our lawn. We have seven that are you know well over 100 feet and and they're real friends because we've had them now for you know, for at this particular spot, we've had them for 20,. This is our 22nd year. And you know and I just you know they're kind of friends, you know they're kind of dependable friends. Oaks tend not to disappoint, you know they're not they're never late, they always show up, you know that's exactly right. Yeah, and but, it's just interesting to watch the change of the scenery and our lawn based on what happens to the oak trees over the course of an entire year. Dean: Well, you, you have not yet been to the four seasons, Valhalla but we are surrounded by 150 year old oak trees. It's like a park. Right out in front of my house. I have a big one that spans over the driveway. It's beautiful. Dan: I think these are called they're in the south there's this variety. They're called pin oaks. I don't know what the actual name Live oak. Well, live oaks are the best. Dean: That's what I think we have, because they're they spread. You know, they've got quite a nice canopy. Dan: When an oak tree is alive, that's the best. Dean: Oh, I see, oh, yes, that is. Dan: You know, You're always a bit worried about the dead ones, the dead oaks are the best yeah, oh my goodness you crack me up. Dean: I'm constantly amazed that they come and so that tree in front of my house. We've got them all throughout the whole neighborhood here and they come and they'll like lop off entire branches, like entire, not just the little things but big things, and they'll just keep going and grow right back and shape the way, because often it'll they have to trim around because the limbs will come over my house right and if it were to fall it would be a problem. So they always keep it outside the perimeter of the roof. Dan: Well, it must have been interesting because, to you know, the zoning in your place must have taken into account that you can't cut down the oak trees. Dean: Yeah, that's true, that's everything is built around them and our H away takes care of all of the landscaping. So everything it's all uniform. It looks like a park so you don't have, you know, different levels of care being taken. Everybody's at the whole, the whole place looks great. Dan: So no opportunity for status right. Dean: That's exactly right and they owe that tightly deed restricted. Like you're, absolutely right, Like it's. You know, every house is the same brick. There's approved tile, they're all tile roof. You have to have a tile roof, you have to have copper flashings, you have to have this Valhalla brown as any exterior paint the windows, everything. It's all you know. They started in the late 80s building in here and they've, you know, as recently as two years ago. The last, the last home was, was built in here, but there's only 50 homes in here but you wouldn't be able to tell. You couldn't tell which ones are new and which ones are from, you know, 1980s, and that's. It's kind of nice, it's cool, but we've had you know I say it's funny. You say it's an interesting thought that no opportunity for status in here. Because so when I moved in here 22 years ago now 2002, I was by far the youngest person in here and thought I was would joke that 20 years from now I'll be old enough to live in here. And this is a my neighborhood like. Right beside me, three of the four houses to my right were referred to at the time as Citrus Barron Row, where these guys were, all you know, in their 70s and 80s and had built the Citrus. You know they were all sort of competitors in the Citrus business in Polk County. At one time Polk County produced more Citrus than the entire state of California and so so these guys were all there. My neighbor across the street was the guy who started Steak and Shake, the restaurant chain, and when he died he he left $20 million to Indiana University for the Kelly School of Business Wing there, and the my neighbor who moved in there is now the own company called Colorado Boxed Beef and they are like an Omaha Steaks type of thing. So anyway, fascinating people but very like low key. You never know about any of them that they're who they are, and I think that was part of the intention of the community, you know when they built the community. But it's very interesting. Dan: Yeah, it's really interesting the reason I brought up the status thing, relationship to a, you know, a design community, you know just use the word design community and the first one actually was in. I think it was in New Jersey. And it was called Levittown and it was designed by a man by the name of Levitt, and that was the first design community that was where individuals could buy homes. I mean there were sort of during the industrial age, growing you know in the 1800s there was, there were company towns. you know where the corporation, the company, would design all the homes and you know, they would do it on the cheap. They would do it on the cheap, and they're actually. There's a town outside of Chicago called Pullman. Dean: And. Dan: Pullman was the cars. Oh yeah, pullman cars right. Pullman. Dean: Pullman cars, Rail rail cars, right yeah. Dan: And the railways. Yeah, and that was a design company town and all the businesses were owned by the company and the only people who could live there were people who worked for the Pullman. So you've had that type of thing. You've had that type of thing, you know. You know it's probably from the beginning of industrialization, hershey, Pennsylvania, kind of that way too. Dean: Yeah, Kohler, Wisconsin yeah. Dan: Kohler, wisconsin. Yeah, and so the. But I think Levittown was actually. It's worth it for people to look it up. It's a very interesting thing. Dean: Yeah, I remember seeing some documentary about it. Dan: And it was huge. I mean it was huge, it was in the thousands of homes. Dean: Yes. Dan: And yeah, and then you know, the idea caught on. Dean: Yeah, well, that was what, as the evolution of you know, as cars became the big thing in the highway system, you know you could have. That was where the suburbs really began. That was one of the first suburbs of Firecall. Yeah, yeah, very interesting that actually started that really started in. Dan: I read the history of the Victorian age and Great Britain which, last you know, is basically from the beginning of Queen Victoria, which was, I think, 1820s, 1830s, right up until she died and she was in for more than 60 years. And but the big thing was the expansion of the London rail system. You know it kept going further and further out and you know London Americans who have no idea of what you know a city train system looks like, because London has seven that I visited. They may have more, but they had seven major railroad stations and these are huge. These are as big as you know. They're like Grand Central Station but there's seven of them. And then the lines go out like the, you know like the, like a clock face that go out, you know and, but they kept pushing them further and further out, and one of the big things was that you could live right on the rail system and they started building these suburban towns, not with the uniformity that you're talking about with you know, with your, your community, but but that whole idea of the suburbs became a big thing, you know, and and that it changed things economically, it changed things politically, changed things culturally. Dean: And that's. Dan: That's very interesting thing. And you know and contrast that with where we have our home in Chicago, that right after the war it was sort of a factory or it's right near the airport and they built all these boxes you know, and they were just streets and streets. Yeah, yeah, and they were the same. They were, you know, not big but completely uniform, and I think around that happened probably for a period of 10, 15 years, straight up till the 60s, and then the. Park Ridge, the town that I live in, passed a law that if you build the house, it couldn't be. It had to be different from the two houses on each side of you. Dean: Oh, wow, that's interesting. I wonder about that, Like the. This evolution would be an interesting, like you know, seeing the architectural journey because, if you go back to, have you ever been to Newport in in Rhode Island? Yeah, newport, rhode Island, have you ever been to see the? Vanderbilt mansions and all those things. Dan: Well, they were called cottages. Dean: They were called Newport cottages, exactly. I love that yeah. Dan: Yeah, they had 40 rooms, you know yeah. Dean: So when you look at it in a world pre-income tax and pre-antitrust all of those things- I think income tax probably made a difference. Probably. But, you look at that, that gilded age of where opulence was the thing, that's where you get all those, you know, huge mansions, in New York City even, and the whole thing. People were, they were big and there's nowhere. You know, across the street from me there is a new development. So one of the Valhalla was kind of out, you know, surrounded by 350 acres that one Citrus family owned for years, right there's almost a mile on Lake Eloise of Lakefront, and there was no houses on it, it was all just orange groves. And so recently, you know, a few years ago, they sold the land and now they're starting to develop this neighborhood, this new, you know, giant subdivision called Harmony, and the houses they start the first phase, like in the last, in the last year, they've, you know, made quite amazing Headway on it. But damn, the houses that they're building have as much character as the houses in the board game monopoly. They're just little Boxes that they're putting right beside each other on all of these things. And the two-story houses look like the hotels In monopoly, you know, and there's no, they're just boxes with windows and a two-car garage and a driveway and Zero Character. You look at the homes that were being built in the, you know, in the 20th year. They 1800s, 19, 120s. The homes were all Craftsman style homes, you know, like there was some artistry to them. Now, in every way, it's really come full circle to pure Utilitarian. You know, utility, just what's the? yeah right angles with very little, you know very little. Dan: Yeah, it's really, really interesting because you know there's kind of a Van vanity that goes along with the times. You know another yeah well, we do things better than people did a hundred years ago. Well it was very interesting that a hundred years ago you could go to the Sears and Roba catalog. Yeah and you could go, where you could buy a house of the and, and they would have pages and pages of different styles, and, and what you would do is you would order it you know, yeah, and you had to pay. You had to pay for it. You know you had to send a money order. You had to Western Union that you know you had to send a telegram and then the money would be secured at the other end and about five days later, by train and truck, your house kit would arrive, and then you had to engage with a local builder and the local builder would just follow the manual and would put up a house, and some of these houses were 10, 12 Room houses, you know yeah yeah, they had big porches and everything else. And then you could modify them. I mean, you could modify them, you could paint them whatever color you wanted it. There's actually a town in Michigan, frankenmuth, which is sort of a German theme. It's sort of one of those theme towns. You know where. It's a German town, so they have a big October fest there every year and you know they have German restaurants and I suspected happened because there were a lot of German immigrants to that area of Michigan. But they have more intact lived in Sears and Roboc houses than any other community. Dean: Oh, wow and and. Dan: But if you go to, you know, if you go to Google and you just put in Sears and Roboc houses images, you'll see the bit, you'll see all the pictures of these houses in there. It would be considered sort of lavish today, these houses, you know. But it was just you know it just arrived by train. You know it was big curtain after curtain. Everything Funny that we've kind of come. Dean: We've kind of come full circle on that. Now. The biggest trends are, you know, pre modular manufactured manufactured homes yeah, that they deliver, and even now 3d printed homes and I think it's probably gonna be a combination of that of 3d printed and Modular yeah, interior things that's gonna be. But you know, you look at it, it's like we're still have you seen in any? I don't haven't followed it, but population projections for the United States over the next 50 years. Have you seen what's the projection? Dan: So they're three, you know, they're mid is probably, you know, and that's a lot of illegal people who became legal you know, so there's a ton of illegal People in the country right now right and everything. But they estimate. You know that the US is going to grow pretty much at. You know, if you look back 30 or 40 years probably, you know probably the same rate of growth to you know, one or two percent per year that population grows and but they're the Peter Zion in his books and I thought about him a lot on the pre bird podcast. Yeah, but he said that the United States still has so much land. Oh yeah not, that's not settled. I mean it's. You know, it's geographically established. And everyone but he said the US could. This was. He was using three 330 million as the base number there and he said if you doubled the population 660 million the country wouldn't feel any more crowded than it does now. Dean: Yeah, that's very interesting and I can attest to that for Florida in itself, yeah, but we was Hard. Dan: As for it is like 30 million now, I think it is. Dean: No, it's on its way to 30 million in by 30. By 2030 it should be 30 million. Yeah, it's 20, 24 million or something right now, but we're the fastest growing. They are alternating between Texas and, but we grew last year at 1200 people a day, you know. So we're growing a city the size of Orlando every year. Yeah, and there's plenty of part of the reason. Dan: Part of the reason, I think, is the retiring baby boomers. Dean: Oh, yeah, yeah. Dan: And in other words, that I may be an anomaly, that I'm 80 and I'll be 80 in May and I don't feel the cold doesn't bother me. You know, right, cold weather, but there's a lot of people, you know, I mean if you have arthritis. You know the cold bothers you, you know and other things. But you know, I know I have no thought of ever and Babs would be with me here. No thought of ever living as our permanent home anywhere but Toronto right and. But we visited, our favorite is Arizona, so we go to. Arizona a lot during the year, yeah, and. But I have no, you know, I mean there wouldn't be anything under. Well, one day We'll be able to go and you know they'll spend. Dean: You know, spend you know, six months, yeah, some warm, and that doesn't really. That's playing into Florida's hand in that it's still part of the dream for many people. Oh yeah, it's you know you when we were talking about guessing and betting, that you know I think that's a pretty certain guess that from you know what's not going to change in the next 20 years, that you know right now still we're in the middle of the, the baby boom, baby boomers turning 65, there's going to be 10,000 people a day turning 65 right now, which will be 2028. Dan: 2028 is the year when all people born during the baby boom era are now older than 65. Yeah, 2028. Dean: Yeah, so you look at that and it's like in the Northeast that is almost like you know. It's almost like mandatory military requirement. Back it up. This is where you get shipped to. Dan: This is where you get shipped to yeah, yeah, yeah and, of course, the Northeast is by far the most expensive from a government standpoint is the most expensive part of the country. Yeah regulation and taxes. Dean: Yeah, you know. Dan: I would say from New Jersey right up to the Canadian border. You know that there's a movement south. I mean, obviously Florida has great attractions. You know, other than, but even economically, that your tax and regulations are way more tolerable than in the. Northeast. Yeah, you know I kid people who are from California, you know I. You know who are in the plant base. New York not so much New York, but California. It's easier to pick on New York than it is, or pick on California than it is. New York, california was the dream place. You know, you went to. California. That was the great dream, and I said so at some point. Are you thinking about moving to the United States? Dean: That's funny. Yes, exactly. Dan: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I've got a client who's from Montana Bozeman, and he's. I said why is Bozeman so popular? And they said it's, it's. It's the closest place in Montana that you can be near the United States. Dean: Okay, it's so funny, those places, there are lots of those like. We've got a client in Miami, in South Beach, and they said that's the refrain, that's their clients. What they like about South Beach is that it's so close to America. You know, you can certainly be in it, but not of it there. That's the truth, you know, yeah, yeah, I think that's kind of what you know every, that's what's kind of buoying. You know Ron DeSantis, his, you know his polling is. You know, the only reason he's even in the running is because of you know people looking at what he's done for Florida. His whole campaign was make America Florida. Dan: But that would be, you know, that would be candidate who just has had no United, no experience outside of Florida. Dean: Absolutely Right, I think that's it. Dan: Each of the states is a country and people. You know people have their. You know the whole notion that everything should be like one place. Dean: Yeah Right, that's not it. Dan: I mean, there were a lot of rookie mistakes that he made. You know you, yeah. The other thing is that he's running up against somebody who's done two complete national campaigns before this one. He's a great organizer I mean President Trump is. Dean: I think everybody is. I think everybody is baffled by his. I mean, it's not even close the lead that Trump has over everybody else in the polling and in the you know the things. It's just what a year this is going to be, you know, to see how this all plays out. Yeah, and I think some cases. Dan: some cases are going to, especially at the level of the Supreme Court, and one of them is, of course, the appeal to the Colorado move. Dean: Oh yeah. Dan: Trump can't be on the ballot and I think if the justice the justices, I mean it'll the Supreme Court will overturn it, but I think the justices would be smart to make it 9 to 0. Yeah, because this is and it's just an interpretation of one of the amendments the 14th Amendment, and that's you know, and, and they're going to establish that, and then that becomes the precedent. So all the other states, like Maine or anybody else is thinking about it can't do it you know, and that's the role of the Supreme Court are to interpret the Constitution. Dean: Yes. Dan: But that'll be seen as a big win. And then there's another one that he has where there's a special prosecutor who's after him and there's he appealed the special prosecutor that he needed to ruling and they said, no, this is your issue, you have to go through the court system. And that was a win for Trump. And and the whole point is everybody's desperately trying to get the actual trials because he's been indicted in before the election. But there's all sorts of ways that you can delay it into the future. You know, and anyway, so I was reading that the whole notion of January 6 and the insurrection, you know that's the key issue here, that January 6. And insurrection, but none of the charges against him are mentioned. The word insurrection, you know they mentioned. You know it's tax things that he hit documents with him, you know you know when he left the White House and everything like that. But I don't think they're going to stand up to scrutiny and but everyone that he wins now is like his poll numbers go up when he's indicted. His polls numbers go up when the retirement is overturned his poll, numbers go up. Dean: Yeah. Dan: But he's 24 seven. The thing that the media know is that when they have anything about Trump, they get higher viewership and there's more advertising dollars and so they're caught because they'd like to take him down. But everything they do to take him down increases his poll numbers. Crazy, yeah, but it's interesting. But it's interesting like the. You know, my Jeff Maddoff and I did a podcast last Sunday and we were comparing the phenomenon of Taylor Swift, the phenomenon of Trump. Oh, wow. Completely different. You know completely different world and everything but but each of them has created a movement that people feel that they can participate in. Yeah this is. Nobody in the music industry has what she has as a movement and nobody in the political realm has what he has in the. You know it's a nationwide movement. Yes that you feel you can participate in, and but it's amazing to me how heavy the field is. Dean: You know, in terms of like, it's really only Biden and Trump. There's no real viable, no candidate. I mean even as much of a. You know we saw Robert Kennedy in Genius Genius network and you know they as running as an independent, which is, you know, that's a non-starter and there's no, that's not a difficult. That's not a difficult bet to guess. Even if he is a reasonable, you know it has some things and you start to see now even know there's nobody coming Behind, is not even any alternatives. You know like you look at Vivek Ramaswamy and yeah, you know, although he kind of has Obama Undertones to reminds me, like as a speaker and articulator, communicator, but I don't know, for me he it's just the tone, that it's more important to him to be right, that he was a win. The argument you know through, yeah, clever Elecution yeah. Dan: I don't know how that win the battle, but lose the war. Dean: That's what it feels like to me. Right like that is just kind of that. It just has. Dan: It's more important to him the real motivation is to prove that he's smart enough, or whatever you know yeah, and you know, I mean first of all the times we're in dictates whether people think that somebody's viable or not. And I mean this is a time of tremendous change. I mean, it's probably the Most change since the second world war. I would yeah that, the overall changes that we're going, and and everything gets Shaky and unhinged just when you have a big, when you have I just looked at like last night. Dean: It was so funny. I looked at the you know the odds Makers, the. I found a cumulative thing and it's it's all trump. Trump is the the Betty market. Dan: the bedding, yeah, the bedding market is all on trump, and that's yeah. Dean: Yeah, and the betting markets. Dan: They were wrong with trump the first time. They you know they were they. I mean they had Hillary, like Day before the election they had heard like at 85, 90 percent, you know, yeah. So so people say yeah, yeah, but that was a fluke, that was a look and I said, yeah, but what if the candidate candidate himself, is the fluke? Dean: Right, exactly. Dan: No, but I did. Dean: Of all of the field. It wasn't. It's not like an 80 percent thing there, I think it was like 40 percent Likely, which is the top of all of the. Dan: That was against the field, including everybody including, but what you go head on head, they all have trump Biden and it's like 60 versus 60 40, you know oh, wow, okay that's interesting and yeah, and that's what people are betting on, but that those, the betting markets, can be gained and and I'll give you an example was brexit, which happened, you know, in the may, in may or june, I think of 16 before the presidential election, and the interesting thing is that debates are a big thing in Great Britain and they're televised and there were 10 of them in the six months leading up to the actual vote on brexit Britain leaving the European Union and and I watched them and with every debate the Leave side had all the emotional issues. The Stay side had a lot of intellectual, intellectual arguments and they were you know, they're British, they're very articulate. It was, you know, it was well said on both sides. But the the thing that really cracked the back against the stay side Was the european union decided, about three months before the campaign started, that they were going to regulate the electrical, electrical charge of teapots in Great Britain and everybody had to get rid of their teapot because they were using not too much. And this was coming from Brussels, you know, from the European union. You just lost it. You screw around with her because every If you have to change your tea cup, then every every day at three, three to five o'clock. You're talking right, get out of the european. You're not talking about. Dean: You're talking about the football players. Dan: You're saying let's leave Britain those suckers. They can't tell us, you know. So it's always like the bud light. One thing in the united states I said that was a crack, that was like an earthquake you know, that you're fooling around with our beer, can't you know you can't yeah you know, you can't fool around with our beer, can't I so funny you know and I think it's always comes down to a gut issue very emotional that everybody gets like everybody gets they're pulling around. It's like you know, when they closed down all the schools, all the states that closed down the schools for it, they didn't close down the schools, they, they closed, I mean the individual schools for one reason or another. Can you know? Could you know have special reasons or anything? Else yes there wasn't coming from the top. There was no really on the schools and they did enormous damage. We now know that there was enormous damage Done to those people right at the early stage, when they're starting to learn how to socialize or, you know, and I think we're going to see a damaged generation, maybe two damaged generations in the future, who, you know, had too much time on their hands alone. Yeah, my, my feeling is, and it strikes me right now, that trump just has a monopoly on all the gut, emotional issues. Dean: I agree, like you look at, it's pretty amazing how Cloudlandia has really shaped the way we think about these elections, like I think, as cloudlandia has really become the primary place that the elections have. Probably you know, it seems they've become more contentious or more divide, dividing, and I don't know how to clear enough Remember you know what that happened. Dan: Yeah, no way that happened. Yeah, and there I had a really good article on this and I had to do with how the media gets its advertising dollars. Right, okay and, first of all, the media got their advertising dollars taken away. Okay, because facebook and google have 70 percent of the ad money. Now just those two companies. Yeah, okay, so a lot of the media had to turn to a Subscription model so for example, let's take the new york times. Yes and you know not my, you know it's not a paper that represents my political interest, but I always found it an informative paper. There were always good articles up until I would say, probably 10 years ago, okay, and and the reason was they made their money from newspapers that went to the street every day. Know that and whoever wanted to buy the new york times would buy the new york times. Yes but they were very thick papers. The daily new york times was a paper and you know a lot of the pages. I mean 40 percent of the space was. Advertisers you know, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, what happened then? When the, the advertising dollars went away, they had to go to a subscription model and therefore they just moved to the part Of the population whose politics agreed with the new york times, and they lost everybody. His politics didn't agree with the new york times. And the same thing happened on on the other side of the political spectrum. So, for example, great bark, which is now a powerhouse On the, you know, on the internet that a strictly an internet. That's strictly an internet media company. Dean: Yes, town hall. Dan: Yeah, news news max town hall. These didn't exist. They really didn't exist. You know, 10, 15 years ago but, what people going to drift from the you know the media sources that they used to go go to because it just favored one side of the political spectrum. Look for new opportunities and these other, these other real, clear politics is another one real court pox has as emerged, and so that's what polarized things was the disappearance of advertising dollars. Dean: Or the. You know, it's really interesting that you just brought something up that I thought about, that. You know the New York Times print edition, you were any. You had to get the whole newspaper and so you're getting all of the things, but when you're online, it's all parsed out to the individual articles the clickbait and who they're attracting, and then it made more sense to lean into the audience that you are attracting, right, that's. So the bias became more pronounced, I think right or evident. You couldn't, on balance, balance it out in the entirety of a print edition of the newspaper, because it's only individual articles and pages that are getting attracting the traffic, you know. Dan: Yeah. Dean: That's something. Dan: Yeah, so I mean there's many other reasons besides that particular one. But from an economic standpoint that was the main economic reasons why polarization has happened, and you know, and it's become much more subjective to the reporting has become much more. You know, they're not reporting on the facts, they're interpreting the facts and commentating on the facts. So you don't have reporters anymore, you have commentators. You know. You know the reporters are building them the political message into the reporting of the facts. You know, and I mean, for example, you can't get any reporting on global, on weather you know weather, you know extreme weather without somebody interpreting as just another sign of global warming, which is, global warming is not a scientific issue, it's a political issue, right, right, right, yeah, yeah, the science doesn't support it. I mean, yeah, it's going up, but we're coming out of an ice age. Dean: You know, we've been coming out of an ice age for 10,000 years, and that's what I meant, that's what I always fall back on that, dan, that somehow we lifted ourselves, the planet somehow lifted itself out of an ice age without the aid of combustible engines and fossil fuels. Yeah, so somehow that was the it was possible. You know it was happening before. Dan: Yeah where I live in Toronto. I was under about 500 feet of ice Right. Dean: Right, right. So, the big thaw. Dan: Yeah, it takes a while, you know, for glaciers to actually, you know, and it's just a gradual warming up and then there's periods when it, you know it dips down. You know that you got ups and downs and you know the temperatures. You know the temperatures, you know, and there's fluctuations. You know the the heat. Climate doesn't actually exist. Climate is a statistical average. All the weather, like, yeah, where Valhalla, where you are, the climate in Valhalla is totally determined by 365 days of temperate. You know of weather and they're just measuring it and they call that the climate. But, nobody experiences. Nobody experiences climate. Dean: We experience weather. Dan: Yes, climate is just, it's just an abstract term to measure. You know, all the weather in one place and climate change Even, yeah, even, in Valhalla, probably, where you, where you are, are you shaded by the oak trees? Dean: We not particularly. I mean it's, they're there. No, it's not. The whole house is not shaded by oak trees, but there is shade in the neighborhood, yeah. Dan: Yeah, but it's really interesting that if you where you go for coffee. It might be an annual average. It might be one degree warmer where you're getting your coffee than where people live. Dean: Oh, global warming. Dan: Yeah, well, you know, it's kind of like I was thinking about all these yeah. Dean: It's like you know Deming I was sort of in rereading Deming lately and you know one of his, his, the funnel experiments, where they would, you know, move and adjust the funnel based on the last result. So it's kind of, and that created the greatest variation by you know adjusting with each data point, as opposed to you know adjusting the system. Dan: Yeah, well, here's the thing, that one of the you know you had the polar bears as one of the symbols of global warming. Remember the polar bearer thing? This was Al Gore. He got on the. You know the polar bears, the actual, actually the population of polar bears, and there aren't a lot of them, but you know, they're in a particular latitude, above a certain latitude line, going or going around the world, and their populations actually increased since he started making a prediction that they would be gone right now. So they've actually increased. But the other thing, that the other thing is really interesting are the Maldives. The Maldives about a thousand islands in a cluster in the Indian Ocean and the Maldives have been petitioning the UN that they need to get a lot of money because you know they're sinking in the sea. The average height of the islands. You know, and there's, you know, there's a thousand, I think there's a thousand in the what's called the Maldive Islands, and you know, it's about two feet above sea level. So they said well, you know, in 30 years we'll disappear. So we have to have massive money to redirect our population. And but actually the the geography of the Maldive Islands, maldives, has actually increased over the last 30 years. They've got now more land than you know, than they had. You know. And all of a sudden you say, well, why'd that happen? Well, they said, we're trying to figure out why it happened, you know, and what about the problem we're? Trying to. We're trying to figure out why it happened. You know which? One is that everything that we were saying before was based on ignorance. Dean: That's a good explanation. Exactly. Dan: Yeah, but what I was going to say? I was just thinking about this the other day. When you look at every cause, you know political cause, you know whatever cause you have, it's about money. Okay. Dean: Yes. Dan: And every movement is a money making machine. Dean: Yeah, that's. It's pretty cake or wrong really following the money. Dan: It all comes down to Jerry McGuire. Show me the money. I'm going to explain any movement on the planet. Where's the money moving? Is the money coming in or is the money going out? Dean: Yes. Dan: Yeah, it was so funny because the Israelis, I think, 10 days ago, killed, I think, the number three Hamas guy who was living in Beirut. Wow, he was worth four billion a year. You know he made like four billion a year. And they've got the top six and they said you know we're going to find you and we're going to. You know we're going to kill you, but the top guys who don't live in Gaza, they live in Qatar. Dean: Yeah. Dan: Qatar. The pronunciation is Qatar. They're living in Istanbul, they're living in Beirut and I bet these are nervous people. Dean: I bet yeah, yeah, could you imagine? I mean, that's kind of. It's an interesting. I had dinner with Leigh, or Weinstein, the other night, two nights ago, and you know we were talking. I didn't realize this, but you know he said there's only 15 million Jews in the world, the world, yeah, I would have thought it was way more. I mean, that seems such. Dan: Well, it tells you the impact of the Holocaust or the Second World. Dean: War yeah. Dan: Without the Holocaust, there'd be now 35 to 40 million 40 million Jews. I saw a projection once. That's how devastating. Dean: It was, yeah, at one point. Yeah, the Holocaust was probably 40% of the Jews. Which, yeah, if you implicate, I mean track that out. It's just like you were saying, yeah, probably 30 or 40 million, that would have. That would have been. I mean it's pretty, it's crazy, and the eight of them are in Israel or whatever, right, so that's. Dan: No, it's not that high. Dean: No, it wasn't it. Dan: Actually Israel, just to surpass the United States, had six for the, you know it's not a fast growing a population. Dean: Israel matters. Dan: And I think they're at. The Jewish population now is could be maybe seven. It's on the way to seven, yeah. Dean: Okay, so I wasn't that far off, yeah. Dan: I think New York City itself has, New York City itself has two million. Dean: Wow. Dan: Two million. Yeah, yeah, that's wild. Yeah, you know they have a lot of history, you know. I mean, you want to know about what's happened to them over 3,000 years. Yeah, they've got a lot of history to talk about, you know, and what a self-granted is, and so so, anyway, yeah, it's really interesting, but they're not confused about who their enemies are. Dean: Right, yes. Dan: Anyway, I think it's meal time for you. Dean: Yes, that is exactly right. I have wonderful. Dan: What are today arriving? Dean: Well, today Dan today, Dan, I have the Tuscan grilled pork chops arriving today with some broccoli, it's so good, it's very good and so yeah, I'm excited this so far this has been a really good. You know, removing of discretion in the pricing. Dan: Row number one do not give Dan Dean Jackson discretion. Dean: Right, exactly so. It allows, it allows rational Dean to make decisions for future team. Dan: Yeah, and I get to enjoy them and it's projected into the future. Dean: Yes. Dan: We're into the future. Dean: Yes, which is great, and so that, just for people listening, have discovered with in collaboration with Jay Virgin, we discovered we've chosen 10 power meals for me that are available on Grun Uber eats, and, using the pre order feature, I'm able to establish these deliveries at 12 o'clock and six o'clock and so bookend my days with these pre healthy meals. So so far, so good. Personal wisdom, yes, fantastic. So stay tuned. Dan: Yeah, anyway, this was really good and this is about weather and location and dwellings. Dean: And very interesting discussion. I love it. Well, have a great day, dan. A week, great week in Chicago, and then are we on for next week. Yeah, yeah. Dan: I'm back in Toronto next week. Okay great, I can try. Yeah, all right. Okay good Thanks, bye, bye, okay.

Today on Welcome to Cloudlandia, we explore the effectiveness of small gatherings and the meaningful conversations that can be had through them. We talk about how small workshops help establish a richer exchange where each voice can fully engage. We examine the nuanced difference between self-promotion and truly understanding clients, inspired by Walter Payton's philosophy of emphasizing outcomes over features. Entrepreneurs rethink their approach after test-driving innovative thinking tools highlighting benefits. Later, we unpack exercises that optimize communication and outcomes. The 'who, not how' focus and 'self-milking cow' concept streamline processes.   SHOW HIGHLIGHTS Dean explores the influence of group size on workshop conversation quality and how smaller groups encourage more unified discussions. A new thinking tool inspired by Walter Payton is discussed, which prompts entrepreneurs to emphasize outcomes and benefits in their market presentation. We touch on the importance of 'field reports' over 'book reports' for showcasing tangible, real-world business success stories. Personal testimonials from entrepreneurs highlight the Strategic Coach program's transformative effects on both their personal lives and businesses. Dean shares insights on achieving "dream come true" outcomes for clients, stressing the importance of being genuinely interested in clients' experiences. A health practitioner's journey is spotlighted, from selling a low-cost ebook to offering a comprehensive service for reversing type 2 diabetes. The concept of the 'self-milking cow' and the 'who, not how' approach is examined for improving efficiency in lead generation and client relationship management. Initial success stories from the real estate division's accelerator program demonstrate the practical results of innovative business models. Dan shares his personal health journey with stem cell therapy and neurofeedback, noting improvements in cognitive function and overall wellness. We discuss the role of blockchain and smart contracts in protecting intellectual property, with a nod to Dean's experiences after returning from Argentina. Links: WelcomeToCloudlandia.com StrategicCoach.com DeanJackson.com ListingAgentLifestyle.com TRANSCRIPT (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors) Dean: Mr Sullivan. Ah, mr Jackson, welcome back to. Dan: Cloudlandia. The world is still going on as it was before. Dean: It was the best times it was. Mr Times, welcome back. You've been expanding your footprint on the planet. Dan: I have. I have yeah, I've got to do something about that. I'm maybe a new pair of shoes or something like that. Yeah, we were at Genius in Scottsdale and then we were in Chicago for a week and we did the smaller free zone workshop, which is different because you know, it was about 20. We had about 20 and it's very interesting. I've never really quite figured out what is the optimal size group where you get the best conversation but it's just different. You get different kinds of conversations. I agree, yeah, yeah, yeah. Dean: I find out with my breakthrough. Blueprint events same thing, Like. what I find is 12 is the maximum size If you want to have one conversation. We're around one boardroom table, everybody could see the whites of everybody's eyes and keeping the conversation all front and center. When you get even to 14 people, you get into a situation where you end up having fractured conversations. You got a conversation over at this end of the table and it's less. Yeah, it's harder to have a breakout conversation in a small group of 10 or 12 than it is in 14 or 16 or 20. Dan: Yeah, very interesting. Yeah, we push for the 40 to 50, and then we have individual breakout groups throughout the day and make sure it depends on what your objective is. I think with your case it's very important that they get a unified sort of understanding of the eight profit maximizers. Dean: Activators. Dan: Yeah, activators, yeah, I think you should make a maximum, since you're going for profit anyway, I think you that's right. Dean: Yeah, that's exactly right. Dan: You're putting in the work. You're putting in the work anyway. Dean: That's the advanced program. Dan: We'll start out with the activators yeah, yeah, first they learn the activators where they're again. We just gave you 50 more years of future, just in a single conversation. Yeah, I tried out two new tools and the thinking tools in the free zone workshop and one of them really had a big impact and it's from a quote from Walter Payton, who is a very famous, running back in the national football league Hall of Fame, chicago Bears and he had and I heard this about seven, eight months ago Reddit and it has just kept bouncing around in my head and usually when that happens over a period of months, I'm supposed to do something with the thought and the thought is when you're good, you tell everybody. When you're great, everybody tells you. Dean: Right, that's very good, and so I like that yeah. Dan: And I came up with a one page layout structure where they can put in certain experiences, and but you know, I had them do. One was when you're good, what do you tell them? And then the other column was when you're great, what do they tell you? And then we had a brainstorm for two minutes each for each column and they wrote down about five things on one and five things down on the other and the statements were starkly different. They were for me. I did the sample copy and they were starkly different. Yeah, and I wonder what you think about that, because I haven't really put names to what's happening there. But, it seems to me that, first of all, we're using our experience on the left hand side, which is the good side, as a contrast to the great side, and we're saying this is what we do and this is how we present it, and this is the steps that you'll go through, and this is this. These are the names of the tools that you're going to be using. Dean: But on the other side. Dan: They're completely different and they the comments they come back or how they've taken the tools and used them and what they've done to their life. Dean: That's my initial thought, that I think that on the left side the good side I think that people would tend to focus on features of what they and on the right side would be reporting of benefit. I think that's a good. That's probably accurate, that they're talking in terms of results and the left side would be talking about the process and result, ideas and outcomes. I think you could have a whole vocabulary of left and right. Dan: Very interesting, because what I did then is pick the three best from both sides, so there's a little lower column and they pick the three best. I says you can rewrite them based on your first draft, your first draft and now you do a second draft. And then I say I'd like you to go to the triple play sheet and see if you can combine left and right in three of the arrows. That starts the triple play. And they did. And then they go through the pink boxes and then they go through the green boxes and then they go into breakout groups and they talk about. They came back and to a person when we got back they said I've got to completely rethink how we're presenting ourselves in the marketplace. Dean: Yeah, it's interesting, isn't it? The whole when you start looking at it's a difficult thing for people to think about presenting outcomes or the benefits of promised land, the destination, and especially if you are at the hypothesis stage that you're projecting what the results, the intended results, are, compared to reporting on the documented, actual results. That's whether it's a theory or a real thing. I think that's probably part of when you're good, when you think you've got an idea that some outcome is going to be and you think that this process is what's going to get the outcome, and you have to, you know, hype that up a little bit to get people excited or in intellectually involved in the idea that this outcome is possible, which is very different than a field report. I call it often difference. We use the term of book reports versus field reports and yeah, but he's got, a field report is an actual, documented, here's what happened on the outcome kind of thing as opposed to. I think if we go this way, we'll get the results in theory. My calculations tell me. Dan: Yeah, what was interesting was people zeroed in on your statement and it was mentioned two or three times that the left hand side, where you're telling your good story, it's a convincing argument. The right hand side, it's a compelling offer. Dean: Yes, that's the. That's exactly it. That was my thought. Yeah, that's why I say that is that a compelling offer is 10 times more powerful than a convincing argument, and that's when you're at the level when you're at the level where you can make a compelling offer is because you have certainty around it. Right, that's what's compelling. I think I was thinking about that a lot like the guessing and betting is that when you're what you're trying to, if you're focused on the left side, the good side you're trying to present enough convincing arguments to get people to place a bet on there but they're the one you're trying to get them to place the bet, and that's the whole purchase order versus receiving doc. analogy of that you're going to the purchasing department trying to get them to write and fund a purchase order to get a future delivery of a result or an outcome, whereas if you were able to go to the delivery, you're able to go to the receiving doc with the results that you're met with open arms. It's interesting, right? That's a yeah. Chris Rock, the comedian, once said about crack nobody sells crack, crack sells itself. You got some crack in your mouth. People will be knocking on your door at three in the morning. Dan: You don't have to go out in the cell. Yeah, oh man yeah, the sample does the selling. Dean: That's exactly right. That is exactly right yeah. Yeah, and I think that's really the thing when you look at the. What was the? What was some of the highlights of the great side? Dan: What were some of the highlights that stood out, or even yeah, I was just thinking because I was a genius network last when in not this past Friday and Saturday, but the week before and. I didn't have any presentation during the during the two and a half days. Yeah, that was I was streaming, by the way, yeah and. But I was running in the hallway when we were out on breaks. I was running into strategic coach clients who've been in the program for 20, 25 years, but this is the first time I've met them because, they've had other coach. They've had other coaches and at least three of them came up to me and they almost had tears in their eyes. I said I just want to tell you this has transformed every part of my life. Dean: Wow. Dan: Just being in the coach Wow. And I talked to them where they were before they came in the coach and what the difference was as a result of going to the workshops and and it was pretty, pretty steady throughout the two days when I was just out wandering, when there was, someone else would be with them and they'd say things like this saved my life and everything like that. And I was just noticing but I really didn't tell the other person what strategic coach was, except that it had a transformative effect. And I think the there's another thing. We I talked about convincing argument and compelling offer, but I think the other thing is that on the left, you're aiming for a transaction. On the right, you're hearing about a transformation. Yes, agreed, yeah, yeah, that's. And I told people that if you don't, if you don't have anything that you can think of, that you would write down. On the right hand side, on the great side, I said marketing isn't your problem. Dean: Yeah, that's exactly right. You've got to be able to. You've got to, and once you're able to document the outcome, that's what. That's funny, because that's exercise number one that we do. I have a breakthrough blueprint starting tomorrow at celebration, and one of the way the first thing we start out is with the dream come true on both ends. We define the equation as what would be the dream come true for you. First off, what is it that you're looking to build? What do you really want from your business here? Let's start with that, and what are you really good at? I get to get people to strip away the goggles that they've been looking through of their existing business. This is what typically they get caught in. That left side of this is what we do, but I say I was trying to get them to think we're talking about new. Now. We're talking about business, new business that you haven't already done. So what are you capable of right now? That's why I say that people like what is it? What's the best thing that you could do for somebody? If they would just get out of the way and let you do it for them Without not what you can convince them to pay for or not what you can constrain through the current delivery system that you have in place, just what is what's the best outcome that you could create for somebody would be a dream come true for them and then who? would that person have to be? And that's where we then segue that into profit activated number one, which is select a single target market. Dan: It's really interesting that and that's another distinction. Taking what you just said and going back and looking at the when you're great, when are you great tool, if you died and people showed up at your funeral, which side would they talk about? Yeah, I went through Jesus. I went. He told me about all sorts of profit act. It was really great. I'm not sure it did him any good. We're at his funeral so. I don't know if it did take any good, yeah, but I just think that one thing that it requires for you to fill in the right hand side, the great side is that you, first of all, you have to be interested in what people's outcomes are. You have to be interested in what their actual experience is there and you have to take them seriously. You're getting real market research? Dean: Yes, yeah, that's why I say this is. It's amazing to see what people talk about when they imagine the best thing they could do for somebody. What they're capable of is far more than what they're currently offering to people, and it's so funny because that's the way that their business is set up is to. Their delivery pipes are calibrated for what they think they can convince people to pay for. It's not anything to do with what the outcome is. It's very interesting to me to see this play out again and again, because people light up when they get into describing the outcomes, because that question demands an outcome. It's not about what's your best, what's your process, it's about. That's why I say what's the best thing that you could deliver for somebody? The dream come true experience for them. That would be that you're capable of what's the best result you could deliver, and it's amazing to see that people are often there. We went from had one conversation with a Health practitioner who was doing they had a real protocol for reversing type 2 diabetes and they were selling a $17 Eba about it right, like trying to get people, and I was saying how could you? What would be the best thing that you could do for somebody if you could Charge $17,000 for it, what would be? What it's not knowing the protocol, it's complying with the protocol, is the issue right? And if you could deliver the result, if you could reverse their diabetes in spite of them? That's where the real Thing would you know. And where I got that was I had read at that time, I had finished reading, I think it's Alan Dyke world had a great book called change or die. And Did you ever read that book? Dan: doesn't rain. A bell no. Dean: Oh, it was very interesting. I give you the short kind of summary version of it that the premise of the book is if your life depended on you changing, do you think that you could make a change? And and yeah, the evidence says no. The evidence says no where you can't and the evidence that they used. They took different scenarios, one of which was heart patients, cardiac patients, people who have just had bypassed surgeries, and you would think like that's a life or death situation, that People you've had it and I'm sure the doctor says you listen, you need to Straighten up here and fly right. You need to change your ways or you're gonna die and they go back and some crazy number like 80 plus percent of people who have had bypass surgeries One year later have made no significant changes in their lifestyle. And it's it was very interesting. So Dean Ornish created a protocol where he convinced mutual of Omaha to Divert cohort of people who were eligible for bypass surgery that the insurance would pay for, which at the time was Over a hundred thousand dollars for per patient to have that. So he diverted them into an intervention program where they sequestered them for 30 days and controlled every ounce of food that went in there in their body. They had access to counseling and group work and Meditation and stress management and yoga and physical therapy all of these things. Starting stripping back to just really addressing the why, the issue of why are they doing? The behaviors that led to this, this issue and the average after the 30 days result was an average weight loss of 28 pounds, of reduction in the angina by 96%. People who couldn't climb a flight of stairs were walking Two miles. This whole complete turnaround of Things in 30 days. And then at 30 days, they sent them home with access to a chef and a personal trainer and counseling and group you know, group counseling as well for a year and then they were on their own after the year and At the end of three years, 77% of the people had Maintained the changes that they made in the in the program because they built the change from the inside out and Also from the outside in. At the same time, it was they were removed from the environment that made their bad decisions and took their Took willpower out of the equation, took the other things, that just totally immersion for 30 days where they saw the benefit of the things without having the white knuckle the. Willpower to comply with the protocols. I thought, man, that's very interesting, because that's the same thing that happens in any type of Change. Right, that was just a really good, that was just a really good example of it. Can you see the same thing? Dan: my approach. Yeah yeah, my approach would be different. They won't make a change if they don't have a new future. That's bigger than what the life that they've been leading. So that must happen. That must happen in the test that they In the vision. They envision themselves almost acquiring a new capability by making the change that creates a bigger future. It's really interesting in the political campaign. I'm just looking at it and it's driving the Striving. The journalist is driving the pollsters, is driving one side of the political spectrum. Absolutely crazy that With Trump you have at least four indictments which the Prosecutors are hoping him to put him in jail there by making them in there eligible for the election next year. But actually there's nothing in the Constitution that says that's true, doesn't say you can't be under indictment and get elected president of the United States. But the other thing is that his numbers keep going up with each new indictment and they can't comprehend that and because on their side of the party and indictment would be the end of your career. And they're trying to figure out why an indictment on his side the other thing is, as far as I can tell, the president Biden right now is Trying to get us to believe that things are really good. Things are really good and that Biden economics has Really been a breakthrough for the United States. It's just that when people don't go to the grocery store, they don't feel that way when they go to the gas station. They don't feel that way. And and that their line seems to be. Who you gonna believe? Are you gonna believe us or you gonna believe your own line? I the nearest. Are you gonna believe here? And but what Trump says is mega, make America great again. Let's make a great again yeah, and it just seems to be to me a more compelling offer. Then, yeah, things are better than you've ever had them before. It just seems to be a better offer. Yeah, one seems to be a tempt at a convincing argument and the other one is a compelling offer and part is a lot of American yeah, I think his whole thing that if you stack it up, it is all. Dean: Let's talk it out. Think about that. Is that what's happening on the left side and the right side? No no correlation between left and right politically. Dan: Yeah. Dean: I just. Coincidentally, it turns out that Trump's Big things are all compelling offers. Make America great yeah. Build the wall America first him. Drain the swamp yeah. Those are all outcomes that are Compelling in themselves. Dan: Let's prevent China from cheating us and soft the way we've been yeah let's stop the endless wars, the endless wars and Everything. And he's just picking up and I think he's operating on the right side of the First of all is he's operating on the great side because he's got to work great and there's as compelling offer make make America and just you. Dean: I was gonna say you talk about great. I saw an interview where he was. They were pressure him into picking a side between Ukraine and Russia, like who's in the wrong? This was prior to Israel and I'm not same kind of thing and his answer was I want people to stop dying. That what a great like Car right it's. I want people to stop dying. They're killing themselves, they're killing each other. That's yeah. Dan: Yeah yeah, and it just struck me that they are making up stories on the left-hand side About, about he's a dictator and he's appealing to the worst instincts of the American people and everything like that. But my real sense is he's speaking a completely different language that people on the left don't understand. They, they, they talk, and it's the difference between Talking about efficiency and talking about effective. You know they'll say, well, we're doing things more efficiently than we were before. Yeah, it's just that you're doing things more efficiently that we don't really want. Dean: Right. Dan: Yeah that's. I'm glad you're making yourself feel good about what you're doing, but nothing that you're doing really makes us feel good. And anyway, I just find it find it interesting that one of them has a greater grasp of what people's experience. Dean: Actually, is yes, yeah, that's, yeah. That's a pretty, it's a compelling exercise actually. Get a great have a great, a great outcome. So what, then, is the action from that? What? What's the? Yeah, when you presented that as an exercise, to what end? What's the next? What's the? Dan: the I made it like got my results in the go-around when we were wrapping up the exercise because every person in the room said I've got some redesign To do in terms of our message and what we're actually doing to generate great site commenter. Are we doing the things that would generate that, the same thing as I think one side is doing and the other side is being on the one side, you're describing what you're going to be doing with them and on the other side. You're going to describe how you're going to experience as Result of going through the protocol as we are going to know what would be an example of people having completed the Profit activator, so you're later. What would be some of the things that they would say a year later? Dean: Yeah, so certainly my, I have. I have an engine that delivers leads for a. I've generated a thousand new prospects from a book that I wrote and as a download, and then on the lead conversion Process that they're they've, they're collaborating with people at a higher level in terms of the delivering the outcomes for people, opening up a whole new who now, I'm excuse me, who, not how opportunity up like a perfect example that we're going through right now in our real estate division is I have, excuse me, all of the things that that people can do to get certain outcomes. Everything that we talk about is tied to a, a key metric, a deliverable outcome for people, and so I went through and looked at each of the outcomes that we're delivering, meaning, let's say, for getting referrals and repeat business. Our key metric for that is that we manage their relationship portfolio for a 20% annual yield. So our thing is that they have a hundred and fifty people that know them, like them, trust them, and that they should be able to generate 30 transactions from that outcome now I went through and looked at all the things on the left side that you have to do to get that and I started looking at it from the self milking cow a the who, not how, way of what. If we were responsible for helping them, that kind of the Jordan Peterson model, right adapted for this Situation. What would we do if we were responsible for helping them? And I started realizing there's very little that requires them. I could do Under with our team. We could do do almost everything for them and the things that we can't do could be done in 130 minute phone call a week with a coach. And so we could, from that 30 minute milking session, get all the milk that we need to pasteurize and turn into the products. We could Identify who their top 150 are. We could get them set up in there in their go agent CRM. We could we have the world's most interesting postcard that we could print and mail To all of their people. We can create a Google map that drops a pin when all of their top 150 are and then each week we could have a conversation with them and say, dan, who are you showing houses to this week? Who are you going to see about selling their house this week and we could look on the map and See if you're showing houses in the beaches. You could look and see okay, I've got four people in my top 150 that live in the beaches in the certain neighborhoods where I'm going. If there's a townhouse complex, say Riverrun, we could send an Email or a text to those four people and say hey, dan, I'm showing houses in Riverrun this week and there's only a couple for sale right now. Have you heard anybody Talking about selling? Maybe we can match them up with this couple for a job bro or whatever it is, just do market making activities. So, those things alone, we could do all of the work and I went through for all of the outcomes getting referrals, multiplying your listings, converting leads, finding buyers and getting listings. Those are the, the bankable results that we, that we focus on and I identified that we can literally do every piece of it, and since I've started describing that to people, we just launched our accelerator program in November and I've been positioning it as a personal trainer. Like working with a personal trainer, where you will meet with you once a week, except, unlike working with a personal trainer, we're gonna do the sit-ups and you're gonna get the six pack. That's really, that's a compelling offer, right? Yeah we'll do the sit-ups you get. The six pack is as compelling an offer as we can make. And so we're now six weeks. Six weeks into that proof Certainly proof that life's not fair, exactly. So we're six weeks in and it's very, but it's really. We're positioning it as a combination of Really super skilled virtual assistant who's actually gonna do the work, compared to a coach who just tells you what to do but it's not gonna do it for you. So it's really all that sweet spot. But even then, dan, it's still getting everything set up and going through things I said so much of it is just about Getting things into orbit. Like once the systems are set up and once the things are in place, it's much easier. But you have to go through this, the van Allen belt, where you're getting pummeled with meteorites and space junk and Fear, and there's all these thoughts that that people have because it's new to them and they're good, everything they've got to make sure everything fits with their brand, and there there's a lot of questions and then what's gonna happen and all of that, that stuff. But very already people are getting Results. We'd send some may, sent out their first world's most interesting postcard, got a eight hundred thousand dollar listing and as a referral and then sold that person another house. I'll all and closed it all in this first six weeks. Somebody else did. Some of the listing multipliers had an open house. Mm-hmm found a buyer for that house and so it all works. It's just the getting understanding what those the bankable results are, what the outcomes are. Dan: Yeah, the interesting thing I did another tool in addition to the when are you great, and it's called crucial ABC questions and what you do as you have people brainstorm, growth problems. In other words, there they have a real opportunity for growth, but there's a problem and and you have them do that for a couple minutes and they can do it in their personal life, they can do it in their business life, whatever suits them. And Then you ask them take each of the growth problems and you ask them three questions, abc. And a is there any way I can solve this problem by doing nothing? And the answer is usually no, they have to. They have to communicate something. They have to. They have to communicate. Maybe it's a decision they have to make and and, but that clarifies them that it's a lot simpler than them, because when you hear about problem, this is gonna is gonna require a lot of time. There's gonna require a lot of effort and I'm already doing a lot of things and now I got a selfless problem. But if you ask the first question, is there any way that the problem can solve itself? All of a sudden, it clarifies your thinking down to a very simple level and then the question be, as what's the least that I will have to do to solve this problem? Dean: Okay, and again. Dan: It refines what you came up with. Question a and. I have to communicate, what's the fastest way I communicate and to whom? And in such a way, that's it for me, then I don't have to do anything, I just have to communicate. I just have to communicate one thing. And then the third question, which I think I'm gonna see what your response to it is who's the? Who can do my least? Dean: I Agree with that a hundred percent. That fits now neatly with a tool. I've been working on that's. I've been calling three L's and Whenever we're not getting something done, it usually falls into three Categories. It's either a logic problem, meaning we don't know what to do. That's so we got to figure out. Do you know what to do about this Situation? And then, if you do know what to do, the next thing is a logistics Problem. Do you know how to do this or what actually needs to be done, what are the sequential steps? And I like that idea of what's the least that you can do logistically to get this handle and if you know what to do, and and you know what needs to be done and how it needs to be done. The third is Olympic problem that there's some emotional block, something that you're not taking action because your thinking is off on this, and that is watered down From I heard somewhat Andrew Tate. Actually, I heard a thing he talked about. There's only three reasons that he was using Broke, the only. There's only three reasons you're broke it's either lazy, arrogant, or You're lazy, stupid or arrogant and I thought those are like down the emotional words all the way up to 11. But I started looking at it that if you take stupid as the dialing the thing is Yours. Dan: As much easier to take your three else as much easier to take and the reason is you can be a perfectly good person, intelligent person, a creative person, but you don't understand the logic of the situation. That's perfectly acceptable and you don't know the logistics yeah you don't know what the logistics and the limbic one is. You hadn't thought about it, but now that you bring up the topic, yeah, there is an issue. Yeah, I'll give you a really great example of that. We had a Prezone client about three or four years ago and he came up with a great technological breakthrough in the medical industry that allowed, using virtual reality, allows students and medical colleges to experience every organ and his case it was the face and the head because he was. He was a cosmetic surgeon and he and he and instead of seeing that as a two-dimensional illustration in Textbook, they put gone goggles and they actually walked into a room. That was the inside of the organ and then it had 17 different elements to it that spoke to you when you put a laser beam on. So he had laser beam, he was at his oculus you know oculus flies around and then he had a laser beam and when he talked to it would explain itself and then it would say how it was connected to another thing in the organ and he could just go in 360 degrees and the whole the organ would announce itself to us. It would describe itself to him and the. He showed it to medical schools and they went Gaga. He showed it to technological companies and they went Gaga and. Anyways, that's where he was when he demonstrated it to us in free zone. And then, 90 days later, I came back and I said how's it going? You got, have you launched with anything? He says nah, there's, there's some, some issues. I haven't started out yet and Anyway, and I couldn't see how any of the issues would relate to being successful in the marketplace. All you have to do is walk somebody through it. It's crack, right, show them, show it to them right, have them just go through and it sells itself. So then 90 day, another 90 days, so we're a half a year down the road and we're talking you still. I said I had to chat to you about this and he said I said yeah, I said let me take a, let me take a, you know, let me guess what I think your problem is here. And yeah, he says okay. I said it's okay for you to split half of what you've earned up until now, but it's not okay to split 50% of the future. And he said yeah, that's exactly it. And I said how long have you known that this day was coming? And he said 17 years. And I said okay, that's good, you're practiced at it. And I said so if it's three years from now and nothing's changed, is that okay for you? And he says no, it's not. I said two years, no. I said one year, no. I said next 90 days and he said no. I got him down to two weeks and he started everything in motion the first week after the program. And that's a. That's a that might be all three. Three packed into one. Dean: It's the progression right, like it's usually. It is the way you just described, that's it's Olympic thing and that clarity, once you really understand that, that's the big and it gets you. That's more like you can walk through then what the action is. Dan: But you realize that yeah, yeah, but I don't like that notion of stupidity and lazy. There's lots of reasons people are broke. They're not Exactly. Dean: And that's what I said in. The noble thing of the lazy is really that it could fall down into that they don't know the logistics of what to do or they're busy is a very noble thing that they would go into, that they're too busy, and then that's what I did is that's how I dialed them down to logic. Dan: Yeah, I try making a. I find moral insults never work. Dean: Absolutely. That's exactly right and that's where, when you break it down clinically like that, the logic, logistics and limbic, those are the. Dan: Yeah, that's cool. Yeah, I think you got a winner. Dean: We'll put that up there with VCR formula. That's good. Dan: You got a winner. Have you gotten a smart contract on the two of them yet? Dean: No. Dan: I have not. Yeah, you should give Kerry Oberbrunner a call. He can have them date stamped today. Call him. Call him and he'll, just within 24 hours, he'll give you a black chain smart contract, both of them. Dean: I like it. Dan: Yeah, I like it. That way nobody will be able to steal break into the season's Valhalla and steal your latest ideas. Dean: It's all happening right here. Yeah, the idea lab at the four seasons, valhalla. Dan: They'll probably just take off over the golf course and you wouldn't be able to track them down. Dean: That's right, exactly so funny. Are you in Toronto for a while now, or what's your First a? Dan: week, and then we're back to Buenos Aires next Saturday. Dean: We go back to Buenos Aires another week. How's your new knees? Dan: The knee, we were told takes six months for the missing cartilage to regrow. So they said you won't really feel a difference for three months after we did it, so we're a month away, but I will tell you the IV that we did for RAIN, where they put stem cells into our brain is noticeable progress. I really will notice the difference and it shows up in another sort of therapy that I'm doing, which is neuro potential, and I think I've described this to you and I do it once a week when I'm here, and I've done it three times since I came back from Argentina, and what it is that they put sensors on my hip 19 sensors, and it's like a net. We're, we're, you have to go to do that again Right at Alan Expressway in Shepherd. It's just above and I had to check whether I needed a passport or I need right extra oxygen with me or shot, yeah, yeah. Dean: And they told me. Dan: No, yeah, they told me they probably advanced, and they. You can just Come from the beaches to that area now without any worry, you can actually do it without worry now. And but what it is? It's 40 minutes I've done. I had done 30 in the last year and showed noticeable progress. And I'll tell you what the progress is that I've been diagnosed with a backward brain OK, and I've been doing a backward being that in the middle of the night I'm doing creative, productive work that I should be doing in the middle of the day, yeah, and in the middle of the day I am attempting to dose and and that would probably be one of the reasons why Adderall was a very attractive drug for me, because it woke me up Over a long period of time has negative effects on your nervous system. So anyway, I came back and here's how it goes, dean, when you go through the 40 minutes, probably five, six times, the screen will go black and the sound goes out, even though the movie keeps going on. So you're watching a favorite movie. I chose Foils War really whopping good British production from 15 years ago, about a homicide detective who is solving murders during the Second World War. So that's called Foils War, and he's getting resistance from higher officials because there's dodgy dealing going on with higher officials in the British government that are wealthy people who are trying to protect themselves. So anyway, it's very grossing, and usually five, six times during the 40 minute period the screen will go black and then what happens is you don't have to do anything, your brain just notices that things have gone dark, the sound's gone off, it was correct, it was the input back. So it's a constant feedback. And then you get better at it. And then the technician you have a technician sitting with you and she, they're all she's. She will increase the difficulty for next time and that's gone out now for about 30, 30 sessions. Before I went to Argentina and, and really noticeable results, when I do intelligence test, mental test, you can see the difference. That's actually done it and now mostly so. Anyway, I come back a week after we got back I went to my first session and I go 40 minutes and no blackouts and no, no loss of sound, and I get to the end of the session. Now these technicians are very rigorously connected that they give human feedback for what's going on. They're just, they're just adjusting the sensors or whatever they're making notes, but they're making notes, but they're not telling you what the notes are. Dean: No reinforcement or stimulus. Dan: I get to the end of the first session and she looks at me with a big smile and she said that was fantastic. She said I've never seen that before. Yes, she said, I've never seen anyone go through all 40 minutes without this being going out. Now it did blur a little bit, but it never, went black and the sound didn't go up. Okay, that was three weeks ago. And then two weeks ago I did it again and it just edged into the black once, even though she had increased the difficulty. She had increased the difficulty just a little bit, went in half a second and then it came back and that was it. And yesterday I went in 40 minutes and no black, no sundown, even though she had increased the difficulty again. She said this is quite exceptional. She said I have not seen this kind of progress being made. I think it's because of the stem cells to my brain, which I will get again the week after next month? Dean: Wow, are you still going to osteosteostrong, or is that the place? Dan: Yeah, I was in osteostrong yesterday. Yeah, Interesting. I haven't been doing much other work exercise so I've maintained basically where I am with osteostrong and really good. I mean they have a thing called double standard. When I do double standard, I'm strong enough my legs, my arms and everything else. So it means that I haven't lost any strength over the last 14 months. I haven't lost it, which is good, which is very good, and actually I've actually gained strength. I've showed plenty of progress. Dean: But so far. I had a nice Zoom with our osteopath friend from London who was in the three years on Intra. Dan: Tehira, tehira, tehira, yes. Dean: He's very passionate about osteo. Dan: Very passionate, yeah, very passionate, yeah. He just needs to do one little mindset change. Is mindset change? Do you want to know what it is? I do, of course. He wants to save the world. Dean: Yes, I got that great tune. He wants to save them from something that doesn't present as an imminent danger. It's a chronic long. You don't have any evidence that there's anything wrong, until you fall and break your hip. Dan: He's got a limbic obstacle, you hit it on the head. Dean: You hit it exactly there. It's so funny that you said he wants to save the world. My advice to him I said we've got to prove evidence. It's so funny because I hadn't heard you go through that exercise. But all the things that he was talking about are left side things. That are the things I was showing. I said to him it's very interesting, but what could you do that would make let's call it that liver puddleans. How could we make headline news that liver puddleans have the strongest bones in the world or that there's eliminated? The downside of this that was something that, if you're going to save the world, you've certainly got to start. I heard that one time Bono from U2. There was a movie called Killing Bono, but for years they would be dubbed as the second best band in Dublin. If your goal is to be the biggest band in the world, you've certainly got to be the biggest band in Dublin. If we're going to save all the world from the negative impact of osteo health. How could we start with liver pool and make liver puddleans that help with bones in the world. Dan: My attitude is can you do it with one person? Dean: First question can you do it with? Dan: one person. I said, if you can do it with one person, I think you know 50% of what's needed to do it with 10 people. Dean: Then you get to 10. Dan: Now you know 50% of what it takes to get 100 people. Just work up your capability and confidence. That way it's a lot easier. Dean: That's the scale-ready algorithm. Once you figure out how to do it, once you've got some evidence. But until you do it a second time or for 10, you're so right on. That's how we approach marketing problems. Dan: I called the Singapore model. Singapore was a lawless Southeast Asia primed all the criminals within the 1,000 miles of Singapore. This is where they went. They had their warehouses there, they did their deals there, they recruited people. Singapore became independent of Great Britain in 1965. It was mainly the work of one family, the Lee family. They're still in charge. It's 60 years down the road and they're still in charge. It's a big harbor, it's one of the better harbors in Southeast Asia. They said let's get together some muscle People who know how to give hard knocks to hard people. They went in and they said in the first six months we cleared the entire block that surrounds on land, the block of houses and buildings that surround the harbor. At the end of six months they're crime-free. They did it Not without pushback but they overcame the pushback. Then they said over the next six months, let's clear two blocks in from what we've already achieved. Dean: They did Now they had three blocks. Dan: This was the most important real estate from a commercial standpoint in Singapore. Then they said now we're going to go four more blocks in. By the end of the next six months we'll have seven blocks. The criminals all got the message and left the city. Dean: Wow, that's pretty amazing. Yeah, that's the wisdom right Is getting it into the thing of one. Dan: Get a foothold that you can learn from. Dean: Yes, I agree. Dan: Yeah, I think that saving the world First of all, I don't even know what the world is. I don't know what saving. That means I wouldn't know where to start. I wouldn't know how to keep score. When do I actually get to be happy? Dean: Yes, so amazing. I love it. I can't believe it's been an hour, but this was fantastic yeah. Dan: I'll be just arriving Next week. I'll just be arriving and playing this series. It'll be the wheel. I'll just see Becca, because we're time difference, two hour time difference. Let's see if we can sneak one in during the week. Dean: Okay, I'll never no no. Dan: Dean and Dan, don't do sneaking. No, that's exactly right. Dean: I'll leave it in tension. Dan: Becca will be with us. We take Becca with us, so Becca will do it. I just do it right at the Four Seasons Hotel and playing this series. Okay, no, anyway great to chat. Dean: Okay, dan, I'll talk to you soon. Bye.

In today's Welcome to Cloudlandia episode, Dan shares his experience with stem cell treatments, from his different injections to increased energy and improved brain function. Next, we explore the fascinating realm of intelligent money exemplified by Indify and how it empowers creators by potentially disrupting the music industry through musicians' futures. Lastly, we make a special announcement about our first Free Zone event in Toronto this June. Join us for insights on innovative concepts that can upgrade our lives.   SHOW HIGHLIGHTS We delve into the world of stem cell treatments, starting with my personal experience and how it has improved my energy levels and brain function. We discuss the concept of intelligent money and how platforms like Indify are empowering creators and musicians, potentially disrupting the traditional music industry. We explore the concept of investing in people and emerging technologies, citing examples like Elon Musk and Steve Jobs. We reflect on the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in content creation and the importance of discernment in information consumption. We discuss the concept of media polarization and share our personal experiences with the shift from newspapers to online news aggregators. We mention a play we saw about the Queen's relationship with various Prime Ministers, shedding light on an intriguing historical fact. We explore the topic of neutrality and bias in AI and discuss how it might impact our thinking processes. We announce our first Free Zone event happening in Toronto in June and share our past experiences in the city. We discuss the idea of digital detox and share our strategies for reducing screen time and the benefits we've experienced. We reflect on our experiments with AI in generating interesting facts and video scripts, emphasizing its potential as a multiplier for content creation. Links: WelcomeToCloudlandia.com StrategicCoach.com DeanJackson.com ListingAgentLifestyle.com TRANSCRIPT (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors) Dean: Welcome to Cloudlandia. Dan: Ah, you have a very resonant place to this morning. Dean: Well, you know what I did. I came in on the app today and so we'll see. And over the last week we had some intermittent disruption. So to try this this week. Maybe it's a different level of unpredictable variety. I called it unpredictable variety. That's right. We roll with it and yeah, and there we go, yeah. So everybody wants to know, dan, how is the $6 million man doing with his biomegies? Dan: here. Yeah, yeah, pretty good. So we're talking on a Sunday and just the past Thursday was two weeks, and you know I got a figure in the placebo factor here and I think I mentioned this last time that when you have a pain and you don't have any solution for it, you try to avoid the pain, and so you kind of? A you kind of a focus on it. You rearrange your posture and your body to avoid the pain. Dean: Yes. Dan: But since I had the stem cell injection, I came back and the pain didn't seem any different. But I was confident about it that I now had a pain that in, according to prediction, in six months I won't have the pain. And so I'm not avoiding the pain and I'm you know, I'm walking downstairs without holding out to the rail and just depending on my leg. But I will say in the last two or three, three days I've I have noticed an improvement so that I'm getting from. You know we have top to bottom we in some cases I'm going to flights, yes. And and yeah, so I told Dr Hasse, david Hasse, who's in the free zone with us, because he's the arranger for all this. Anything else I do, I go through his clinic, so he's the one who arranged everything in Buenos Aires. Yes, and I tell him. I said I'm I'm naturally a self-producer of placebo's. Dean: And I said I think it's part of my. Dan: I think it's part of my character. I had nice said actually isn't strategic coaches, and that was strategic coaches producing your own placebo's. Dean: So I love it yeah. Dan: Yeah, so anyway, all friends, but I will tell you this we had three different treatments. I did and Babs had a fourth one. So Babs had a big toe, inflamed bones and her big toe. And the pain is way, way down after two weeks. And both of us had vascular IVs, so this is where the stem cells are put you know, it's an IV, so it goes in over 40 minutes. Dean: It wasn't an injection. Right, right, right. Dan: But it's, these stem cells are geared just to your vascular system, so just you know the veins, as I said and so I feel quite a bit more energy, and again, I'm not discounting the placebo effect. And the third, the third thing that I did Babs did vascular two and I did brain cells. So these, what they do is that they put lymphocytes in on day one and then on day three they give you an IV for the, for your brain cells and the lymphocytes. I don't exactly understand what they are. Okay, I know they're neither Republican or Democrat. I do know that they're NDP, right? Exactly, yeah, I know that. I know they don't have a political characteristic about them, but what they do is they actually create pathways through what's called the blood brain barrier. Okay, and what I understand is that the brain is very protective of itself, so it doesn't allow any foreign thing to come in To the brain. But it'll accept lymphocytes and they're just little, they're kind of temporary pathways and they die after about a week or two. But what happens then is the stem cells that are geared to your brain can go through those pathways and and I'm doing a program called neuro potential, which is a bio feedback program, and I'm doing a neuro potential program and I did session 30, 29 and 30. I've been doing that for about a year and what it tests you on is when you're watching a movie and I picked a favorite movie which was foils for British detective homicide detective series Long time ago, 15 years ago, very intriguing, very good acting, and so I went Saturday morning to the hospital. And so I went Saturday ago and I did it. And usually what happens during the course of the session? You're watching the, you're watching the screen and then all of a sudden the screen will go black, the sound will go out, but the movie goes on and your brain notices this and it readjust itself so that the screen comes back and the sound comes back, and normally during a session it'll happen four or five times and there's nothing you can do. All you do is the brain just adjust itself and that adjustments are actually making improvements to how your brain operates. And I've been doing it and my EEG tests, which are a battery of screen tests that I do every quarter, indicate that my brain has improved quite a bit over the last year. But this session, the first time now I'm talking about a week ago, saturday not once during the entire movie did the screen black out and or the sound go out. And the first time it ever happened. And the technician they have technicians there who you know they will. They put your sensors on your brain and then they you know they're there all the time and she said I've never seen that before. She said I've never seen it, certainly haven't seen it with you, but she's, I've never seen it with anyone. And these people are these train. These people are trained not to be enthusiastic. Dean: And they're just there, related to your, to the stencils or yeah, well, it's the only thing that's changed. It's gotta be right. Dan: Yeah, it's gotta be, and she up the difficulty. So when I do it fairly easily, she'll up the difficulty and the and yesterday I went and it sound went out three times but the screen did not go black and and she said that's amazing because she said you're even stronger this week than you were last week and that was a real breakthrough week. So I think, that that's and this is the only thing where I have outside reference point. That's testing. So, yeah, so, but my energy has been real good from the overall. But I think the big thing is that I am now convinced this specifically from this stem cell thing that we're going through and also other things that I've been doing for the past year that now anything in the body, if it can be diagnosed, if there's something off, if something's not performing right, something's not working period or, worse than that, it's something wrong is happening. I now am convinced that if it can be diagnosed, it can be repaired and it can be regenerated. So that's yeah. Dean: And. Dan: I've been and I've been going on. I've been going on faith for the last 36 years in this regard that this would come. Dean: Yeah, I mean, you know, you look at, I heard Joe Rogan had well, he always has all kinds of interesting people, but he had Gary Brecca on. I don't know him? Dan: I don't know him. Dean: Yeah Well, he's kind of an interesting story, I don't know. I mean, you know like anything, when you hear him on you know he kind of breaks into the scene. He's the guy that kind of turned Dana White around. Dana's lost all kinds of weight and reversed his. Dan: Oh yeah, I know Dana White, he's the. Yeah, you see ultra fighting, yeah, that's exactly right, yeah, yeah, the US. Dean: And so he. This guy's background was as a I don't know what the right word for what he did, but it was some sort of for insurance companies. They would predict your lifespan. So it was like advanced what do they call that in insurance? Mortality rate, I'm guessing. Dan: Yeah, it's the actuary, the actuary, yeah, yeah, so actuarial. Dean: I guess would be kind of based on statistical groups kind of thing. And what they do is this is based on records, on your on measuring, like genetic markers and blood work, and they couldn't predict. He says within months of somebody's life expectancy, and very interesting, right. So Dana came in and he had, you know, very elevated triglycerides and you know certain other markers that were really kind of degenerative and he's 53 years old and his they marked his life expectancy at 63.6 or something like that. And it was really like an eye-opener for him to see that have that sort of you know, mortality check on what you're, what's going on in your body, and he basically says all these things are, you know, they're starting to give out years and years before they're actually the end of now. So it's not a mystery kind of thing, it's just that way. You know, and so he's, you know, done all the things that he recommended and he's already added, like you know, 12 years to his life expectancy already, and that it's kind of, I think, when you're right, that we're at a stage where we're started learning all the Repair models of things that, yeah, to be able to, to regenerate, I'm still amazed that even the fact that DNA exists like how do you even Tune into something like that, right, like how did somebody even Discover that's a thing, is just like beyond my imagination, you know it's, yeah well, electron microscopes with the yeah well, I mean with you know, the the actual day breakthrough. Dan: There's some great stories about that aren't really on point here, but we could go into them. But the point I'd like to bring. This is all cloud land. Yeah, this is all these are cloud land media capabilities that have come into existence, because the I was talking to Peter de Amonus about this and I said it's clearly a Lot of things that were predicted by a lot of people 10 years ago haven't happened. Okay they haven't happened to the degree that they're happening, but they're not to the degree. But I would say that the application of digital measurement to your body has has gone way beyond what anyone was predicting at the ability to, at the most minute level, to sell your level of actually Measuring and then having comparisons. You know comparisons because these are large model. These are large model. You know, when somebody says you are, you know a certain age, like if you take Dana White, and they said 53 and they his prediction was for 63. What they were doing was measuring against millions and millions of other tests that they yeah, I'm not other people that Used to take yours to put the facts together and now it takes minutes, yeah and he wasn't even possible years ago that I put those together. Yeah, no, I mean, my first doctor encounters were in the 1940s, so this is 80, not quite 80 years ago. And the best you could hope for back then was that the doctor had a good bedside manner. Dean: Well, three out of four doctors prefer Chesterfield's. A great Actually. Dan: And it was. It was actually seven out of those, seven out of eight. Who a doctor? Seven out of eight doctors who smoke prefer camo camos. No this is a great. This is a great ad campaign. I mean, we shouldn't be frivolous about this. It's really sold a lot of camos. I'll tell you. Dean: I wonder what those things like. If we look forward you know, fast forward, for the years from now. What are we going to look at? As you know, so Stupid and obvious back in you know that we haven't been paying attention to. Dan: No, yeah, you know, I always say that a depressed utopian, utopian who's depressed. Our people get depressed by the absence of things that haven't been invented yet. Yeah, exactly, geez, there's so much that has been. I'm missing all these things. I said what exactly? Are you missing? Well, I don't know, but I'm missing it, yeah. Dean: It's so funny, I just saw somebody in on Facebook, one of the there's a local Group called it. You know, if you grew up in Georgetown you remember, you may remember kind of group and it was pretty these things and somebody showed you know Georgetown the cable was. You know halting cable was becoming Available and they were offering, you know, service on on the nine channels for our listeners. Dan: Today we're not talking about George town in Washington DC right, we're talking about. Dean: We're talking about. Dan: George town, a lovely veil Norris. And is it more west than north? Dean: I'm trying to think it north and more what I know, the go train goes there. That's exactly right. It's the last outpost on the on the go train and that was the thing they were offering now service on channel two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 11 and 13, and I remember those days, like you know, 1970 Something when we got our first color television and I got the table you know that was. That was the thing. Wow, what a world yeah. But, but just back to the. Dan: You brought up a subject right at the beginning of our talk here DNA. It's actually been the merger of artificial intelligence and DNA that's producing all the amazing diagnostic tests. Because they can now do, then, what they do is they convert biological Signals to digital signals okay and now they can do ten thousand tests, either on something that exists In the time that it would takes to do one manual test ten years ago. So ten thousand to one, that's that qualifies as exponential in my world. Dean: I would say so. Yeah, I would say so. Dan: Yeah, yeah, yeah, but I'm banking on that. You know, and as you know from our conversations of a long time ago, that I was Babs and I were on this path in the 90s, you know, in the 1990s, so we're 30 years down the road now, but I knew you could tell. I mean, I read a lot. You know, the internet has been a great tool for me of Just letting my brain go wild on the internet and it finds this and kind of I find your brain Kind of finds what you were looking for, but you didn't know you were looking for it, that's the way I explain it. Dean: Do you find? Dan: that. Dean: I do. I had some experimenting this week, actually Based on our conversation last week that you know you mentioned. You kind of let your brain just go and do what it wants, but let's just I mean almost like with an agreement that let's just, at the end of the day, let's get these three things done, and I don't care what you do or when you do it, but let's just go ahead and let's get these three things. Dan: But I but. Dean: I got a. Dan: I got. I've been thinking about our conversation too and I said but it's finding it for some reason, and I think, using AI language here that somewhere in the past you gave your brain a prompt, just like you do with a chat GPT you gave it a prompt that. If you ever come across something like this, alert me to this. So my sense is that you've been programming your brain to look for certain things since the beginning. You've been prompting your brain to look for certain things. And all of a sudden it comes across something and you wake up and say, gee, that's neat, that's neat. Dean: I didn't know that. Dan: But somewhere in the past you gave some sort of prompts, I think, to tell your brain. If you ever see something like this, just let me know right away, because I'm interested in it. Dean: One of the things that I came across this week was in relation to our conversation about melt, about money, energy, labor and transportation all going in, rising cost of those, and I've been thinking about money, like access to money, and I'm seeing there's more and more versions of intelligent money coming, you know being the thing of empowering creators in a way, and I've looked at, I found out about a company called Indify which is taking a venture capital kind of approach to creators, musicians, particularly independent artists who are, you know, making music, and they're partnering with them for, you know, 50% ownership of whatever comes out of what they're they're producing and it's really, you know, they may not produce like, compared to the music label industry, the model where they would, you know, sign an artist and do a full album and all those things. Dan: These are really but those are already existing. That was already existing. Yeah, yeah, here they're here they're doing music and musician futures. Dean: Yes, that's exactly what it is and that's a really interesting model, like typically they're, you know, with a particular like a song, for instance, they may invest $30,000 to produce a single song and artists, but they're showing that the you know, the typical return on, even like they're not to be they're not talking about hits, but things that they showed investments of their typical investment of $30,000 has returned $110,000 so far per one of those that they've done. Yeah, and they started in 2020, you know, so over that period of time, they've kind of tripled their investments and I thought, partner, you know that, that level of you know in the entrepreneurial world I don't know whether that's that you know the rising cost or you know the that, the diminishing supply of capital. I don't know whether there's different rules for Plotlandia and creative things as opposed to. You know large scale, physical capital. You know capital, physical world. Dan: Yeah, my sense of that is that the smart investors whether it's in the mainland or whether it's in Plotlandia are the same person. They're the same, and my feeling is that the smartest investors invest on people. They don't invest on things. They don't really invest on things, and so my sense is that the example you just gave this person has proven in the past that they're actually creative. Dean: And they always seem to be coming up. Dan: they always seem to be coming up with new things, and some of them have monetized and some of them haven't monetized. So that's the guess. And that's the bet you know. In other words, I'm guessing that you're going to. You already come up with something in the past that turned out to be money making. Dean: And. Dan: I'm betting I'm just going to bet on you as a creator, that you're going to come up with some good stuff that properly captured, properly packaged and properly distributed is going to be money making. Dean: Would you say I agree. I mean, do you think you're kind of heading back to the patron days? Oh yeah. Yeah in a way, yeah, yeah. Dan: Oh, totally, totally. I mean entrepreneurs are you and I and all the folks that we hang out with are we're self patrons? Dean: Yes. Dan: The difference between an entrepreneur and non entrepreneurs and individual who's betting on himself as the future. Well, you did that a long time ago and you know, and I did it a long time ago, and so that's why I'm not taken by things. You know, I'm not really taken by things. You know, betting on things like I've talked about a product or a tech. I'm not betting on that I'm betting on the thing possibly being a tool that some really smart human is going to maximize going to. You know it's going to do something. And I was thinking about that with Elon Musk, because there's no reason for his valuations related to Tesla. You know, if you took the normal valuations of a car company, the number of cars you got, the distribution system, you got his the Tesla doesn't make sense. The valuation that he has for Tesla makes no sense whatsoever. By right, historic automobile standards, right, and somebody was saying that they you know this is, you know this is, you know this is a scam. I said you're missing the point here. They're not betting on the Tesla car. They're betting on Elon Musk coming up with always new things. Dean: That is true, and he, yeah, he's, yeah, he's come up with quite a few. Dan: Yeah, and I think Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs was on that track, but he died he, you know he died, I mean because, really, if you take a look at Apple's extraordinary, it's stuff that all goes back to Steve Jobs. Dean: Yes. Dan: And, and I mean not a big thing since, not a really big thing since 2008. Dean: Right, since the iPhone, right. I mean, that's really the iPhone yeah. Yeah, that decade of, you know, 90 2008,. That's really that's where everything happened. I think was. I think about it. Yeah, we talked about it in our analysis of the last 28 years. That none of it. You know Apple was close to bankruptcy, that they were in trouble 28 years ago he had to borrow from Bill Gates. Yeah, exactly, and that's you know, that's kind of. Dan: That's pretty amazing right. Dean: When you think about everything that's turned around since then, and thinking about even Jeff Bezos, who you know, who knew. Dan: Yeah, yeah, and you know, and so so the the thing about betting, but I always bet on people. You know, my whole approach is that this is a person you know who proven track record and part of it is that they not do what they're doing. You know, one of my views is that I look at somebody who cannot do the thing that seems to be most valuable, and and so I don't have to worry what they're doing when I don't see them. Dean: Right, what's he? Dan: doing? What's? What's he doing today? I know exactly what he's doing today. He's doing what I bet on. Dean: He's doing what I bet on him doing, you know and you know. Dan: So it's a very interesting thing. So, but I think I was going back because we had this conversation. I said, you know, if I go back because I've really been an entrepreneur since really the beginning of the microchip age in the 70s. They started using the word microchip, I think early 70s, but I read about it in 73 and I started my company in 74 1974. So 50 years next year. Dean: And. Dan: I would say that the microchip itself is one of the real breakthroughs. And then the ability for there to be such thing as a personal computer, which came up within the first 10 years of the microchip and then graphic user interface, which made the personal computer available to everybody, okay. And then the internet, probably software somewhere in there, the whole notion of software, that it didn't have to be hardware. Usefulness of the computer did not have to be hardware, it could just be a program. And then I would say the internet, and then the iPhone, and now artificial intelligence. Dean: Yeah, artificial intelligence that, I think what's happening there is. Nobody could really have predicted. I mean maybe people who knew were predicting, but I don't think people really had a sense of what was really possible with this until now, and I think as a species right now, we're clueless about where this is going. Dan: I said you know. I said you can say anything you want about where it's going and probably you'll be right, but there's going to be a million other things happening to that. Nobody could have predicted. Dean: Yeah, I mean it's really. Dan: I mean where are you crossing into this world? I mean, what are you do? We have three or four projects. Dean: We have three or four projects going that I'm involved in the company and so where are you? Dan: I'm at the experiment when are you experimenting? Dean: Yeah, I'm experimenting in the personal side, like my personal experience with it. We're not using it as it's not integrated in any way into my company that you're you know our stuff yet, but I can see that it could be. I mean, I looked at, you know, one of the things that we do we have a subscription for. We have two different versions one for realtors, one for financial advisors of a postcard newsletter called the world's most interesting postcard, and it's essentially a carrier for referral programming that you as a realtor or a financial advisor would send to your top 150 relationships so that you are programming them to notice conversations about real estate, to think about you and to introduce you to the person that they had the conversation with. And it's been, you know, a phenomenal game changer for the amount of referrals that people get, measured as a, you know, return on relationship, the percentage of repeated referral business you get from your top 150 relationships. And so I had four years we've been doing it for 12 years now a monthly postcard where we have someone research and put together there might be 16, you know just short, interesting facts that you put on the front of the postcard and it's got a nice design and so it's easy to read. It's kind of just like you know interesting things and the. I started thinking about, well, if I did what, if I did one specifically for for financial advisors, that all the facts and stuff are money related. And I just asked chat GPT one day. I said can you write to you know 10 short interesting facts about the history of money? And it started writing the things. And then I asked it to you know, make it a little more interesting things. And it, you know, put it on. That said you can be 20 more. And it was like boom, all interesting. Dan: Yeah, absolutely. I said yeah, and you're, you're, you're designing, though, as you go along, there's probably an interactive thing going on between yeah, right, I'm just directing, you know, there's two. Ai's AI breakthroughs consist of two AI's. You know the first AI is artificial intelligence. The second one's called the actual intelligence. Dean: Yeah, exactly so. Dan: I'm bringing the actual intelligence. Dean: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I said it was so funny, Dan, because I said to it well, these are great. How many do you think you could? Well, I can make an infinite number of these. How many would you like? And it was just so funny that I ended up with like 50 of these you know, and just instantly done and I thought you know that's a really interesting thing. Again, those are, you know it's content related. I came, I had this idea of you know I think there are 400 and something cognitive biases that are, and I just started. Dan: How many of you mastered it Right, exactly, and you know it's an interesting thing. Dean: I said can you make a three minute video script describing confirmation bias, the facts about what it is and how it might be, how it might be deployed or come into play and how to defend against it? And it wrote this amazing, like just you know, intro this, then scene of this and then this, and narrator says that there's the script, you know, and it was just. I mean, when you look at the putting together of the different things, I saw this I saw someone do a demonstration of you know, having it write some. It was writing ads, video ads for something, and it they had gone to one of the gone to 11 labs. I think is a place where you train your voice. So it's got your voice. And then it went to another place that had your digital, you know avatar, you know from video of you, and Then it combined this AI written script with your voice through your face on your avatar on video and it's instantly translated into any Language where your mouth moves and your mouth is saying the words in Japanese or German or French or whatever, and I just Just such a like you can see. That's a you know, the distribution of Content like that, you know, is amazing. But then it's still so that's everything I've seen has been content related, you know, kind of yeah, creation and as a multiplier for content creation. But then the bigger you know we've had the conversation that, the bigger you know. Picture of that is that our brains we still can't consume At any more than the speed of reality, which is 60 minutes per hour right, it takes us. Dan: Yeah, and the other thing is that we can only think about one thing at a time, you know. I mean, we can't think two things at the same time. Humans just can't do this, and you know, and as you say, it's reality, world, time-based. Yeah, you know, and really the successful people have learned firsthand just what can get begin gotten done in an hour a day, and and then also it's developed a sense of discernment about just what's worth Having your mind on for an hour for a whole day and you know, and that you know, and I've dropped, I'm noticing I'm shedding all sorts of things as I Approach 80. Just I dropped televisions. I'm in my sixth year now dropping television and and people say, but you're a big sports fan. And I said, oh, I've got a trick. I said I wait till the game. I I've got. I wait till the game, as though I'll use Cleveland Brown says an example and I just checked. I checked the score. You know the scores are in now. It's some beyond game time. Did they win or lose? Well, if they lost, I'm not interested. If they won, then they have a ten minute video of the highlights and that's my game. Dean: You know and. Dan: I know they've won and then I just get a chance to see how they won. Okay, if they lose, I don't watch it, because I, because that doesn't do me any good, doesn't do me any. I'm already disappointed they lost. Why would I pile on and People said, yeah, but you're? Missing all the excitement of the game and I said, I said yes. I said I want to be excited about other things. I don't want to be excited about young people who are one-third of my age. I did coming through for me or not coming through for me? I want to see the final result. Dean: I've been contemplating Dan because, I I find that embarrassingly, much of my time is screen-sucking. You know, as our friend, there's a lot of, there's a lot of screen-sucking and I would count television and YouTube and tiktok and Facebook and Anytime my eyeballs are sucking dopamine in through my screen as that time. And I've been experimenting with, you know, disconnecting from the the dopamine device you know, and so this morning was one of those times. I'm trying to get to a point where I can get as far into my day without having any, you know, digital input, and I think that there's a real Face that I could go, you know, all the way till noon with no Contact with the outside world and that, I think, would be a better thing for me. But it's amazing how your body like I went over to the cafe this morning to get some, get a coffee and just sit outside and you know, I didn't take my phone, I woke up, I still wake up in the you know the first thing. You know, I checked my phone or whatever. I left it here and I went to the, the cafe and it's amazing how your brain is Like saying you know, wait a second, what if anything? What if you? What? Dan: if you break down. Dean: What if you're Get an accident or you need to call somebody here? What? What about that? And then I realized I don't know a single person's phone number. I don't know what single phone number except my office, you know, and not there's nobody there, but that's. It's very funny to me, that's where your mind goes. And then I had that. I took real money Because normally I use my Apple pay on my phone to pay for it, and so I had real paper money with me and it was just. It was so Interesting to sit at the cafe and just watch everybody you know, all you know, even together screen sucking the whole time and I've been experimenting like how much can I Disconnect from that in a proactive way? Right, like well, it's interesting. Dan: It's interesting because in the year you're applying the concept of intermittent fasting. Yeah, exactly that, yeah, you're going to. You know I'm going to spend three hours or four hours where I fast, you know yeah. Because your brain will find something to do if you're not right now yes autophagy Remember this is something interesting. Dean: I was really going as far as, like, how far down can I go with this? Right, like what would I truly be missing? As I do, I use my phone all the time for everything. I mean texting, email, ordering food, you know all of the stuff. Entertainment Talking and I was. I remember there was a show about the royalty I think it was called the crown, and or maybe it was a movie about the Queen, but I remember this was struck me as very like a very interesting is that every day at a certain time 5 pm Maybe, or noon or sometime they would bring the Queen a red box. Oh yeah, box was everything that she needed for the day, everything that needed her attention kind of thing, and I thought how neat would that be. What would be interesting if I could, at 5 pm Every day, get a box that has Every thing that I need, like any emails that have come in, any texts that have come in, any you know articles of interest. That would be. You know, something that I would need and I've wondered about that getting rid of. Like you know, I check on that judge report and you know I the news, like seeing different things that are going on in the world and I thought to myself I wonder what happened if I went to, like you know, paper subscriptions to Newsweek Time magazine and the Wall Street Journal as the my Well they're. Dan: I've gone beyond that because I used to get five papers a day. Yeah, you got two to Toronto papers. I got the, I got the Wall Street Journal, I got New York Times and. National Post well, national Post was globe in the post for the two. Dean: Yeah. Dan: Toronto papers, and then the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, and the fifth one was business, business and best investors daily. Yeah, right, yeah, investors, business daily, and. But I began to realize that I all those papers. The only thing I was really interested in was the opinion section. Dean: Okay, where the? Dan: people wrote Oversight articles, in other words they were looking at a something and they were writing that. And then you know politics I began to notice that in the Newspaper world they were making most of their money after a while on subscriptions because the advertising dollars were being taken away by Facebook and Google and yeah, and they had to go to digital versions on a subscription basis. And what that did is that it polarized the media in the sense that, for example, the Wall Street Journal I Would say 80 to 90 percent of its subscription probably is Center or center right on the political spectrum. There's center right and the New. York Times is Barely center, mostly to the left, and I noticed that the Globe and Mail is now center to the left and the Globe and Mail or the post is still Still somewhat into the right. Into the right and the investors business daily only has opinions on Saturday. You know they only have a real commentary section. So, yes, okay. So when I began looking for, I said, well, still hit or miss, because there may be some good stuff or not good stuff. So I went to this aggregator which is called real clerk, comes up Chicago and all they do is aggregate Article headings and they're almost all, they're all commentary, okay. So every morning and six days a week they do an update at three o'clock in the afternoon. So you get up in the morning and they have that, and then at three o'clock in the afternoon they have an update. They don't do this on Saturday. Okay, there's one day when they don't do it Right but then they have all sorts of real clear. They have real clear politics, they have real clear policy. They have real clear market real clear world real clear defense, real clear energy, real clear health real clear science and those are more. They're picking up a periodicals rather than daily, and so I just get up in the morning and I look and I click on three or four of them and they come for the New York Times. It's lucky if they get one every day. Some of them have paywalls so that when you go to their thing they're saying well, you can read the article if you pay for a subscription, and that counts them out. You know, I'm not going to pay, I'm not going to sign up for a subscription to get one article, so right. So, yeah and so, so, anyway. So that's what I've done. So and I'm down now to Babs gets the post because she likes knowing Toronto things, but I don't bother looking at the, for the last two or three weeks they've had great articles. It's mainly how our Prime Minister is going down the drain, which I always find comforting reading. And then the Israeli, the Israeli Amos situation and that's been a great clarifier Boy. You really find out where people stand with this particular issue. That's been a really great clarifier herself. Yeah, yeah, so anyway, but that's how I handle it. I handle it. That's my sort of my red box. Real clear, it's my red box. Dean: Right, that's interesting. Dan: You know what they do you know what they call that? The thing that the queen gets. I don't know what they call it. They call it the red box. Dean: That's what I thought. Dan: You know that red box she gets every day. Dean: You know what they call it. Dan: They call it the red box. Dean: That is so funny, but I thought about experimenting with that and getting a red box and the government has to prepare them for. Dan: The Prime Minister's office has to prepare that for her, exactly yeah. Yeah, because they're both in town. Once a week, the Prime Minister has to come to the palace and deliver in person some of the crucial issues. This is not recorded. No one ever knows. Dean: Right A weekly audience with the queen Right. Dan: Yeah, yeah. Dean: Yeah, and the king now. Dan: I guess I guess the king. Should we send the red box to the king? It's kind of hard to say. It's kind of hard to say it's kind of hard to say king, I'd say king, you know because she was in for seven years or so. Yeah. There was a great play. Actually it was called the Interview. I saw it, and I saw it in London, right around the corner from the hotel. Dean: And. Dan: Helen Merrin was the queen. Helen Merrin was the queen and that what they did is all the Prime Ministers that she's had, starting with Winston Churchill, right up until last year. I guess there were a whole bunch of Prime Ministers over the last two or three years, so anyway, but she had just talked about. It was all made up, because nobody really knows what's that, but they just used topical issues of the time, and you know, and whether she got along with the Prime Ministers or not, or and everything else, and it was a very, just a really terrific, really terrific play. Dean: I saw Napoleon on Thanksgiving Day. What did you think? Dan: What did you think? Dean: I didn't like it Did you see, it. I haven't. It was as we like to say, dan. There was a lot of middle in that movie. Dan: It was all middle it joined in progress and just never left the middle. Dean: There were only two scenes that were repeated six times. There was the drama in the palace and then there was battle scenes with horses and bayonets and cannons and on and on the same battle scenes, again and again, and then back to the palace and it was really. I didn't enjoy it at all. I had no. It was my shortest movie review ever. Dan: I just looked at the camera. Dean: I shook my head and said nope, and then I hashtagged it nope, olean, yeah yeah yeah, and, but I have no real historical knowledge of, you know, of Napoleon but, I, did you know? The most interesting thing was at the end they did a summary of all the people that were lost in battles, like 6 million people in his period of being the king, he lost in battle. That was that's crazy, you know. 6 million seemed like that seemed like a lot. Dan: Well, we must use all of them up, because his final battle was 1815. That's when Waterloo was you know the final battle, and then there was not a major European war until the beginning of the beginning of the First World War. So it was 99 years. So he must have used everybody up because it took a whole century to stack up again. Yeah, and you know yeah, I mean a lot of American history, american history, really, you know, from the British fighting the French. You know that's really where the American thing starts, it's. I don't know what they call it. You know they call it the Seven Years War here in Canada, but in the United States it was called the French and Indian War. You, know, and this was 1817, 50s, 1763, Seven Years. But this is where all the American colonists got their military training, which they then used to good for self fighting the British. Oh wow, 1717. So George Washington was an American born. You know, they were all British. I mean, they were all British. Yeah, All the colonists were British. And then anyway, but that takes you right up until he. I think Napoleon comes in around 1793 and he was in for 22 years, but he totally changed Europe. I mean, he was like a major earthquake that went right across the continent and that really changed things. You know, hitler, hitler was great. Hitler was a great admirer of Napoleon. Dean: Yeah, and that right. Dan: He made, and he made the same mistake. Dean: He invaded. Dan: Russia. Right right, right right. Dean: That's yeah. So I'm going to save you from from that. Dan: Yeah, well, it's not a it's not a topic that I'm really interested in Right, I've never just talked about Napoleon, no. I just you know, but he, he not only was a significant military person, he was very significant politician. Because so that's where we get the metric. Metric system is from Napoleon. Dean: That's right yeah. Dan: And they didn't have any standard measurements in Europe. Okay, you know I mean the British had their own. But you know, the British is kind of a organic thing that's developed over time, feet, inches, feet, yards and everything, and it's the light and the lightfully accent and idiosyncratic. It's eccentric and eccentric. The British are eccentric, you know, and he wanted this 100. Everything is, you know, and it took all the fun out of it, took all the fun out of measurement. Dean: Right, you imagine. Dan: American, American baseball and metric, you know. Dean: American football and metric. Dan: Yeah. That's even the Canadian football league uses yards and feet and you know everything like that, you know all the buddy, yeah, track and field they don't, because that's a more of a European thing. Yeah, yeah World stage. Anyway, well, it's really interesting, but I'd like to pick up a little bit more on this couple of themes that we've developed over the last few talks, and one of them, and what I think, is that every human being is a confirmation bias. Okay, say more about that. Well, you're biased according to the experience that's proved useful or not useful. Okay, okay okay, so you've used a term you know to grade movies that are not worth seeing a lot of the middle. Okay, yeah, so there was a lot. I don't remember if there was a beginning end or an ending end. It's just battles and battles. Battles and battles, that's right, and palace, yeah, but I think that really thing because I think that it's impossible for human beings not to have a bias. Yeah, I think, that's absolutely I think as the smarter human beings know what their biases are and actually choose them, yeah, they actually choose them, yeah. And and you know, as it just strikes me that this whole notion of neutrality, that you can be unbiased is, I think it's just silly, how could you? Possibly be unbiased. Dean: I mean, that's right. Dan: In the world, you wouldn't survive. Dean: Yeah, in the words of Milton Friedman. To fill down at you, where do you propose we find these angels to organize society without regards to personal interest or bias? I don't even trust you to do that, phil. Dan: I've watched that about. I've watched that about 10 times. Yeah that's such a great because you can just see that Phil down to who just has this sort of fluffy, waffly form of logic. You know, all basically emotion based you know emotion yeah. I mean, he didn't have our perspective. New Prime Minister here is getting a lot of fights. When you finish here, go on Google and say Peter Polly of you know, you know how to spell it, don't you? Yes, okay, takes down reporter. Just, he just took down a reporter and it was one of the most masterful takedowns of reporter ever, and he did it while chewing on Apple. Dean: Oh, I love it. Dan: So he's being interviewed, and he's, and the person says, well, you know, you know, you're taking a very ideological approach. He says ideological, what's that? Well, what's ideological? And the reporter says, well, you know, it's more emotion based. And he says name a name, an example. Or name an example, well you know, and it gets round that he's reproducing Donald Trump and you know that's the ultimate killer, that's the kill shots. You know you call somebody Donald Trump. Dean: Is that right? Dan: No. And he says well, a lot of the experts. And he says experts, name one expert and the reporter did not have a specific piece of information. That was all this fluffy narrative and you could just see the guy was flailing and meanwhile Pierre Polyov is just eating example, and he says do you have an actual point to this interview? And the guy. You could just see the guy. You know they didn't show him in full, but I bet you know there was a puddle under his feet when he was finished. That's so funny, dan yeah yeah, and he's just learned how to deal with this whole issue that they try to catch you on their words. Dean: Yeah, exactly. Dan: I don't even know what that word means. I mean, do you know what that word is? Dean: You just used a word. Dan: I don't know what that word is. And he says well, you know you're doing left versus right. And he says name a time when I've actually said that. I've never said love first right. I don't believe them. Left first right. So I believe in common sense and I'm kind of bored the side that has common sense, so you know we haven't had any of. You just aren't used to it because we haven't had any common sense for the last eight years. So that's not used to dealing with. So, anyway, and he's I think he's a phenomenal debater. You know because he's been in, he's 44 years old and he's been in parliament for 19 years you know, he's been there since he was 25. Wow, yeah, so, but it's really interesting to watch it. You know, I mean, and I'm very biased towards his side of the political spectrum. Dean: You have a cognitive bias around him. Is that what you said? I? Dan: have a total. I have a total cognitive bias. That's funny. Dean: I love it. Dan: Yeah, okay, so anyway, fascinating where this is going, but I think this AI thing is a much. What should I call it here? I think it's a catalyst for a real mind change and how we think about everything. I think interacting with this technology is actually introducing us to how we actually think about things. Dean: I think you're right, because you have to bring that to it. Yeah, so you are, you're off to Phoenix. Dan: Yeah, we fly out on Tuesday and then we're there until Saturday. I were there until Sunday morning because I can't take more than two days of sitting in a room. And so we're off to Chicago and then we have a Chicago week. We have I just have one workshop, I have the free zone on Thursday, yeah, so so anyway, you know, yeah, it's been a good year. It's been actually it's been a very sailing kind of year. I haven't had any real time crunches or anything else. Great, that's awesome. And so then we're back, are you? And yeah, and so June 12th, june 18th, is our first free zone in Toronto. Dean: Oh, you've set the date already. Dan: Yeah. Dean: Oh great. Dan: Yeah, and now I'll just forward to Tammy, who is the wizard mastermind of scheduling here, tammy Colville. Dean: And I'll just send. Dan: I'll just forward her announcement that just came through two days ago, so I'll just yeah, and we're doing it in. June. I mean, isn't that nice starting it off in June. Dean: I love that. I love that I do miss Toronto. Yeah, I love it. Dan: I think, Toronto misses you, I think Toronto misses you. Oh, that's so funny, I love it. Yeah, there's no more table 10 anywhere. I haven't found a table 10 anywhere. Dean: We're going to need a new. We'll need a new venue. Oh well, we'll go to the old bed We'll go. Dan: I mean less selected still there and they're still good, so we'll go. Okay Good, okay Perfect. Dean: Okay, dan, have a great trip Two weeks. We'll be back. Dan: I'm sorry. Two weeks, two weeks, okay, yeah, okay, okay, I'll talk to you then. Thanks, okay, bye.

In today's Welcome to Cloudlandia episode, we embark on an intriguing exploration of the realm of AI and technology. We examine fascinating experiments involving text conversion to a unique speech structure that aligns with your heartbeat. Lastly, we delve into discussions around marketing education and share snippets from our upcoming trip.   SHOW HIGHLIGHTS We discuss the transformative impact of artificial intelligence on content creation, exploring how it's being utilized in Hollywood and our personal experiment of converting a book chapter into Iambic Contameter with the help of AI and a Shakespearean actor. Dean highlights a fascinating experiment conducted in the Soviet Union where foxes were genetically modified into dogs, shedding light on the intriguing topic of canine intelligence and their comprehension of human language. Dan and I delve into the evolution of television, discussing its early stages where it was used to re-enact radio shows, and its transition to the current landscape of diverse media platforms like Facebook. We share insights on the challenges of implementing strategies in businesses and how we've addressed them in our own ventures, highlighting our successful thought leadership newsletter and real estate accelerator program. Dan emphasizes the importance of normalizing new technological advancements in the realm of AI, arguing that the future doesn't arrive until we've normalized it. We touch on the concept of hierarchy versus network in corporations and ponder on the potential obsolescence of middle management jobs due to AI advancements. We discuss the role of AI in marketing strategy, underlining the significance of identifying high margin products and generating leads for potential customers. We express concern over the current state of higher education and speculate on its potential crisis in the face of rising vocational training and AI. We delve into the future of work and systems, discussing how AI is making certain jobs obsolete, particularly in the middle white-collar sector, and how it's affecting the education system. Finally, we briefly discuss our upcoming trip to Buenos Aires, sharing our excitement and some interesting facts about the time difference and geographical position of South America. Links: WelcomeToCloudlandia.com StrategicCoach.com DeanJackson.com ListingAgentLifestyle.com TRANSCRIPT (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors) Dan: Wow. Dean: Mr Sullivan, wow, yes, Recorded entrance grad it's so good. We're living in increasingly turbulent times. Dan: That's true, but I'll tell you what the great thing about it is. At this particular moment, at this particular outpost in the mainland, it's the absolute perfect temperature. The fourth season of the Valhalla, absolutely like room temperature, with a slight breeze, quiet, six, perfect. Dean: Well, at our global domination compound in Toronto, we're having a perfect whole day. Dan: A whole domination compound. That is true. Dean: I don't want to own the whole thing, I don't want to own the whole world, I just want all the property next to mine. Dan: I was excited about your idea of getting the house behind you to have that whole drive through, but they give it up on that. Dean: That might bring the furies down on us. So far we've escaped scrutiny, anyway, yeah. Well, one thing that I thought would be interesting is kind of a Cloudlandia. It's that Taylor Swift's movie, her tour movie, has done, I think, worldwide with you, as down 150 million in two weeks and both weeks. Dan: Yeah, she's only playing it Thursday to Sunday because she doesn't want kids neglecting homework, so she doesn't. You can't go see it on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. You can only go see it. Dean: Well, I think she neglected hers and where she is Exactly, but I think she's alone Brilliant, I mean the fact that her tour alone. Dan: Her live tour was one of the biggest tours ever. Now the recording of it. I think she's going to make another billion dollars with it. Dean: Yeah, but the interesting thing about it is she bypassed Hollywood altogether which is the mainland, and they just wanted their 20% for being Hollywood, and she just bypassed it. And that comes right after the strike that shut everything down, for one of the griefs being, of course, being live streaming, the other one probably being the AI that's replacing a lot of the 80% work in Hollywood. In other words, first draft scripts and everything else can now get done with AI, and then you bring in the craftsman to actually, you know, take it the final 20%, yeah, and these are definitely. Dan: I think that's a seed there, true. I think that's especially true, dan, for content. You know, let's call it streaming or television or documentary content, that is, book report content. That is like writing a. You know, if we were to do a documentary about the you know evolution of print starting with Putin or starting with the you know Chinese on papyrus, you know back in 1012 or whatever, A long time ago, that I think that that would be the kind of thing where AI would be able to write a script research, write a script. That would be 80% of what you would need to do a compelling documentary about that, compared to the creative act of creating something new. You know, I don't know. Dean: Yeah it's really interesting. On a previous episode I told you about the little experiment I'm doing with converting my chapters of this particular book. So this is my book number 36 and the 36th quarter, and it's called Everything, everyone and Everything Grows. That's the name of the book. It's the backstage. It's the backstage description of strategic coach since 1989. We put our backstage together and as I was going through, I've been reading a lot of books on Shakespeare and there's something consciousness altering about the speech structure that they used. It wasn't just Shakespeare, it was of the time. It was, you know, around 1600 in Great Britain. It was called Iambic Contameter and it was 10 beats per line. Okay, and Mike Canig's, knowing that I'm interested in this, sent an article which has to do with they've scientifically proved that Iambic Contameter actually your heart, matches the beats. After you listen to a minute or two somebody doing Iambic Contameter, your heartbeat gets in sync with it. The 10 beats. Dan: Is that right? Dean: Yeah, because it's thumb, you know, and anyway. So I had. I've got a great team member by the name of Alex Barley, and Alex is from the UK, he lives in Toronto but he was actually born in Sherwood. Born and grew up in Sherwood Forest which is an interesting fact. Yeah, sherwood Forest is a big area and then among the trees there's seven little towns and he was born in one of the towns. Dan: And his father actually has. Dean: His father actually has a club that opened in 1604. Dan: So and remember we have. We have someone in strategic culture. Does those forests getaways? Dean: or has Gary Fletcher? He's in Friso. Dan: He's actually yeah, yeah. Dean: Yeah and anyway. So I had him take a chapter that was on unique ability and unique ability teamwork and I had him converted into Iambic Contameter. And it was startling to get it back, because all the ideas are there but the ideas are put together in a different way. And it was just. I just found it fascinating and I said, boy, if I had a really great Shakespearean actor, you know, somebody who could really speak the language and listen to it rather than just, yeah, reading it. So I was talking to Alex about it and I said my favorite would be Richard Birkin, okay, and? And he said, see, I really wouldn't know how to do that. So we went to Mike Canix and Mike knew how to do it. And so Mike gave Alex a couple sites where you could go to and experiment with them. And about two days later from the time of my request to Alex, I got back Richard Burton. And it was Richard Burton, it was totally Richard Burton, and I've listened to it about 15, 15 times, and every time I listen to it it has a greater impact. And I played it for team members and the team members say, boy, I'd like to have that to listen to before I go to bed at night and everything like that. And so I asked him and did it. You know, when you first made the translation, in other words, you had the AI voice he says no, it was just, it was just sort of mechanical. And he says so what I did is I got actual recordings of Richard Burton and I would listen to it and then I would go through and I would change the timing, I would change. And he says I put in some breath intakes and he said I would you know? He says he rushes ahead, then he speeds up, and then he does it's very unpredictable with Richard Burton and he did this all. So it's actually AI times. The craftsman. Dan: That's a. Dean: B percent plus the human craftsman, you know, because a human ear, you know, just has infinitely greater sensitivity to how things actually work than they calculated. You know a mechanical thing and went to it. It went to deliver it evenly. Dan: You know and. Dean: Richard Burton in particular, has the way of making words explode just by saying the word and then he was kind of built a delivery to William Shatner in a way like different. Yeah but I had never put yeah, I'd never put William Shatner and Richard together in my brain, yeah but the interesting thing about it. The interesting thing about it was we've done two chapters now and you could see Alex is getting more inventive and you know, and he's really getting into the poetry and it's in rhyme. So with iambic pentameter. You can have it as prose or you can have it as rhyme and. I said well, since we're going the route of Richard Burton, I should put it in. But I was struck because I'm only going to use this for backstage with coach. I'm only going to use this with, and the Baron of the Four Seasons, valhalla, I might talk to the warlord talk to the warlord there, I mean, because he's almost backstage, anyway, anyway, but it just does something. But what I'm noticing is changing my writing style as I go forward, because I've got that voice in my ear and I'm writing that to sort of meet the voice halfway, you know halfway. Dan: Oh, that's right. Dean: Yeah that it's an easy pick up. I mean I can't talk like that, I don't sound like that and everything, but it's how I am doing. My writing has been changing as I've listened listening to Richard Burton telling me what it sounds like in Shakespeare's age. Dan: This is. You know, a couple of things jump out at me. You know, as you're talking about that and Alex's joy in tinkering, and you know it's a creative act. Using these, using owning technology like a good dog yes, Right. That's really what he's doing there. Dean: Yeah. Dan: And it reminded me of Peter Diamand is talking about these cent powers, the chess masters, paired with an AI that they can override or direct or run things by, or amplify their calculations or confirm their hunches. That's really the way forward, isn't it? It seems like that's the. Dean: Well, what it suggests is that if you're a mechanical human being, this new form of mechanical will wipe you out, but if you decide to take refuge in being creative, they'll probably just offer you a deal. Dan: Yeah, I mean it's interesting, what's there? There are a hybrid for this, like a creative machine or a. I mean there's something here, because even the AI is not doing it on its own. Some people are going to distance themselves. What we've seen mechanics do is distance themselves as a skilled operator of these new advantages. Dean: Yeah, it's really interesting. There was an interesting lab test that was done in the Soviet Union before the collapse of the Soviet Union. It was that they wanted to see if they could turn a fox, turned foxes, into dogs. They could do it through basically two-year generations. In other words, a fox had two years old as a fully grown fox. So you just have a two-year from birth to adulthood and they went through 10 generations where each generation they picked a fox that was more docile, it didn't have aggressive, it wasn't paranoid, it was sort of friendly and docile. And by the 10th generation, the genetic product GMO, had enormous number of dog characteristics. It was friendly, it would come up and it would take dog characteristics and they decided to put the dog fox or the fox dog and an actual dog and they chose I think it was a German shepherd, and they put it through a and this. They had it in the puppy stage, so it was about six to eight months old, and they put it through an obstacle course that they was designed so that the animal couldn't solve it. They would hit a wall where they just couldn't solve it. And it was very interesting that the fox dog, when confronted with the final barrier, just curled up, went feral. He just went into a, wrapped himself up. He was just defeated and he wrapped up. The moment that the dog actually hit the thing he turned around and he searched out his owner and he says hey buddy, hey buddy, I need your help here. Okay, your turn, yeah. And they said they don't know if they can teach that, they don't know if they can. Actually they can genetically. Dan: I was just writing. It's funny when you said that I was writing down nature versus nurture. But what was it that they change it genetically to modify it? But were they also? But they didn't, they couldn't Domesticated it. Dean: They couldn't genetically reproduce the teamwork that's probably part of the inheritance of dogs. In other words, they trace it back 30,000 years since humans domesticated wolves to produce dogs, and that's a lot of generations of canines. And anyway, but it tells me kind of that's why I wrote the book Owning Technology Like a Great Dog is that we've got We've got this 30,000 year experience in the animal stew of kind of working out teamwork with dogs and certain breeds are better, certain breeds are good for this, certain breeds are good for that and we've kind of developed kind of a real deep knowledge. And they can do about 150 different tasks at this stage. Some of them can know as much as a thousand words. If you say a word, they know exactly what it refers to. It always refers to an object. It refers to an activity. They're not high on the concept level, I hope they have a good memory of. Dan: Have you seen those? Yeah, and there's concepts of people setting up all these buttons on their floor that are labeled that a dog can push the yellow thing and it says a single word like walk, and so it knows to push that when it wants to go for a walk or a treat it can push treat, and I wondered about whether that, I mean it, seems real. So you're kind of confirming that they are able to build that kind of vocabulary. Dean: Yeah, there was a professor in, I think, south Carolina. He was near retirement and he was a psychology professor and he just wanted to see how many words and he got sort of a border collie type. Border collies are just super smart and they're super responsive. And he got the dog to a thousand words of everyday objects. The dog you could. He knew all the dog's names, of all the dogs in the neighborhood, and the dog had a very definite opinion about each one of them. Dan: So he said Max. Dean: If he said Max, his tail would wag, and if he said Irving, it would just go. Dan: Doesn't like Irving. Dean: First of all, you know right off the bat that a dog gets named Irving. It probably has a difficult environment. Why would you do that? But Fred Feisman I don't know if you've ever met him. He's a coach client, probably 15 years. Dan: He's in 10 times. Dean: And he was a cowboy in British Columbia for 10 years. Where every May he and another cowboy would take out 3,000 head of cattle and move them through elevations of pasture land. So in British Columbia you can have 4 levels of 4 levels, you know, geological levels, okay, and that would take them out to the high grazing area and then they would gradually bring them in. And so it was Fred. It was a partner and a dog. And I said if you had to lose one of them, the dog or the partner, which one, which one would you lose? He said lose the partner, just me and the dog could take care of all 3,000. Because the dog always knew which steer was the lead steer and would get the lead steer. He also knew the route. He also knew the route and plus he checked for predators like wolves, coyotes, bears and everything else, and you know, would you apply? Dan: Why are tigers? Dean: and bears. Oh my yeah. Dan: Yeah. Dean: And so, but it was really interesting. He said a great trail dog is it's you know. He says you can't put a price on how good they are, but they're not doing anything more than they were taught. Dan: Right, yeah, that's interesting. I just got my. I got a I bought with my copy of how they use technology like a good dog. I don't own technology like a good dog, so I'm looking forward to reading it. I mean, yeah, that's really about Gotten to dive in there. Dean: Ownership. I mean, it's not a question of owning technology or owning your dog you actually own your rights, right, yeah, and you know, it's really about ownership more than it's about dogs or technology. You know, but the big thing is that I think that in learning how to interact with AI, we're going to learn about learn a lot about what human intelligence actually is. I think we're going to learn more from this interaction than we've learned from all the psychological studies possible, because it's going to be interactive all the time against the best result, you know, and correspondingly, I mean we'll have more knowledge about it, but more knowledge about us will be built into the programming of the AI. Dan: Have you seen anything recently that has wowed you or changed your opinion about the usefulness or the future of AI? Like this, like in terms of sounds, like your Richard Burton experience has shaped some new enthusiasm. Dean: Well, what I get is that all the breakthroughs will be specific. It'll be individual and specific. So right now I don't know how many in the first two or three months, you know, plugged into chat, gpt, and then, of course, there's hundreds of other there's hundreds of others, specialized AI, and my sense is that it's transforming the world, but there would be no overview on how that's happening, because it's happening in a hundred million different situations in a different way. Dan: So if anything so the ability to have an oversight or an overview of this, I think it was impossible on day one, yeah, and it reminded me of like, as I was kind of reflecting on it is I mean the use that I'm using of. Dean: Who would think of that? And right, there wouldn't be anyone else, that would even well. If, why would you do that? And I said I found it kind of neat. Dan: Yeah, you know I was looking at it, thinking back on like this, as one of the major things of the big change of 1975 to 2025 that. Ai as the platform. I don't know whether platform is the right word or what it is just like. Television was a. That was the big capability that was brought and started out with. You know, just the ability to, you know, have the three national channels and broadcast things. But in the earliest stages of television, nobody really knew what to do with it in, in that they were just bringing radio to television. They were re-enacting, like turn the camera on and do radio theater. Dean: Yeah yeah, I mean, I remember the 1950s sort of programs that were kind of dramatic and they'd have the opening of the curtain. They'd have the opening of the curtains, you know, and because they well, they're putting on a show. Dan: So what do you do? Dean: Well, you, but yeah, and. But here's the thing that the networks were still networks that were broadly shared, you know they were in competition with each other. But it was. You were on one network, you're on the network, I think, with you're on a billion different networks you know, and each of them each of the networks is being uniquely custom designed for particular purposes by particular people for you know, and everything like that, and my sense is the whole notion that there's going to be an overarching system like Facebook or something like that. I don't see that happening. Dan: I mean. Dean: I'm guessing embedding. And you know, I'm guessing embedding, just like everyone else. But I don't really care how other people are using it, I only care how I'm going to use it. Dan: Yeah yeah, yeah, I think that's and you probably got. You've probably cornered the market on turning thinking tools into Richard Burton. Readings of Iambic pentameter. Dean: Yeah, you know, I want to see if anybody's trailing me, and I haven't picked up on anything so far. Dan: It's a blue ocean strategy. Dean: Yeah, the other one we're doing. I don't know if you know Joe Stolti. He's. Joe is the runner of the. You know, the AI newsletter that Evan Pagan and Peter Diamand. Dan: Yeah, yeah, yeah, Joe 100K yeah. Yeah. Dean: So I met, I met Joe at 100K and he just said what it will do, and so we've been going. Now I think we've got 12 episodes out and they do an interview with you online. You know thought leadership, other people you like, articles you like and everything else. And then they keep fine tuning what it is that you really want. But our last we've had in the last seven episodes we've had five of them with more than an 80% open rate for the entire issue. And then, and we had one I had one interview. It was a podcast interview with Mike Canix. We got a 95% open rate. Okay. Dan: That's wild. Dean: And it takes no work on our part. It creates the issue you know, so it gives you the results from your previous issue and then it shows you what the next issue is, based on the rates of the last issue. But, you're learning a lot about what we're learning a lot about what people really like listening to and what they like. You know, so it's an interesting thing. Dan: And he's great to work with. Dean: I really like him and his team. So yeah, it's called dailycom, I think it's called dailycom. Okay, yeah, it's great, yeah, it's great, and I mean we'll put out probably. Dan: Well, you like the idea of not having to do anything. That's happening. That's pretty good Well it's all existing creativity. Dean: A lot of it is existing articles that's existing. So we're repurposing I mean, we're getting a repurpose out of existing articles and all the content is original content. Dan: You know I love that I'm just realizing that's for guessing and betting people's fondness for things that do the things they would like to do, especially if it's things that they would do if they could count on them to do it. You know, that's kind of a there's a good thing there. We recently in my Go agent world here our realtor we've launched the new real estate accelerator program. Where we're actually doing it's a who, not how, model of implementing the listing agent lifestyle elements in someone's business. So I've created that framework of the you know core five things that people you know the bankable results that they can get referrals and multiply their listings, get convert leads, find buyers, get listing. Those things I've got you know core programs and shortcuts and programs for them to do them. I was having in conversation with Diane, the who kind of runs that division with me, she I was saying you know, what we've been doing is we've been selling gym memberships essentially to Go agent, where we've got all of the stuff, all the tools, all the IP, everything you need to implement it, and you just come on in and access it and do what you do what you want, and we observe that very few people you know actually do the stuff that we know, this is the secret sauce of gym memberships 40% never go up. They pay for the whole year and never show up once. That's exactly so. We're running that same model and for someone you know, I like to see people get the results, you know. And so I've been doing these you know workshops where I thought, okay, we'll do these implementation workshops where we'll spend you know five weeks and we'll do a weekly session on each of the things as like a booster to get you focused on here's what to do, kind of thing. And I observed we've done that for a year and realized that improves the, that improves the implementation, but still overwhelmingly people are not able to rally themselves to do the things that they know to do. And so we decided, well, what if we just did it for them? And I recorded a video. I said you know? I said you know, I realized that I would be a really great real estate VA if I came to work for you and did all the things that I know in your business. And I said I know how to. I've been spending 35 years putting all of these pieces together and I know exactly what to do. And I went through and I outlined here's what I would do if I came into your business, because I realized that really we could implement all of it in somebody's business with one synchronous 30 minute, you know, check in at a fixed time with somebody that would then see, you know, three to five hours of implementation in a week, kind of thing for it and I was sharing it that it's like having a personal trainer instead of just a gym membership. You're meeting a personal trainer at the gym and the difference is that we're going to do the six, the sit ups, and you're going to get the six pack. That's really how the difference and every single person I've talked to, dan is on board with this, because of course you're selling the reward. We do the sit ups, you get the six pack. Dean: Yeah, you're selling the. You're selling the impact without the effort. Dan: Exactly right. Dean: Yeah, that's cool. Yeah, yeah but you know there's still. I bet, if you work out your percentages, even that people won't go for. You know, because they have an escape from fantasy land about who they are and what they want to achieve. You know, one of the things that Peter Diamanas has the sixties regarding the digital revolution you know digitize the deceptive, the demonetization, dematerialization. There's democratization yeah, yeah well as the sixth one, I'm saying yeah, it's democratization in that the possibility as democratic, the utilization follows the same as anything that 10% will outdo 90%. Dan: Yeah, I think that's true. You know there's so many everybody. That's a really interesting thing that there's just like in truth. You know, in political democracy there's opportunity, but not everybody takes advantage of it. Everybody has the opportunity to have a YouTube channel and reach the entire world, but there's only one, mr B. Dean: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, and you know, he's number two in the YouTube world. I think there's somebody who's got more. I don't know who it is, but he's got the last one. I heard 201 million subscribers, followers 201 million. Dan: Yeah, I think he's the number one individual. I think, yeah, yeah. Dean: Yeah, yeah. Well, it's very interesting. You know the good for a young guy. You know, yeah, exactly, yeah, yeah, you know he's got a future, this guy. He's going places, you know you can tell him almost right away. He can tell him almost. you just get a feel Anyway the but the thing that I'm talking about, you know, I mean, the thing that I'm feeling is that I had a line one day. Peter Diamonis and I were going back and forth and he was talking about the future this, the future that, and I said you know what I've noticed about the future? When you get there, it feels normal. Dan: Yes. Dean: Huh, as a matter of fact, it doesn't arrive until you've normalized it. Dan: Yeah, can you say more about that, because that led you to that Well we don't like abnormal. Dean: Humans don't like abnormal. They like normal. Okay, and if you're asking them to do something new, that's different. Uh you have to show them how to go through a normalization process where they get used to it. You know they get used to it and that's why I've been noticing that tech. Every company right now has to appoint a chief AI officer. A chief AI officer Ooh Dean, where would this person be? You know, I mean, where would this person? I mean, I mean, do you even have room or space for a chief AI officer? Okay, and I said no. I said why don't you just bring in somebody smart who shows your entire team how they particularly, and what they're doing can do this or that or this and this and let them lose, you know, and see what comes out of it and see what comes out of it? And why don't you just have self-empowered you know, self-empowered team members, you know in person or virtual, you know, or remote, and just have them say, you know is, where could, what's the 20% that if you could get rid of it, which is it still needs to get done, what would it be? And then say, well, there's an AI program that can do this, or is an AI program do this. They get that 20% done. They say, well, what's the next 20%? And just keep them going for 50 years. Dan: Yeah, and that's what. That's the approach. Dean: We don't have a chief AI officer. First of all, we don't have anyone who's called chief and we don't have anyone who's called officer, because that sounds like had chief officer, you know, I think the Gestapo had chief something officer, you know, you know, and everything. I don't like cheap something officer, I just don't like the sound of it. Dan: That's not good for anybody. Dean: Oh, you know, right off the bat I get the willies. Dan: That's funny. Yeah, let's say so. How? What are you doing in that, then? Do you have someone whose role is helping the team become a no, we brought in Evan Ryan. Dean: He did a six module course how to think it through and then he's off and running, you know, and he checks in and you know with the latest stuff of if they're doing this and they can look at that. So we have. You know, we have a already operating system in the company that's called unique ability teamwork. You know, everybody's in their unique ability and everybody's doing a different aspect of necessary activity in the company and they're all coordinating with each other. So it's virtually impossible for us to have a chief something officer, because that's not the way the company works. Dan: Right, not a hierarchy. Dean: It's not a hierarchy, it's a network. Dan: Yeah, that's interesting, I mean. Dean: I'm not even. I'm not even chief. It's just that Dan has certain unique abilities. He's really good at coming up with new stuff. So where do you get, you know, any, especially new stuff that's offered to the public and we get paid for it, you know. Right so you know, you know, I'm not a boss in any meaningful way, except I'm the one to define what the next projects are. Yeah, but oh hefe Right, yeah, I think corporations are going to have real hard time with this. I think anything that's a hierarchy and because there's one person at the top and there's a lot of middle people down to the bottom and I get a sense it's useful at the very top and it's used at the very, but in the middle I think all those jobs are fair game to get rid of. Dan: Have you been following Salim? Well, not new, but kind of expansion on the exponential organizations, like you're seeing. Dean: Yeah, I spent two days with him and you know, 100K? Yeah, because we were out to dinner on Friday night and we were sitting together and talking about it. But you know, the model is from my standpoint. It's a big organization model. It's not really. I mean because you got about 13 things that you have to check off and you and I personally are done after three. Dan: Right, yeah, it requires somebody who's like it almost feels like just achieve an exponential. That's what I was just going to say. Yeah, yeah it almost needs to be, I mean. Dean: I like Salim's a great guy to talk to. Yeah great thing. But I think he gets the big bucks from the big corporations. I don't think he gets the. You know he doesn't get the money like we get the money at the, not from entrepreneurs right, we're street level. Dan: We're street level. Men are the people really? Yeah, we're house lawyers. Oh, my goodness, it's so fun again. You know I get such joy out of that. You know, like the I've been. You know I go to a cafe here called Honeycomb Bread Bakers and they you know one of you learn the crowd and the people there was. There used to be a coffee shop called N plus, one which was the yeah yeah, so I would go there all the time and N plus, that was pre COVID, wasn't it? Dean: That was pre COVID. Dan: And yeah, and during COVID. Dean: Yeah, let's say kind of hit the wall during. Dan: They didn't really recover from that in terms of it being a profitable business. They were attached to their bike shop, which was the main, and the idea is invite. Yeah, the idea was N plus one is the equation, for you know how many coffees should you have, which is N equal the number of coffees you've had today Plus one. That's how many. Dean: And so I got to know the owner, Peter Zion, was saying that when you lived on a farm you had as many children as you could plus one. And somebody asked him well, what's the plus one for? To know that you've had too many. Same thing with coffee, I think. Dan: You know, the fun thing is that riding a bicycle is a decidedly mainland adventure and they serve an area and the 15 mile zone. What are you calling it? The bubble. Dean: you know, and do they have like bike paths and everything? Dan: Oh, there's like paths all over Winterhaven. Yeah, lots of great places. But, so over coffee a couple of weeks ago he was asking for some marketing advice. Like think I mean to ramp things up. I went through this concept of you know the before, the during and the after unit and you know largest check and I could ask you know what's the best if I could just line people up the door right now? Who would you want? What would what's the highest margin thing? And it was eBikes is the thing. Yeah, I said so. I have a learning that I've had from working with a bathroom boutique client in Miami and I've learned from doing this that putting a catalog together is a really great lead generator. Right Objective data is all, rather than trying to convince people that they should buy a bike and put there because they were running ads that were like, hey, where's the bike shop? Here we are, we're in Winterhaven and you know bikes are great kind of thing. Getting their name out there and I shared with him the concept of and value of getting their name in here rather than getting your name out there. Let's get the names, let's gather the names of everybody who's interested in e-bikes and I proposed putting together this e-bike catalog with them, and so we did that. We put that on my Facebook. I put up the ads forum and we're generating e-book our e-bike catalog downloads for $1.66 each. So he said to him like you put this in the thing it's like for let's just give some room for improvement for our cost of the ads to go up. But let's say that we can get 100 people to metaphorically raise their hand and say, hey, I'm interested in an e-bike for $150. We can get 100 of them to raise their hand and his average margin on an e-bike is around $600 to $700. And so it doesn't take many of those to engage with and them to buy a bike. It's kind of funny. It's like that I still I get as much joy out of that as doing something with a big national company that's got. Dean: I think the big thing that I'm getting and this is not going cloud landing discussion is you're growing understanding of exactly who you want to talk to and the continual evolution of people knowing exactly who they want to hear Actually, who they want to hear and that bypasses an incredible amount of bureaucracy, I mean if you think about the sheer amount of bureaucracy In my sense, is that the current extreme polarization in what's called polarization, political polarization and cultural polarization, is that I think that the probably three or four generations who took the root of high education, so in other words, starting in nursery school, they were competing to get into a great kindergarten and compete to get into a great primary school, to get into a great university, to get into a great high school which got you to the university and the graduate school, that they're imperiled. I think that they're imperiled. On the other hand, an 18 year old who, after graduation with no thought of university at all takes a 10 week welding certification course, is making anywhere between 60 and 100,000 at the end of the, and he's the buyer or she's the buyer. She's the buyer because and probably you know within 10 years they're making a million. They're making a million and they're bypassing the higher education. All because the higher education is about abstractions, but AI is about extreme specificity. It's about extreme specificity and I think that a lot of the uprising on universities and the polarization and the cancel culture is they don't want to hear news about anything else except what they've been promised lies at the end of the rainbow the abstraction rainbow, and it's just a general unsettling. You know and and I mean think about it you were in school from four years old to, let's say, 26 years old and have run up. I mean it cost you an incredible amount if you could pay for it, or it cost you an incredible amount and you know loans and you're a quarter million, or 400, a quarter million, or you're $400,000 in debt when you graduate. Dan: Yeah, yeah. Dean: And then you learn that there's a new technology that's just going to make everything you did for the last 22 years irrelevant, including you. Dan: Yeah, yeah, right, right, right. Dean: So my sense is that it's the middle white collar, you know the whole middle white collar, part of the economy that's going to get clobbered but not at the high end, where people are really creative, or at the end, where people are really handy. You know where people are really handy. Dan: I think that they're completely safe, even things like you know legal associates, like people who are, you know, in big law firms. You know the first session year both the involved do, slaving away in the library looking up case law. Dean: Yeah, or contract contract, you know, yeah, and I mean there's somebody that a test of a particular deed on a particular property in another state that required about inputs from about seven different things, which generally takes about three and a half to four weeks to get the whole three, and the AI program did it in like 15 minutes start to finish and it was completely accurate and I mean it was really really sort of had involved and it's blessed entry. Dan: Very well. So what do these have? Like the Pretty amazing, isn't it? I mean well, like we're living in the future, it's we're normalizing that. Dean: Well, we're normalizing it on an individual basis, we're not normalizing it on a group basis. Dan: Yeah, yeah, I think that it's only the front runners you mean that are Seeing that? Dean: no, it's just an alert, curious, responsive, resourceful individual who's got a particular thing in mind. And they found those new way of multiplying their Productivity, multiplying their profitability you know and you know. So yeah, but see, everybody I had, I was, we were in Chicago last week and we have a G, you know, in general practice she's an internist and she's our. Chicago doorway to any kind of specialty that we need, you know, specialty medicine. And she's going concierge November oh nice tonight and and Because we've been with her for about 15 years, you know and. I can tell that the weight of the Disease management Industry is weighing down on her. Dan: We don't have a healthcare system. Dean: What we have is a disease management. Right you know and and so, and I could tell she was lighter. I mean, she's had this light, energetic feel about her and welcome to the entrepreneurial world. You know, welcome. I said you get paid for what you ask. You know you get paid for what you asked. And she says well, you know, I'm really worried about the fact that the people who Don't have the access to you and I said you were worried about that before, I said 99.9% of you didn't have access to you you know, before this happened, including you didn't have access to you before this. Now you get access to you and I said that's the only change here. And I said there but You're going to get pickier and pickier about who gets to see you and everything. And I said it's just very natural. And she says yeah, but the whole system, I mean how? I said her name's on me and I said I mean there is no system, the biggest, there are 10 million systems and you're one of them. You're a planet, planet, I said. The biggest fallacy is this is industrial thinking from 1900 to 1950, that there's a system, there is no system. You know, and I said there there are no systems, there's just. There's just connected local neighborhoods. Dan: So you're what you're saying really reminds me of of Ray Dalio's you know understanding of the market and saying how you know the way we talk about the auto market, what that really is just an aggregate Construct of all the individual micro transactions. Oh yeah one person buying one car, and you're saying the same, that I feel that Same way that there's no system. The system is just made up, yeah, of this aggregate of the individual micro transactions between one person with Very precise medical needs, seeking them from one person. Dean: Yeah. Yeah, yeah and the it's like climate. There is no climate people said yeah, and I said the climate is just a 360 day average of what the temperatures were. You know, yeah, and what the precipitation was and what the wind was, every day being entirely different from the other 364 and in order to get some sense of it. You call it, you average it and we got to have a name for that, so they call it climate. There is no climate, there's just a lot of temperature, right right right. There's just a lot of weather. I've only experienced weather. I've never experienced climate. Dan: Climate is this. Dean: System weather is reality. Yeah, so I think the whole notion of systems, you know, you know, I mean there's some big tools which are being used in common, but you know, like, the dollar is the reserve currency rate you know, and and everything else, but everybody's using dollars differently. They're using dollars for different reasons. You know and, and or English, the English language, and there's no uniparty around the world. There's about a hundred different versions of English. You know because it's it's the one language that you can get along Extremely well-speaking, badly. Dan: That's funny. Yeah, yeah, true, can't do that with can't do that with French. Dean: I can tell you, you can't do that with French. Yeah, but that's the language of romance. Yeah, so why did you get out of this? I mean, we windered a bit today, which is our favorite activity Absolutely. Dan: I think that's. I think that's fantastic. I haven't thought about the relationship between the system and the market in that parallel way that Ray Dalio and I think that really, you know it does come down to you know, being able that's really what it is being able to use whatever means to get an outcome for People. You know I'm bullish about the future here. Dean: Yeah, now I'm just trying to think I can do it next week, because, no, I can't do it next week. I'm on my way to Nashville next week. So I but I can do it two weeks from now and I'll be in Buenos Aires, argentina. Dan: Okay. I will be here and I will be anxious to hear about your Buenos Aires experience. Will you have had the experience? When we talk? Dean: No, will you? Dan: be there. Dean: We got an overnight flight on Saturday Okay, weeks from now and and then it starts on Monday, so I'll this would be the. We're two hours ahead of you, so time-wise, buenos Aires is two hours ahead of where you are future and, yeah, all of South. Here's an interesting thing about you know where London Ontario is. Of course, because yeah lived halfway there. But anyway all of South America sits east of London, Ontario. Yeah wild right, you think it's underneath. North, I know it isn't it that goes way to the east? Actually, brazil is only a thousand miles from Africa. That's crazy. Yeah, two-hour flight from. Africa to Brazil. Dan: Yeah anyway, well then, I will be here with bells on and I will look forward to it. Dean: You know what? And we're both ten quick starts. We're both ADD. And that's a prescription. That's a prescription for no system. That's exactly right. Dan: They're like holy so all right. Okay, two weeks for me. Okay, okay, bye, bye, bye you.

In today's episode of Welcome to Cloudlandia, we discuss some intriguing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on our lives and businesses. We explore the shift to virtual platforms like Zoom and the concept of "Cloudlandia," drawing comparisons to changes brought about by historical pandemics. Dan and I consider opportunities that can emerge from unexpected times. Our discussion ranges from societal shifts driven by technologies in the past to possibilities of the future.   SHOW HIGHLIGHTS Dean talks about the transformative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, including transitioning from live events to digital platforms, and the potential opportunities arising from these changes. Dan brings historical context to the discussion, comparing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic to historical events such as the Black Plague and the Roman Empire. We explore the power of technology and how it has reshaped society, from cars to cable TV, and the upcoming "golden plateau" in technological advancements. We delve into the world of virtual coaching and how the pandemic has highlighted its untapped potential. Dan discusses the human nature and how it remains constant throughout history, reflecting on significant technological changes in the 20th century and their effects on society. We consider the concept of a "golden plateau" in technological advancements, discussing the impact on our lives and how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected our reliance on technology. Dean shares his experience with transitioning to virtual workshops and how Zoom meetings might herald a new era in history. Dan shares a fascinating narrative about twin sisters born in Germany before the Berlin Wall, exploring their life choices, and their adaptation to a rapidly changing world, underscoring the intersection of history, capitalism, and technology. We discuss the concept of normalization, how individuals adapt differently to new situations, and how we've navigated the trials and triumphs of life during the pandemic. Dan offers insights into how the shift from serfdom in England during the Black Plague led to a greater appreciation of workers' value, and how this historical perspective may shed light on our current situation. Links: WelcomeToCloudlandia.com StrategicCoach.com DeanJackson.com ListingAgentLifestyle.com TRANSCRIPT (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors) Dean: Mr Sullivan. Dan: Do you realize that the recordings of everything we say are being analyzed right now at the National Security Agency? Dean: I bet that's true, don't doubt this for a minute. Dan: It's the best part of their week. Dean: Hey guys, they're back Down the road. That's funny. Dan: They don't think it's funny. Dean: Oh man. Well, how are you after our absence last week? Dan: Yeah, yeah, it's been great. You know things are company-wise. It's our best year ever, top line and bottom line, oh look at you Congratulations. That's exciting. Given where we were two, three years ago, this feels good. That was a long time underwater, yeah boy, oh boy. Dean: Me too, I mean. Much like you, the majority of a lot of my income came from live events, like during my break through the blue 20 events and stuff like that. So yeah, it's weird, I'm just talking about it the other day that you know what was kind of this last year. It's almost coming up on 2021, 22 to almost four full years, right, yeah? Dan: next. Dean: If you think 20 was when it started, right. So yeah, almost all yeah, here almost all of 2023. But I look at the last three, it's been a blur. This last seems like just yesterday. We were in Phoenix at the Free Zone Summit. Dan: At the Boulder, yeah, at the Boulder, it wasn't shut down. Dean: But I think what was really, what really threw me off was we nobody knew how long this was going to last and every I just felt like, okay, well, we'll just kind of flatten the curve, this will go out through the summer and then by the fall we'll be back and everything should be fine, but I'm sure you were thinking that same thing and then, as soon as we flattened the curve, then we kept getting the new you know the new waves, and that went on, like you know, three, three or four times. So weird. Dan: So let me ask you a question what's the biggest idea you've had? Only because you went through what happened over the last three years, three, four years. Dean: I think the whole idea of Cloudlandia really formed then. Because that when I realized that the key is that we could just as easily gather in Cloudlandia and that I shifted everything from being kind of a mainland in-person business to being 80% mainland in-person, 20% on the phone or otherwise, and that was a big realization, and now realize, like I really I haven't been North of I4, interstate 4. I've been North of I4 in four years. I haven't had to. I've 100% migrated to Cloudlandia with invitations and you know people coming to. If they want to spend time in the mainland they come to. But so that was a big that was a big shift. And we're back now to. So I'm back now, you know, revenue wise, back to pre-COVID days, you know. But then we got. You know, I think that the future is a hybrid, you know, I think there's still lots of mainland opportunities, I think, that line of thinking, that realization of mainland in Cloudlandia, and you know the roles of each. Dan: You know it's really interesting. I did a lot of in-person workshops because I was doing the 10 times program beforehand, but this year I'll do 64 coaching sessions. Okay. Dean: Live days, you mean. Dan: Well, live events, so they're not days, sorry. So I'll do 64 this year, and only eight of them will be in person. Dean: Oh, okay, that's what I was saying, that's what I meant. So you're counting like connector calls Connector. Dan: Yeah. Dean: Okay, yeah. And the thing about it I think are a nice suite. Those are two hours. Two hours yeah. Dan: Yeah, those are the perfect suite spot. Yeah, and it was forced upon us only because we had no. There's nothing as decisive as no alternative, absolutely. Dean: Yeah, I hear you, I'm really excited. Dan: But once we created this alternative when we came back to full-time, I mean, the company as a whole is back to full-time live sessions, yeah, and. But we've added these two-hour sessions, which were only possible because our clients at nightbase got on to Zoom willingly or not, they got on to Zoom. And it was so useful creating these little two-hour sessions. That's a huge plus, that's a huge gain for us to have them and they're an entity into themselves. You know they have their own value and would not have gone there for two reasons. One there was no reason to. And secondly, there was no, there was no ability to, but we acquired this capability because of what happened. I was reading the history of the plague, which was not a single thing. It was a series. Of this is I'm talking about the 1200s and 13-legs, right, yeah? On the Black Plague and it hit in the early part of. It hit worse in England of all the European countries and got hit worse. And England was a feudal country. They had warlords and they had serfs. They had peasants, the king was warlord and there were lesser warlords, but each of them had their serf universe around them, and these were the worker bees. They did all the work and the plague was an equal opportunity killer. It killed from top to bottom. There was no class in England that was immune to the plague, because it was infectious, because they intermingled all the time. Everybody was densely populated and it was so devastating that a lot of estates just folded up, a lot of warlord estates folded up because they didn't have workers. They didn't have workers. They had lost so many workers. So what happened is that the workers realized suddenly that they had a value, in other words, that you can't run the place without us. And so they started wandering the field to the highest buyer, the person who would pay them the most and give them the best deal. So in history. it's probably the biggest shift of servants becoming three agents and where they went off the land and they went into the towns. They went into the city and they became hired workers. But they could name their price, because if they didn't like the price, they could go to somebody else and say would you offer me a higher price? And what happened is that the merchant classes suddenly became more important than the landed aristocrats. Okay, because they had business coming in. Where the land has one economic system, it's the crops. And they just decided you know, I couldn't do that. But previous to the plague they were condemned to the land, they were condemned to their occupation. They were condemned to the land, they didn't move. But after the plague they did. And so England which got hit the worst I think they had five plagues in a period of 50 or 60 years and all equally devastating. But they gained the most of the country because they got rid of serfdom in the 1200s where, for example, by comparison, in Russia it didn't happen until the beginning of the 20th century and Germany didn't happen until 1850. Okay, and it was just because of the peculiar geography and the peculiar density of the British population. And then they started talking about rights. They started talking about individual rights and everything along with employment, and freedom follows money. But I was just thinking about that, what it must have been like the year before the first plague and the year after the fifth plague. What had happened to people's lives back then? Dean: I mean it's so fascinating to me, Dan, because I remember in college and high school Western civ classes were like get through that and write your Gordon Rule essay and we've gone with it. And here it wasn't really like figuring out of the supply to you. To me as a college kid, that's what you're thinking, but now it's. The thing that fascinates me is this whole history of Western civilization, of how we kind of came into this thing. There's a funny meme going around on TikTok right now where women ask their husbands or boyfriends or whatever how often do you think about the Roman Empire? The meme is to turn your camera on and just ask your husband or whatever how often do you think about the Roman Empire? And it's pretty interesting because the answers that they're giving like a lot of them, are think about it all the time and you think about how much it came from. You know, came from. Dan: And they didn't know, and the way they didn't know. Yeah, exactly, yeah, exactly. That's what are they thinking? About they're thinking about the Roman Empire. That's the Roman Empire. Now, that shocks me actually. Dean: But you strike me as a guy who often thinks about the Roman Empire, you know. Dan: Yeah, I do. Dean: Not many people, dan, I don't know anybody else to have a conversation that starts up. You know I've been thinking about the Black Plague lately. Yeah, only here, welcome to the Blue Land, because you hear such a conversation, that is you know, we just had about five. Dan: We just had about five tripwires at the National Security Agency. But if we didn't know, that the majority of husbands were thinking about the Roman Empire you know, it's kind of like when have we been? We didn't pick up on this Right. What's that mean? Dean: Yeah, but you know the interests that they were giving was. You know one? A couple of the guys were engineers and they constantly thinking about you know the. Roman Empire thinking about others are the one guy's. They was a martial artist. Thinking about the Roman, you know gladiators and Like constantly thinking about all things. The Rome, you know and it's funny because you're, you know. You look at your Euclid, you know yeah, I'm before the Roman your foundational thing. Dan: Right, exactly, but I mean, I mean actually if there was any Civilization that benefited from Euclid, it was the Romans. They were great builders. Yeah, you know, yeah, and all that depended upon the books of Euclid, every everything that they did. Yeah, well, it's an interesting thing. You know, I have a constant belief that human nature is a constant in the. I mean, we tend to think that people are radically different because of the means that they use at one particular era of you know history from another side that well, that that means they were really different people, and I said I don't think they are. I think they have a constant. You know they have a constant motivation to kind of utilize whatever they have available to them, and Oftentimes that requires that they have to create an entirely new structures and new processes, and and so the so you know, I don't feel, you know like I was born in the 40s, I lived, you know, I was conscious beginning in the 50s and my sense is that, as far as how people were, you know what human nature was, I don't see much of a difference. I certainly don't see it in myself, you know, I just sample of one feel any different. Dean: I Think I still. Dan: I'm very much in touch who I was when I was eight years old. Dean: Yeah, me too. Yeah, I think about that a lot like that, because I have been and we've had conversations about the reflection on. You know, I think you know we've had to be the ages your 22 years older. Than me that you've had a whole mother. You know generation of, you know the experience from 1944 to 1966 with the pretty. That's a pretty, yeah, that's a lot of happen. You know, yeah. Yeah, and I look at the. You know the 22 years from 1966 to 88 were really. I marked 1988 as basically the end of the analog life. You know that that the beginning of the digital live, and though digital stuff kind of start happening in 70s, there was a real practical here. We started getting real practical applications of digital stuff. But that first 22 years of my life was Really analog and I'm thankful that I had that experience, because I think there's something you know to that. I don't know whether it, I don't know practically, whether what we you know the fondness that I feel for either Nostalgic or you know, but it was a different, it was a different world. Dan: It was a very different world yeah. Yeah, well, going on that book, the, you know the big change you know, yeah, from the book, wonderful book that you sent me, which I consume. You know the. I was born right at the payoff period of the first 50 years. Dean: You know yeah. Dan: That's it. Yeah and you know I've been talking to people decades older than myself who had gone through the real huge impact of the you know, the cars, the electricity, the you know light everywhere. You know movies, radio, movies, radio and the beginning of television. You know that and you know, you know I mean. I remember People gathering in rooms to watch this thing called television. You know, I remember you know it was like a big event. Dean: We just got our television. Dan: come on over, we're going to have a buffet dinner and we're all going to sit around and watch our. Dean: TV dinners and jiffy pop popcorn, yeah, yeah. Dan: It was rudimentary, I mean, but the big thing about it was it had a liveliness to it because the Programs were not recorded, they were live. No, everything was still live. And you know and think about where we are now. That Live TV. Well, first of all, I don't watch it in the heaven for a while. But I think a lot of people just said why should they schedule when I get to watch what I want? Dean: Well, it seems a little undignified. Dan: Yeah, it seems it seems feudal Feudal in both senses of the word. Dean: Yeah, what a feudal way of doing what I want to watch, you know, but you think about that was largely there was no change between the way you were watching television in 1948 and the way you were watching television in 1988. It was really the main. It was still as Scheduled you had to be yeah, you had maybe one more. Dan: You had maybe one more channel, you know I went to. Cnn start. Well then you had the cable. Yeah, that's what I mean. Dean: At the 80s you had more options for it. Yeah, but it wasn't until it wasn't until the late 80s that you had more option. I mean, the VCR brought a synchronicity and, yeah, freed you from at least you could shoot, gave you choice and Detached from the scheduling of it. But nobody could figure out how to Record stuff. Yeah it was a look. You know, 90% of the VCRs were still flashing 12 yeah, you know nobody can even program the clock for it, let alone Learn how to record Programs. You know so mostly. You had Blockbuster to go and give yourself some Choice, but that took from 1948 to 1988 to get to that point. And that big middle, that big Golden plateau, that I think that's a good term for it. Right, is that golden? Dan: plateau of. 0:18:39 - Dean: All of those things being in place. That happened in the big change. All those things you mentioned electric and on radio, tv, movies, flight, automobile, all of those things climb, climb, exponential improvement to 1950. And then we had that golden plateau where there wasn't much innovation on those things but it was really settled into a much improved life and life style Because of those things. You know now every I had electricity, air conditioning, telephone, car in the driveway, pv in the living room. You know All of those things were. That was like the basic, that was the basic amenity package for American life circa 1950 to 1980, you know, yeah, and that's bathroom bathroom is where there was no bath and no shower. Dan:Yeah, right exactly. Dean: Very funny that the thing now and this is where I firmly believe that period from 1975 to two-week years of AI, a couple more years to develop, with that same sort of climbing, climbing, exponential improvement in things. But I think that we're approaching level golden plateau, where the next thing is going to be settled into the benefits of using all the things that we have now, of really settling into those utilization of this new baseline, like every home. Now it's interesting that the basic amenity package for life now includes some sort of a smart phone, access to the internet and streaming smart television service. So all of that as the baseline package, though for the digital plateau here. Dan: Yeah. Dean: It's pretty exciting. Dan: Yeah, and I feel that, and I think that World Affairs are dictating that this is now going to be the only thing available for people to do, because my feeling is that COVID delivered a first stunning blow to both your ability and your desire to travel. I think people are much more at home or stay in place today than they were four years ago around the world. I'm not just in North America, but in the whole world. Dean: That geography does come into place, right, like your position, your outpost, your mainland outpost to Cloudlandia, like I think about I've just been watching you know, with just a perplexing. I can't even imagine what it's like to be living in Israel right now, like that entire, or Ukraine I mean you think about these things how insulated we are right now from the reality. Dan: Well, like there's one aspect. You know, israel comparatively has a very small population. That's why the equivalent of what happened with the first 24 to 48 hours was way beyond what 9-11 did to the United States. Dean: Absolutely yeah. Dan: Yeah, because it's the equivalent of 40,000, you know if you compare. Israeli population of the US. You know, the US's population is 45 times bigger than Israel. So the 3,000 out of 40, you know, 45 times it's significant, but it's, you know, it's not that big, it's like 40,000, I mean, if you wanted to translate it, it's like, you know, it's like 40 to 50,000 people have died. But the other thing is the call up to war, because it is a declared war. They've moved 300,000 working-age people into the military, now their full-time military. So what's that do to the economy? you know what's you know, and so my sense is that Israel, which is a very advanced technological country, is now going to go through an amazing period of artificial intelligence, dealt with everything that moves in their economy. Dean: Yeah, I mean when you amplify too, especially the proximity to it. When you look at the, you know it might be a 145th of the population, but it's also, you know, a hundredth or less of the geographic area of the. United States, you know. Dan: Yeah, it's basically New Jersey you know, I mean the land area of New Jersey is about equal to and they're comparable yeah, yeah and when you look at that and you realize that's not like even in Ukraine. Dean: As you know the size of the Ukraine, if you're you know kind of there's a place to distance from what's going on the eastern border of Ukraine. If you're on the western side you're kind of a little bit insulated from it. But you know, it's just. It's amazing to me, dan. I can't even imagine. Dan: Yeah, well, you know actually my experience of this because I was, you know, technically in a war zone when I was in South Korea. Dean: I was going to say you were in a war zone. Yeah. Dan: Well, south Korea, and we were maybe a hundred miles from the DMZ, okay, uh-huh, but you were conscious and we had five alerts in the year and a half that I was there and that meant there was an incursion on the DMZ, the demilitarized zone. I can tell you the demilitarized zone is very militarized, you know, and so there would be, you know, a squad of American troops or the other UN troops would be ambushed. You know they would ambush, and immediately the country you know, and this was the military, the US Park, you know 40, 45,000, and then you had. You know you had other troops, the Turks, the Turkish. The Turks had a big contingent there, but immediately you knew what to do, you would do that. So in Israel they've had the rocket attacks now going back seven or eight years. Okay, and they immediately the sirens go off. Everybody knows what to do. So there I was, that the closer you are to the danger, the less scary it seems, because it's normal, you've normalized anything. And three or four days, you've normalized the situation. Okay, you've normalized it. Seeing it from a distance, you know you're imagining what that situation would do to the Four Seasons, right, yeah? Dean: I'm sitting like I'm in my courtyard right now and it's just, it's the perfect temperature. It's so quiet, you know, because there's nothing around me. I just can't even imagine if bombs started landing or somebody started running through the neighborhood. Dan: Yeah, but on the other hand, I mean, you've been there for decades, you know in the area and you have. You know what? Two, three hurricane alerts a year. Dean: Well, people in people in Toronto. Dan: I mean a hurricane for people in Toronto, oh yeah. You know, actually almost the entire what I would say. The the water overflow situation in Toronto was hugely created because of a hurricane in the 1950s that killed 200 people in Toronto because of sudden rushing water in parts of the city where people were caught. It was like a riptide. You know it was like a riptide and they had to reconfigure their entire drainage system. You know when heavy rains and everything like that. So that's an example, you know, an example of someplace that doesn't have this kind of situation. When they get a big one, they have to rethink everything. You know. And but the type of a situation we had in Toronto in 1953, I wasn't here, but as a matter of fact, I'm not here today, I'm in Chicago. Dean: But just talking about it. Dan: You know I try to get some distance between me and any potential problem, but you know I mean it's a violation of normal and in Israel, my feeling when I was there it's been about two and a half weeks in Israel and I got a sense that everybody knew what to do with trouble. Okay, they knew what to do with. There was a kibbutz that we visited and these people had been in Gaza, that they had lived in Gaza before it was given back to the Palestinians 2005, 2006, I think it might have been somewhere around there and they were talking. The woman said that there was the start of trouble had started and there were bombings and there were shootings and she had three kids and they went out the front door and she heard the bombs, she heard the shooting and they all came rushing back in and they said they're shooting in the streets and she said, well, go out the back. No, out the back, wow and the reason is, I mean, they had already rehearsed it, but they had to go to school. Dean: Yeah, go help the back. Dan: Okay, yeah, she said well just go out, just go out. They had a back gate and no, there was a back route and everything like that so what it says is that having something like this happened was the normal part of their experience Right, yeah, that's just and they were all tacking every. We were up at the Lebanese border and we just visited this community. That's the furthest northern, most Israeli settlement town. You know, it's not big, you know, a couple hundred people. Everybody was packing, everybody had a six-quat, you know. And so funny because there was a UN troop between them and the Whoever was on the other side of the border and and he said aren't you scared? He says I'll tell you who's scared, as the UN people, they're really scared. Okay, because we kind of believe that they favor the Terrorists. You know, our belief is that the UN protects the terrorists, you know. But if you went to the northern, above the border and you asked the Lebanese, they said we feel that the UN Favors the Israelis. You know, uh-huh. So I said if trouble starts off, who gets shot first? I? He says, well, the UN troops. And he says I even got a guy on the shoot. Dean: Oh my goodness I've got a guy I know the guy right Normalizing no I don't know how to yeah no, normal is normal. Dan: Yeah, we're great normalizing species. Humans are a normalizing species. You know that. Dean: Reminded me of. There was a cartoon where the, the Cheap dog and the wolf were, you know, clocking in for their job. Today, fred, they ask each other at the clock in, and then they did work. He tried to steal the sheep and he tried and foil them. Dan: You know, yeah what'd you do last time? What'd you do tonight? Last night, you? Dean: know, you know what are you gonna do what? Dan: what are you gonna do today? Oh, you know the usual, yeah. And so people, you know you, you know real, realize that we were standing in line. We came through the Toronto security yesterday and and if you were, if you had nexus or you had what's the general term for nexus is where they yeah, yeah. I get global entry. I just look, you know, and they're really. The Machines are really sophisticated. Use, come up the machine yeah it has an arrow going upwards and said look into the camera. And I looked into the camera and there was about a five seconds. Say your identity, you know, you're confirmed. Yeah, and see the an art, you know. And that's become normal. Yeah, but in the not because we find business class and we have nexus and the other thing people were having to take off their shoes. Okay, yeah, this is 2024, and they have to take off their shoes to go through, you know, to go through the machine and and I said this was because one guy, one guy. Yeah, 25 years he was fine from London to New York and he was trying to detonate his shoes. And and he was a clutch, and so they caught him and they took him away, and immediately, because of one guy not two in two different situations, but one guy in one situation he had immediately. Everybody has to take off their shoes. It's just one guy. You know why don't you have a little area where you have to walk across? You know it's on the floor and it can detect explosives you know, and it's a trapdoor, so they immediately drop you into the. The cleaner, the cleaner who was that? Dean: Land security right, yeah, yeah who was that guy? Dan: I said we'll never know. We'll never know. Yeah, but it's interesting and you know it's a pain, you know, and that's why we have nexus and that's why we've adapted cloudland via Bypass. You know, the machine knows me. Yeah, that's it's really important is that the machine knows you. Yeah, but there's a thing about normalizing, you know, and but my feeling you know the famous, you know it's the adaptation curve, you know it's a yeah, you know it starts at one end, then there's a big bulge and then it goes down the other end my sense is that people's ability to normalize is unequal. I think you and I are pretty fast to normalize. Dean: I think the two of us and that and it's a reward for being a DD you think, yeah, I think so too, you're probably right. Dan: Yeah, yeah, that's an interesting thought. Lon, lon, quick start, lon, quick start a DD. I think you normalize really fast. You know, I normalize really fast yeah. I remember it was Friday, the 13th of March, when I was in Chicago, and it's funny because Friday was the 13th. This is. Sunday, but we're talking, yeah, and, and I was coaching a workshop, but it was about 60% of what its normal numbers were. You know, I think we normally had 50 and I think we had maybe 30. And then when we got together After the workshop, before Babs and I went home to flew back home to Toronto, she says we've had a powwow all the leadership in the company and we've decided we're gonna have to close down All workshops for three months. Okay, it's March, we're gonna close down all workshops until, because we're people just aren't going to be showing up and I need to put the word out that we're not gonna do it that time and. I was tired, I'd done four workshops a week, and so we went to the airport, we got on the plane and I'm Halfway home and I said zoom, we're gonna switch over to zoom. This is the opportunity switch over, zoom. And I hit the ground the next morning. Well, it was Saturday, but by Monday I said okay, what will it take to turn everything we do 100% into zoom? Yeah, yeah. I and we have clients today who we haven't seen Since early 2020, who still haven't made the adjustment right. Yeah, I think they can't normalize and what it? Dean: was. I think that when I first started doing zoom I Was doing, I was trying to do the same thing as the break through blueprint, but by zoom, like three days, same thing. We're just, instead of being in the boardroom, you're in your home, you know, and I think we realized about Zoom fatigue kind of thing. It's sitting three days in zoom Full day is a long with a big ass, and I think that you and I both have come to the realization that like two hours more frequently is the is a better Two hours is the right amount of time and I found this beautiful time zone From three o'clock to five o'clock Eastern time. He gets me. I go to Hawaii on one end, even to the you know, this side of Australia where it's six am, you know, at three pm in the afternoon, all the way to Lichtenstein on the other end where it's, you know, ten o'clock at night. That Swap of the Western world is really what's available in yeah, and. Yeah, that's our. Dan: Yeah, our stretches from Pakistan, Well, stretches from Mumbai, because Mumbai is further to the east and Pakistan to New Zealand, and I'm just saying people who show up for zoom cults. You know the? Yeah, yeah yeah and everything. Yeah, lichtenstein, that's really interesting. Dean: Do whites, do well often they're husbands. Dan: That's perfect. Nsa that's a money laundering. We have the very first space. Dean: So I started doing this specific like I do a lead conversion workshop and a lead generation workshop, which are four sessions specifically about that micro topic, two hours each four weeks in a row and the very first one that I did. We had someone from Hawaii and Lichtenstein and all points in between. It was really the perfect thing. Dan: Yeah, I mean we adjusted throughout the day depending on our, you know. I mean I'll have six free zones, six free zone, two hour free zone. Dean: I'd love quarter. Dan: Connector calls are amazing and if they're big you know they have a lot of people they take on one quality, and if they're like a handful of people, they take on another quality. They're different for you. You don't have to have breakout groups if you have five people, you know, because the group is the breakout group, yeah, and everything like that. But I think this we're in for one of those periods and I agree with your thesis that we've had sort of a 50 year move to the new game period of history. Dean: Okay. Dan: And I think the politics and the economics of the end of the 50 years are radically different than the politics and the economics where you started the 50 years. That would have been true from 1950, from 1900 to 1950. Dean: And that was something. Let's talk about that for a minute, because there might be some clues into what happened. Dan: Well, there were no empire in the 1900, the whole world was organized according to empires. There were six or seven major empires by 1950. They were all gone. All those empires had gone away. Okay, I mean, great Britain still retained a global reach that used to be their empire, but it was now called the Commonwealth. Okay, and it wasn't British troops being stationed in those places. Dean: You, know it was this that they. Dan: What held it together was British law and British political structures, and English language and the pound, you know the. Dean: I mean franchise basically. It was a franchise, ideological, political. Dan: Yeah, and the US changed the least of all those countries. I mean from a lifestyle standpoint. It changed a lot of technological, but it's basic structure and process of how the country is run stayed exactly the same. It was the Constitution in 1900. And it was the Constitution in 1950 and then 2020. And it was designed as a franchise nation right from the beginning, because each of the states is like a little fractal copy of the federal government, you know so and each of the states gets to adjust to the way that they deem important. You know, it's, it's everything. So I think, of all the people on the planet who have had to change the least over the last 50 years, I think Americans are the number one. Dean: You say well, what do you mean? Dan: I mean I had to do this and I had to do this and I said, yeah, that's yours, you know, I bet you have more conveniences, you have more comfort, you have more capabilities, but I would say your day to day life is not that much different, because it's so there's a guy on YouTube who has a channel where for years he's branched off into other areas now, but his main thing was, as a solo guy, just going with a GoPro camera to explore former Soviet territory and right Dean: it was just the guy on YouTube. His channel is called Bald and Bankrupt oh the guy. But he goes around and he gives you. He just goes and sees, like what is life like in Uzbekistan right now? You know like he goes and tours the areas and he's fascinated by the you know, soviet mosaics and the all the remnants of, you know grander times for Soviet it's all ruined, it's all ruined, absolutely. And so you see the day in a life of people because he goes and sort of, he speaks Russian well enough to get by. Dan: Get along. Dean: Yeah, and he'd be friends he'd be friends, locals and gets invited into their homes. And you know, you just see like what? What an amazing contrast to life in America. You know a capitalism life, then life after you know communism, where capitalism hasn't fully sunk in, even though it's an option, it hasn't sunk in. You know, in that way, and how desolate you know it's. The landscape is just bleak. You know, I mean everything is in this and and the roads and the infrastructure and everything is just crumbling and the bar resilient, I guess, in a way, right, yeah, there's a lot of, there's a lot of. They're living normal life. Not I wouldn't say normal, but I mean normal. To that normal, no, normal, they consider it normal. They consider it normal. Yeah, yeah, normal life, yeah yeah, yeah, the. Dan: there was an article I read about twin sisters born in Germany, born before the wall went up, so this would be and, and one of them said, you know, we've got to get out. And they were. You know, they were young, very young at that time. And so the one with a lot of initiative did it and she was leaving behind her twin sister, who she was unusually close to, that close to, and she moved to the West Germany and other sister stayed in East Germany and they would correspond and they're under, you know, under very difficult conditions. They were able to visit with each other. The sister in East Germany couldn't go to the West but there was provisions that, you know, families could reunite for half a day or something like that. So, anyway, and then then the sister, who was, you know, more motivated, then got a chance to move to the United States and she moved to Iowa. Okay, and at a certain point, when the wall fell, you know, which was 1989, the sister, they made this. It took a year to plan it and everything else, just practically, because the sister in Germany just wasn't used to going anywhere. And they finally they flew to. She flew to Chicago and then to Iowa, and so they picked her up at the airport and she they were just driving from the airport to wherever the woman lived in Iowa the now American sister and they were going through just a normal supper and she said you're taking me through the wealthy section, Now you take. And they said this isn't the wealthy session, this is just no, this is just, this is just the way everything normal, yeah this is normal and that more or less paralyzed the sister because she had no mental structure to take in that this was just the way that Americans lived. And then they went to a supermarket, you know which was probably the land size of two football fields, you know, and just a normal, super, nothing special. I mean, yeah, and so they walked in, they says we've got a lot of shopping to do and everything. And she says, well, is there anything I can do? And she says, well, look about the aisles there, you see. You know, there's aisles one through 20, and just go to aisle number 11 and just turn the corner, you know, and take string with you, so he or lead, lead, bread, breadcrumbs, and so she says, but we're looking for corn flakes, some, of course, like. So anyway, and they agree, and they're both punctual, they're German. And so she says you know, in 20 minutes let's just meet right back here. And so the American sister is there, but the German sister, the East German sister, isn't. So she goes down to aisle 11 and her sister is right where the corn flakes were standing, mute. You know just looking at the corn flakes and she said there's 10 different kinds of corn flakes. How can I possibly choose? And she said I just grab one of them. And she said I can't comprehend. How do you make decisions here? How do you make? Decisions yeah yeah, it's a collision of two normals. Dean: Yes, you want. I mean Lupa talked about that coming to. America and going to the grocery store as you know like going just seeing all the things that were available. It's amazing. It's really interesting to hear her talk about her awakening to capitalism you know like as a because she came to America at 18, you know, or you know 20, I guess she was 20. Dan: And yeah seeing having her life Anying. Other siblings followed her yeah. Dean: Oh, she brought everybody, yeah, everybody over, but that yeah, she just well, I think, I think you have a different level of well, she's really the you know she's the. Dan: You know the great exhibit here of someone, the adaptation curve, you know. I mean she just like it was like when she had the chance. She didn't miss the chance to get out. Dean: But what I? Dan: remember most about her story because we were out to dinner a couple of times at the last free zone in Palm. Dean: Beach. Dan: And what I remember most was that the person who most protected their rather odd family in the Ukraine in Ukraine, was a KGB agent. Dean: Oh yeah. Dan: And you know so you know everything. You know what makes people normal is who they're connected to. You know what, who, are you? connected to, and you know, the more you're connected to people who have wider perspective than have greater capabilities, I think it's the faster you're able to adapt. Agreed, I think that's what I mean, since I talk to you all the time. What am I going to do? Wying about COVID? Yeah, I mean, regardless how I'm picking, you know, I've got a certain status to get to maintain. You know, reputation to maintain, yeah, yeah. Dean: I love it. I think the interesting thing, about MacCamp. We to think about this week is this in the context of the golden plateau that we're reaching here, and how to thrive in that golden Well, I think things are going to fall down, you know my my military money, energy, labor and transport you know, I think things are definitely. Dan: I can sense that things are slowing down. Like you know, the predictions in the high tech industry everything's going to get bigger and better, and that's you know, it's a straight upward line. Yeah but I too in infinity, and I says I don't think so, I think the mouth. Things really slowed down when they hit 1950. Oh, you know, I remember it as being a fairly tranquil period of 1950s, 1960s. You know, I agree, that's what I mean is very until you were born, and then, of course, things started to get in line and things shifted Right. Yeah, but I know I agree with you 100%. Dean: That was a. You know that all of that leveled into a stage of, you know, a plateauing of advancement. I mean, it wasn't, it was. You know, all those things you read about in the big change, those things were revolutionary. I mean, so all these baby boomers born into this plateau, that plateau, really didn't know a world before those big things, before electricity, television, all television, air conditioning, cars, roads, all of that. And then they grew up in brand new schools all the way up. You know the whole thing. Dan: Whole new neighborhoods. You know, they grew up in whole new neighborhoods, yeah. Dean: Yeah. Dan: Yeah, yeah, I think we're into that period again. I think we're going to you know go. And I was thinking that when people say bold things like cars, use an example of cars, of classic old time cars. You don't notice many classical cars that were produced too much after the fifties up until the eighties, you know right. You really to pick up on the late forties the forts were beautiful, the Chevy's were beautiful, the Lincoln's were beautiful and everything else, and they are saved because they didn't really they stylized, they certainly did not approve. I can think of only maybe two cars. I'm not a car guy, so your thing, but you know, and one is the Chevy Corvette which has maintained a certain classic look for 70 years, and the other one is the Camaro, both the Chevy and the Camaro, the Camaro is you know, is a hot car, but I can't think of any other. you know again, I'm not a car person, so I'm basing my confidence on ignorance here. But anyway, but the big thing is, but the fort thirties and forties is just full of these old classic cars. You know, and I think it was a high design period and you know, and I mean we certainly don't save any technology that much from that period of time. You know well it was not over. Tonight I've got, I still got my 19 Motorola television and oh, yeah, no exactly Six, six inches. And you know and everything like that. You know, nobody does that, but they do have radios from the forties. You know, people do have radios from the thirties and forties, you know, yeah, yeah, anyway. So how would we sum up today? Because we've shot through an hour and record time. I can't believe it. Dean: Well, I think my reflection right now is really going to be, I think, drawing the parallel, looking at who and what were the conditions for thriving in the period from the fifties to the eighties, you know, and on that, on the back of all of that advancement, and I think, if we're going to start doing some guessing and betting about what's going to thrive in the next 25 years, you know that we've reached this thing and I'm going to let it ride out to 20 as the peak of the plateau kind of, and see that period from, I think the period from 25 to 50, that 25 years is going to be. There's going to be a lot of parallels, I think, yeah, yeah, my sense is. Dan: I can just end with one little example from a 10 times connector I had. On Friday I was in a break up with three people. One of them was a marketer, one of them was a podcaster, and I'm just. The other one was an online educational company two women and a man and half their sharing was the progress they've made with AI during 2023. Okay, yeah. And I was very struck by their reports because they just talked about it and they were just talking normally about something that literally did not exist before November 30th last year. Dean: Okay, yeah. Dan: They were just talking as well. We're doing this with AI, we're doing this with AI, we're doing this with AI, and it was like yeah, we're saying, yeah, and we did this, we're doing this with electricity. We're doing this with electricity Right, right, exactly. And now I said I've gotten a keen insight just by your reports. Today you're sharing that this is what's going on in tens, hundreds of millions of places right now, and it's all subsurface, it's all below the surface. Okay. Dean: Yeah. Dan: And they're not talking about it as a big thing, they're just talking about it as a normal thing. Dean: Right. That's why I say by if we that and I think that's going to be expanded that if we that, by then this to 2025, that by then it's going to be, everybody's going to have a sense of what this is. You know, I think you're absolutely right Like we're literally just a year into AI. Dan: Yeah, I mean that's, I can see the report. I can just see the reports that are being written about our conversation today at the NSA. Oh, my goodness, people say we've got to have a meeting, we've got to have a meeting. Dean: They're on, they're on. Dan: They're not onto us. They're onto things that we didn't know about. Yeah, and what was the Roman Empire anyway? Is that an empire we should be paying attention to? Do we have contacts with Alrighty? Dean: Dean. Yeah, all right, I'll be here next week. I think I am. I'll be back in Toronto. Dan: I'll certainly be. I'll be in a position. Perfect, I will talk to you then. Thanks, dean, bye, Okay.

In today's episode of Welcome To Cloudlandia, Dan and I explore Ontario, Canada, alongside a discussion of groundbreaking research on an immortality gene. A doctor shares insights into pinpointing this gene's phenomenal potential for humanity. Lightheartedly, we touch on frequent flyer miles and a Buenos Aires stem cell treatment trip. Shifting to business, we analyse the impactful Working Genius model's six elements - Wonder, Invention, Discernment, Galvanisation, Enablement and Tenacity. There are a lot of nuggets in this episode that prompt us to reevaluate what truly enriches our world.   SHOW HIGHLIGHTS We discuss the fascinating exploration of an immortality gene found by a doctor, that has the potential to revolutionize human life. We touch on the effects of altitude on our bodies and share some anecdotes about our trips for stem cell treatments. We delve into the Working Genius model and its six elements that foster successful collaborations in business. Mark Lechance and Babs share their experiences with the Working Genius model, emphasizing its practical benefits. We share the thrilling story of Matt, a man of Discernment and Tenacity, who successfully navigated domain name issues to set up a project in real time. We examine the dynamics of travel and connectivity, challenging the notion that convenience and comfort are sources of happiness. We discuss the importance of purpose and meaning in achieving true happiness and explore the future of transportation, including the possibility of human-carrying drones. We analyze the psychological limits of convenience in our modern era, and encourage listeners to reconsider the value of real experiences over convenience. We explore the future of travel convenience, discussing how modern technologies have reduced travel friction and predicting the future of transportation. We discuss the concept of convenience, how it is interpreted differently by different people, and reflect on the emotional experience of convenience. Links: WelcomeToCloudlandia.com StrategicCoach.com DeanJackson.com ListingAgentLifestyle.com TRANSCRIPT (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors) Dean: Mr Sullivan. Dan: Thank God, there we go. Dean: There we go. Thank God we're recording. Yeah, I don't like the sound. Dan: I don't like the sound. Dean: There was just an interruption, that's all I don't like the sound of that voice of yours. What's up? Dan: Well, I just got a cold, I got a head cold Friday, I think. And here I am. Here I am, though, and I'll use the capability that I have available to me to have a great podcast. Dean: There we go. I love it. Well, I missed you last week. I've had a great two weeks. Lots to catch up on. Dan: I'm sure you've had it in the last few weeks. Yeah, we did. We were at DaVinci 50 and Sundance. I've never been there before. Dean: How did you like? Dan: that. Yeah, it's a neat place, it's sort of a neat place, but Babs doesn't operate good at 7,000 feet. Dean: Oh, boy, okay. Dan: So she has some issues. But, she went and she got a. What's it called? It's an IV that you take that pumps your energy up. Dean: Oh, okay. Dan: I knew, yeah, so fortunately we had a lot of medical advice around us. A little bit, yeah and they were able to get right on it. She had it, but she wasn't sleeping well and I'm pretty good. I don't have that problem at altitude, but there was a lot of downhill climbing from our room to the. And my knee, which hopefully, and we're off to Buena Cerras, Argentina the first week of November to get stem cell treatment for my knee, so hopefully that'll be done. Yeah, yeah, we fly in overnight. They pick us up at the airport, take us right to the clinic and I get an injection in the first hour when I'm there and that's my stem cells coming back at me and the promise is that I will grow a new cartilage. Dean: And how long does it take for that to be noticeable? Dan: It's about six months until it grows back. That's what I'm told, and there's a protocol of not putting too much stress on it, not to go hog wild. Dean: Well, how perfect is that You'll have a new me for your AB of perfect I will Just about, and that's exactly right It'll be on. Dan: My birthday will be six and a half months and this will be six months. We go down twice more so that they can check on the progress, and so our frequent flyer miles are going to go up, and it's a long, long flight. Dean: Nine hours have you been to Plano Furniture before? I have not. Dan: I have not this is the first time and they're I think they're either an hour or two hours ahead of Toronto time. Yeah. Dean: One of the things. Dan: Yeah, no, they're an hour and a half Exactly. That's so funny, but it's sort of when you look at the map. It's always a shock to me how that, if you go to London Ontario, all of South America sits east of London Ontario. That's wild, isn't it? Yeah, it's amazing Because you think of South America being under North America but it actually curves around to the east and Ecuador. The west coast of Ecuador is the furthest point in South America and that lines up perfectly with London Ontario and, for those who are listening, it's sort of Columbus Ohio, if you think of Columbus. Dean: Right, right, right, there you go. Dan: Dream of Iowa. Yeah, and Americans, you know Ontario. Where's Ontario? Isn't that near Los Angeles? You? Dean: know they have an airport here. It's called Ontario yeah. Dan: Ontario Airport. You know. Well, that's great. Well, of course it's east of Ontario, california, but you know we're talking about a province that is basically the size of Western Europe. Dean: It's probably the size of Europe, but Ontario. Dan: Yeah, I was realizing the vastness. Dean: When I got to understand the vastness of Ontario I realized somebody pointed out that you could drive north in Ontario the distance between Toronto and Florida and still be in Ontario. That's pretty big right. Dan: And if you did east to west, from Cornwall to Canora, that's basically two cities in Ontario. It's the same distance as Washington DC to Kansas City. Dean: Wow, okay, yeah. Dan: Well, there we go. That is pretty much about all the Canadians huddled close to the border. 90% of the Canadian population is within 100 miles of the US border. Dean: That's great. Well, any big shares from Da Vinci. What's coming down the pipe? You got new me. Dan: Yeah, the biggest thing. First of all, richard is a phenomenally good chooser of great speakers. Yeah, and it's always very, very enlightening, if not shocking, some of the research that's being done, and I think we have a couple of doctors who were there. And one of the doctors, doctor doctor West, says that it's pretty clear now that there's a fundamental gene, if you will I'm not sure exactly what the terminology is- but, it's a gene, that's the immortality gene, okay, and they've been able to zero in on it because none of our genes die. I mean the body they're in dies, but none of the genes themselves actually die. They're immortal and because we all have them, so all humans have them, and every time a new human being is born, it's basically picking up on a couple of million years of genetic development. Yeah so they know that those are immortal. And but in each individual there's a turnoff, there's a series of turnoff mechanisms I'll just use a more understandable term here and they're zeroing in on this. For example, there are life forms that don't die flat, flat, flat, flat. Worms, for example, don't die. You know, they, they just never die. And you cut them in half and you can cut them in half, and doesn't matter which half, and they can regrow the other half back. So so you know, I mean, it's just really, it's just really interesting where all this is going. I mean, what's the time frame for this, to discover this? Well, they don't know that, you know. But the bare fact that they're they now think it's possible and that they're experiment way. I just find all that stuff interesting. Dean: Yeah, I find it very interesting too. Yeah, that's great. Dan: I mean, it's kind of the fact that we can know that DNA exists. Dean: I mean the fact that somebody discovered that and I mean it's just, how would you even know to look for something like that? Right, yeah, we take it, you know we're. It's so amazing, the things that I mean that's all happened in the big change from 1975 to 19. Dan: They're 2025, you know, I've been really thinking about that. Dean: That too, the you know the the biggest change If we take, if we extend out to 2025. I think that period of 1975 to 2025 is going to be, you know, civilization changing yeah you know scope of what's happened here. Dan: Yeah, but it's like yeah. Well, my redone it is, that it's the people who benefit from this. It's not going to be worldwide. The next 50 years let's say 2025 to 2075, I think that. I think what we're going to see is massive political and economic change, because there's a there's a point where you wanted to become a powerful technological country. And at this point not many have. I mean, if you think of all the countries in the world, the US is clearly, you know, in the lead, and the US has just so many other things going for it. You know, it's geography, for one thing, that's, it's really hard to invade the United States. I mean, first of all, 3000 miles of water one way and 5000 miles of water the other way, and then you have the Gulf of Mexico, and then you have Mexico. But Mexico in the 200 miles south of the US border is desert and mountain. It's not a it's not a populated area, and then the North North Canadians were always a threat, but now that they've nationalized pot, that's that's neutralizing that. Right and Canada. Weren't we going to invade the United? Dean: States. I think the US looks at Canada, the natural resource reserve tank attached to their northern border. Dan: You know well it's, it's. It's America's biggest gated community. Dean: You know right. Dan: You have to check in at the gate you know, they make you check in at the gate and you can't bring in guns and they want to know if you have any alcohol. They want to know if you have any tobacco. They're not interested in you if you have any new ideas. Dean: Yeah, so you'll love this. I've got four C's that I've observed here, looking for the next 25 years and the I observe that, but you're going to tell me about that in the next podcast, right? Oh, I can tell you about it right now. Here we go. Dan: All right. Dean: So the first is increase, and I love how you always say increasing, as taken this from you, but increasing connectivity with the farthest outposts of the mainland. That is going to be a big driver of the next 25 years. I think we can if we're guessing and betting. That's where that's what I was thinking about, if I'm guessing what's going to happen in the 25 years. What can I bet on? And I bet on increasing connectivity with the farthest outposts of the mainland and that I don't think you can go wrong and I think that, as the technologies are evolving, that will facilitate that connection. That's going to be a big thing. I saw something dance. You know I haven't really been so on board with the metaverse and then I saw and I don't know whether you saw it the most recent video of Lex Friedman and Mark Zuckerberg having a chat in the metaverse with the latest version of the Facebook Visual avatar development where it creates a photo, realistic version of you, three dimensional, in your inner three dimensional space, and you could tell I mean first watching it on the video it's stunningly realistic and impressive. But you could tell that that Lex Friedman even said he's having an emotional experience. This is so uncanny that he's got the you know, the new meta headset on, but his feeling is like he's 100% for real in the room with Mark Zuckerberg, like literally having a real conversation with a real person, and that I think that's the first I've seen of what potentially could be what comes here. You know, because it was really, it was really pretty stunning. When you're watching the video, I'll send you the, I'll send you the link, unless you've already seen it. Dan: No, no, I haven't. This is the first I've heard of it. Dean: Okay, so they have. They basically have a. They split the screen like a try screen where you can see Lex or Mark with the headset on, like where they really are talking and what they're saying. Then they show the middle version, which is kind of the digitized version of what's happening, like all the without the shell on it kind of thing, and then they show the final, the real thing, and it look, if you just look at the visual thing, you would never be able to detect that this is not real. And that's the first that I've seen where there's no latency, there's no, you know, telltale, you know mismatching of the mouth movements or the eye movements or anything like that. If you just saw the third version of it, you would think that's really Mark Zuckerberg in real time talking and that's really Lex Friedman, and so that was like that opened my eyes to and they were just kind of in a, you know, a black background kind of thing, like in almost this. They're in a black, like on the Charlie Rose show or something you know, just their things. But you can imagine in, you know, giving fast forward into 2025, the overlaid on any visual environment. You could place them in at table 10, at jocks, you know, or at the select bistro and they're surrounded and, having that experience, I literally. I would. I would put because you know what, I've said it and you've said it that I don't really have any interest in putting on the goggles because I haven't seen an environment that's real. You know, but if I could put on those goggles and have a real table 10 experience with you, I would put on the goggles. Dan: That was that impressive, you know so that means I have to agree. No, it's one of the things I you know I'm I'm taking your description of it as real, but yeah, I haven't had the experience so I don't really know, you know yeah. Dean: So, anyway, I'll check it, I'll check it out, and yeah so there's the first, that's the first C for guessing embedding connectivity, connectivity, that then that I think, if I'm guessing, embedding on the next 25 years our increasing capabilities, both on demand and on cap. You know, I think if we look at the capabilities that AI is going to provide for us, I'm starting, you're starting to see now the real applications of this. Where you take these, these avatar technologies of being able to create your own digital avatar. I fully believe, now that that is going to be in detect undetectable difference between the real, I mean a digital representation, the real video that I had performed, or a digital AI have done it. So those, all those capabilities on demand, along with and if those are not, capabilities on demand through connectivity with the farthest outreaches of the mainland to every other human that's out there, you know, for the special, for the special things you know well not every other human being, but just the one. You know, the ones the ones who are on the main, the ones who are connected in cloud land you know, because, because I believe in Dunbar's law, that we only have emotional capability for at most about 150. Dan: Yeah. I mean everybody. First of all, I can't comprehend what everybody means, you know. I know Dean and I know Joe and I know. And you guys use up all my time. You know I don't have time. Dean: I was just going to say thankfully, we're solidly entrenched in each other's top 150. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Dan: I mean the other, the other eight, you know eight billion plus right, I mean I, I'm told they exist, but they don't really have that much. They don't have a place in my future, that much. Dean: Yeah, right, right. Dan: Yeah. Dean: I love it. Dan: And then the number three. Dean: Number three, yes, yeah collaboration that's going to lead to better and better and better collaboration opportunities with both humans and technology. I can't wait to reach your how to treat technology like a well-trained dog or whatever. Dan: What is it like? Dean: Like a great dog Like a great dog. Dan: Yeah, I own owning technology like a great dog. Dean: When is that coming out? Dan: Oh, it's out. Dean: It's out, oh it is. Dan: Yeah, you should have gotten a notice in the email that you can download the ebook. Okay, I'll see you about that. Dean: Yeah, I think that's fantastic. I had on the collaboration front. I had a really amazing widget extension. I've had a great experience this past couple of weeks here. The widget, of course, the working genius model, I see how useful. This is now in collaboration. Dan: We've got three of our team members trained as facilitator or training other people to use working genius. The moment you told me about it, I looked it up. We have the same UNI or the same we have the same. We're inventors and we're discerners. Babs is an inventor, is that yours? Dean: No, I'm DI your ID. I mean, I imagine it's the same thing, but Babs is what? Dan: She's IG, she's a galvanizer. Okay, yeah, right yeah, and I'm proof of it. Dean: So that's great, that's the perfect thing. That's your secret formula, right there. Dan: Yeah, I'm proof of it. Yeah, she galvanized me. Dean: Yeah, and so I had a really great experience with Mark Litchett. Why don't? Dan: we explain to those who don't know what we're talking about Sure Okay. Dean: So Mark, of course, unless you want to Go? Ahead. Dan: No, go ahead. Dean: Okay, so this was introduced to me by James Drage and James introduced this working genius model and you can find it at workinggeniuscom and it's one of the most useful assessments that I've ever come across, right Right up there with Colby, because I think I would rank them. Probably I would rank widget at the top, colby second, and I also like I find Myers-Briggs very useful, but I know you're not as big a fan of Myers-Briggs as I am. But the way that workinggenius works is that we all have workinggenius, which are things that we find effortless, really coincides with our unique ability, really harmonizes with all the strategic coach concepts and the idea is that every team needs, every collaboration, needs somebody in each of the six elements and the six calls spell out the word widget. So W is for wonder, someone who can look at something and see all the ways that this could be improved or where could we go with this. Then I is invention, which is making stuff up. There's a lot of I's in strategic coach. It would probably be, you know. Also, they would correlate with being quick starts, I'm sure. G is for discernment, the ability to look at options and know what the right thing to do is, to have a highly confident ability in discerning that this is the right thing to do. G is galvanizing, which is someone who has a genius for gathering all the people and elements that are needed to get something accomplished. E is for enablement, which is someone who can support the people who are doing the thing to make sure that everybody has everything they need to complete the task. And T is for tenacity, and tenacity is someone who has a high follow through, who makes things happen and takes things all the way to completion, so fast forward. I'm in a boardroom in Boca Raton with Mark Lechance and some of his team and I had this amazing experience of Isn't that amazing. Dan: We just had a metaverse experience because I'm the one that started the call with the cold, but now you have the cold? Dean: Yeah, I think mine is. I'm out in my courtyard and I can tell that our pollen count is very high right now, but anyway, I'm sitting there and I noticed how there's one of the guys on well, there were six of us in the room, but Mark Lechance is a galvanizer with invention, a galvanizer invention and I'm starting to identify like the one sentence summary of what these things are. So, mark's like one word, one sentence, like super power is gathering people, gathering the capabilities that you guys are super smart. Here's what I think we could do, you know, like this inventing all the coming up with ideas or the things that could be done. Then there was a gentleman there, matt, who is a D, he's a, he's got discernment and tenacity and my observation of that is that he would see something and say that's a good idea, and then the next word out of his mouth were done and he, like we were talking about something, we, you know, I came up, I was, you know, discernment and invention is my thing and I came preloaded with this is what I think we should do. We were doing, we have a VCR, vision capability, reach opportunity with one of the projects that Mark runs, and I came in already preloaded with here's the ideas. Well, I think we should do, which was, you know, it's a really great, great idea and we, you know, came up with the domain name, the whole thing, and literally right there in the, in the meeting you know, matt went and bought the domain name, set up like all these things are happening in real time and getting making something real you know, and so it was really amazing to see that, that collaboration between you know, the widget experience there. And I see now, like I realized, galvanizing that I would have guessed that Babs is a galvanizer, because that has been. You know that. That's the, that's the main thing that drives your ability to get your ideas into real world things. It's galvanizing the unique ability, teamwork of everybody on your, on your team, yeah. Dan: Yeah, and she just knows how to create team. I mean she, she knows how to create team leaders, she knows how to create teams and the teams have their, you know, they have their projects and they have their goals. And you know they have their measure measurements and everything like that, but one of the one of the things I've noticed about Babs is that she doesn't really comprehend the impact that she has just by being in the room. Dean: Yeah, I mean, how do you observe that? Dan: How do? You see, no, no, things just happen when she's in the room. Yeah, and in any situation, if you were somewhere with Babs and they had to get something done and within about an hour or two hours she'd be, she would be chosen as the leader. Dean: Right. Dan: Without her saying anything. Dean: Right yeah, right, right, right yeah. Dan: I mean, I mean she's six foot two and that helps you know, because she has a core. But you know, often, frequently, she's the tallest person in the room, but she just has a, she has command in her strength. Yeah, Command is number one. Yeah, you know. She just basically says okay, let's get started, let's get something done here. And you know, and you know I mean that's my life is divided into two parts before I met Babs and after I met, after I was with Babs. Yeah, and you know, it's just real clear that I'm just always highly motivated when I'm around here. Dean: Yeah, what are you looking at? Yeah. Dan: I'm looking at you, I remember you telling me and we're in the 42nd year of AAMD. Oh, that's funny, yeah, yeah. Dean: Okay. Dan: You've done you've. You've gotten three. What's number four? Dean: Okay, so the fourth is convenience that we're observing less and less friction in day to day interactions and mainland to Plumlandia, you know communication. So convenience, you know. I remember I think in 2016 or something, I read that article that I've shared about the tyranny of convenience and how we start to see it's a never ending, you know, desire to make things easier and better and ratcheting those advancements without going backwards. You know, and that's really I think, if I were to guess and bet on things being more convenient, increasingly convenient, over the next 25 years, I think we're going to be. I think that's a good bet and you know, you start to see that. I think that, as we're, we're already seeing things like you know, one click ordering from Amazon. That's now gotten into. You know, apple Pay and Google Pay and Amazon Pay you never there's no need to ever type your credit card into anything to buy online. But I see how that's going If we chart out where the room in convenience is. I also see, I see companies like Rocket Mortgage, you know, foreshadowing where we're headed, that when we start seeing everybody's got access to all of the data we're all going to be, you know, pre-underwritten in background. For anything we're going to have some, you know, available capital or available credit, you know pre-assigned already. You know that we literally will be able to push a button and get approval instantly for whatever we want, and I believe that the blockchain and smart contracts and all of these things are going to make things more and more convenient over the next 25 years, and that's where I've gotten so far. Those, so the connectivity yeah Well, I think they're good. So connectivity- Number one ��로 liability Number two. Elaboration number three. Elaboration and convenience, convenience. Uh-huh, it's good, I think those are, and there's probably more. Well, you know those are the first, uh, first four. Dan: Yeah, I wouldn't push it beyond four. Make the others be servants of the first four. Dean: Yeah. Dan: Yeah, yeah, you know. One of the things is. So what's the role of uh? Travel that takes time, it's the uh. I'm asking you a question here. Dean: Yeah, I think it's the. Uh, what's the? What's the? Dan: what's the role of travel that takes time? Dean: The physical, First of all. It happens? Dan: Travel happens in the mainland because if I can just, of course, if I can just click or have a thought and I'm so yeah and I'm meeting somewhere else, then it hasn't required travel. And it doesn't, it doesn't take time. So, and I think that that's where? Dean: Yeah, so the you know the inconvenience of travel is what is? Two things. That's inconvenient and it happens at the speed of reality. You have to move your, your, your meat puppet from one out. Dan: Yeah, I, I'm going to call you that. I think that's. I think that's a bad term. Dean: The meat. Dan: And I think it diminishes your body and the one thing I want to tell you about, about virtual reality. You're only using sight and sound. You're only using sight and sound. You're not using touch, you're not using taste and you're not. You know, and my sense is that actually, sight and sound make up about less than 10% of what the body actually uses to function. Okay, so, I can understand why my Mark Zuckerberg wants to be in another realm because he can't be speed. He's trying to find a place where he can't be subpoenaed. Dean: You know so. Dan: Right, right, yeah. And I understand that because he doesn't look like a human being who does well in terms of relationship and you know, and everything else, and I can understand why he wants to find another realm to do it, but we've got a million years of actually creating value out of things that take time and things that you know you have to travel over distance. Okay. Dean: Yeah. Dan: I don't think there, I don't. I can't sum up all that just as inconvenience, Right yeah. I mean learning doesn't. Learning doesn't happen instantaneously, learning happens over time. Yeah, so I'm just the American as you put the four things. As you put the four things together, I'm saying, yeah, but you know, when I go on a long trip, you know, for example, it takes two and a half hours for us to drive to the cottage. Okay, yeah, and I've been interested in plots during those two and a half hours that I wouldn't have if I just touched a button and I was in the cottage. Dean: Right, yeah, you think that part of the experience of it is the fact that it took a long time to get there. Dan: Yeah there was a price. There was a price for it. Dean: Yeah, you know yeah. Dan: And if I agree, yeah. So yeah, I'm, I'm. I don't have the answer to this. I'm asking the question. I don't have the answer. I have the answer to it yeah. But I'm noticing that convenience and comfort don't necessarily make people happy. Uh huh, I think purpose and meaning make people happy. You know achievement combined with purpose and meaning. Dean: And my experience is. Dan: That takes a bit of time. That takes a bit of time. Dean: And so yeah. Well, that makes a lot of sense. I mean there's so, um, yeah, that does it makes a lot of sense. And these are just uh. So I do, I'm looking at, no, I think they're they're available. Dan: I think what you're saying is that actually they all come under the heading of capability. You know it's obviously a huge jump in capability, because connectivity and um and uh uh, collaboration and uh and uh and convenience are great capabilities, you know, and I think people are always striving for greater capabilities. Dean: I agree, yeah, yeah, yeah. There's something there's always going to be real. There's always going to be a higher value on on real. Dan: Yeah. Dean: I believe that we're definitely missing out. You know, and it's not by an order of just a small percentage, I mean, it's exponentially different. I think you know um say say what? what I think in the convenience, yeah when I was going to convenience things is that I think that the ability to make that travel, which is still highly valuable, being present in in a place is still highly valuable, um, but the elimination of friction in in doing that To the extent that you can, is going to be, I think, a safe bet. Uh, when you look at I it was, it was funny, we were, I was having a conversation with someone about the the newest travel trend. Uh, in mainstream travel is the private terminals that are popping up now, like at LAX there's was the first one that I heard of where you can bypass the, the main terminal. You go to a private terminal where you pull up, they valet park your car, you go into a suite that's got, you know, just a food and whatever you allow Comfortable for you to wait for your flight. You go through security, everything that's necessary, checking in the whole thing, and then, when it's time they drive you in, you know a BMW or an SUV, they drive you to on the ramp, to those where the plane is, take you up and put you on your on your seat and off you go, and that level of friction, skipping from the curb to the gate, that's what everybody is. That's where all the the hassle of of mainland travel is once you're on the plane. Nobody's mad at the first class cabin of any airliner. It's comfortable, it's. The seats are great, the food is great, the you know the environment. Everything about it is is fine. You get to your, your destination. It's just all the inconvenience from the curb to the gate. You know that we're all the we're all the thing is now. Now, and I also think, like recently, as you start seeing, I think it's pretty clear we're going to end up in a human carrying drone world where that, you know, drone flight is going to be, you know, for shorter, and it's going to be a two hour drive into a 20 minute, you know, taxi, drone, taxi type of environment. I think we'll see that in the next 25 years. I think that's a that'd be a pretty safe bet. Dan: I'll let you bet that it doesn't happen, okay, yeah. Dean: Good and that's interesting. So why? What makes? You think that, that, that it won't happen. Dan: Well, first of all, I don't think the capital is going to be there over the next 25 years, because capital money is getting very, very expensive and it's a function of the fact that transportation is getting very, very expensive. So when you have transportation very expensive, it makes money really expensive, it makes energy really expensive and it makes labor really expensive. Dean: And I don't think. Dan: First of all, I've never you may be the first person I've ever talked to had that as an aspiration or as a future thought, and my sense is that the next things to get invented is where there's like an 80% aspiration in the marketplace. We'd like to have this, you know, and you know, and I think the Amazon has done well, because there's an 80% wish that last minute purchasing or last minute shopping could be eliminated. Dean: Yeah, there's, there's something. I think that's true. Dan: Yeah, but one of the ways I've gone in the opposite direction, I've just eliminated all need for meetings that require travel. Dean: Yeah, me too. How is the travel industry doing? So I would say that that's more of an aspirator. Dan: I would say that's more of an aspiration than making travel comfortable. I would say not traveling at all is more of an aspiration. And, yeah, traveling with the least amount of friction. Dean: I agree and that's what I think would fit in with convenience. Well, I think we started going down that path. That was, I think that in every, in every way, in every element, I think convenience is really a driver right. That that's kind of we're definitely looking for things to be here and less friction. Dan: Let's look at the word convenience, because I think everybody's got a different notion of what constitutes convenience. You know, and I think it's is entirely defined by your situation in the mainland. I mean it only has been in relationship to the, to the. To the mainland I mean that my Apple computer comes on. It takes me, you know, five seconds to get on and I could do it in a second. I really don't care. I really don't care, you know right the five no five seconds. The five seconds seems good enough for me, you know I don't, I don't need it. So first of all, I think there's a point where convenience, or the striving for convenience, has a diminishing return. You know, because even at your personal airport, you know your private personal airport let's say that pretty soon there's going to be a desire on the ideal jet that there's a first class and the second class Right, and people, people say, well, why are they up there and we're, we're back here and you've got every convenience in the world. But because it's all psychological I mean all everything we're talking about here is psychological. You know, pricey psychological. Dean: And. Dan: I just feel that my notion of convenience may be different from your notion of convenience, you know. I mean if we went down step by step and we took our daily life and we went through, and everything like having food delivered to my house doesn't interest. Well, first of all, by all, my food is delivered by house by one person. You know we have a caterer and yes, but, but I can name on two hands. A number of times we've ordered in from a you know a restaurant, you know so that doesn't fall in my area of convenience, right yeah. Dean: Yeah. Dan: The other aspect about it is that traveling not under compulsion, in other words, I'm not compelled to travel, but just getting out and driving around. I find that interesting. Dean: Yeah, even like going up to the cottage or going. Dan: yeah, yeah, I find it interesting and you know, we have a halfway stop at Tim Hortons where we've never eaten, but we've always peed. The restroom is always in the same place. It's always clean. It's great. My definition of Tim Hortons in Canada is where white people go to get whiter. Dean: Have you ever experienced webbers? No, we go up to 404. Dan: We're heading to the east. We're not heading to the east. We've been on 400 and I've passed it, but the line up looked inconvenient. Dean: Well, you know it was quite a thing that they did was because that was kind of like the official stopping point of the way up to Muscova. That everybody would, you know, friday night stop and get a burger at Webbers. And then they brought in a great extent an overpass. They bought the land across before the oh no yeah. They brought in a great expense on an overpass that you could. Dan: Well, they could put in another parking lot. That's why they did it. Dean: Yeah, it's now convenient to stop on your way home, because it was super inconvenient. Dan: It's really interesting the I just want to zero in on the idea that convenience is uniquely defined. I think you're right. So I think a lot of the technology people make a guess that everybody is going to enjoy a new level of convenience that they're creating and they're generalizing they have to generalize human nature, that everybody's going to like this. I think it's a form of projection on the part of the inventors that, because they find it convenient to everybody else, only 16% of technology startups succeed. The thing, so it means that 84% of them. Yeah, I would say that most technologies are created to satisfy some form of convenience. Yeah, I would say. Dean: There's some definitions of convenience. I would love to go to the source here and see. So. Convenience is the state of being able to proceed with something with little effort or difficulty. Dan: Well, you and I are great believers in that. Dean: Yeah, the quality of being useful, easy or suitable for someone. And then the third is a thing that contributes to an easy and effortless way of life. Yeah, and so? I think, that that's going, no matter what you're doing, to making. I would argue that the virtual division of Strategic Coach has made it, through convenience, a possibility for people in what would otherwise be inconvenient parts of the world to participate. Dan: Yeah, and I think that you may. Zoom has, zoom has. Zoom has Zoom has. Yeah, my sense is that they Do. They need much more than Zoom. Do they need to actually have the feeling that they're? Dean: there. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, we're not going to be able to. Dan: I mean to be tested, yeah, to be experiment, tested. Dean: I was just like you know. You know just at what appeared to be what was literally appearing in this thing. So that was. I'm just reporting the news. Dan: Yeah and yeah, I know he seemed real, but is he real? Dean: Yeah, and I was only seeing a 2D. I'm only seeing the 2D example of it, right? So, yeah, I can't imagine what it would be like. If you Like Lex Friedman's response to it I don't know who he- is. Dan: by the way, I don't know who this person is. Dean: Lex Friedman is a very popular podcaster, similar in popularity as Joe Rogan, like that level, one of the top interview podcasters, very smart, intelligent guy. But yeah, this was His visibly, you know the visible reaction that he was having to. It was like he was having a hard time really describing the impact, the emotional experience that he was having of this and he's a pretty non-emotional guy. That's part of the you know the term he's of. Dan: Yeah. Dean: Yeah, well, I'm going to have. Dan: I'm going to have to have the experience I'm going to have to. The experience you know yeah. Dean: Yeah. Dan: By the way, that whole. Dean: You know us being able to. It's just so funny to think now of all of these things, like I just see the layering, of this constant improvement in understanding of both our unique abilities and the unique capabilities that are being presented to us and the convenience of collaboration. Did you watch 60 Minutes? Yeah, you don't watch any TV, so there was. Dan: I am innocent of the experience. Dean: Do you know who Rick Rubin is? He's a music producer. He's regarded as maybe the oh, no, no. Dan: I've watched his YouTubes. I've watched his YouTubes. Yeah, he's a great guy, yeah. Dean: Really, he plays guitar. Dan: He plays guitar right. Dean: No, he doesn't. He doesn't play anything, which is really. Dan: Which is really impressive. Somebody else that I'm thinking of he does a really great job of telling you why a song works or how a song works and everything. Dean: Yeah, yeah. Dan: Yeah, he's a white hair. Yeah, I'm looking at white hair. Dean: Looks like Nafuzela. He's the no. You're talking about Rick Beato. Dan: He's the guy you're talking about yeah, that's who I'm, that's what. Dean: I'm talking about. Yeah, no, rick Rubin looks like Nafuzela, he's got a beard and long hair, real zen kind of guy. But he was on 60 Minutes with Anderson Cooper and it was pretty. There's some great sound bites from it. Because Anderson Cooper was asking him well, what is it that you do? Can you play instruments? And Rick said barely Could you work a sound board? And he said I have no technical ability and I know nothing about music, like actual music things. And Anderson asked him well, what do you get paid for? And he said he thought for a second and said the confidence that I have in my case and my ability to express what I feel has proven helpful for artists. And I thought there's a guy, if we were to do a widget on him, I'm sure he's a GI, I'm sure he has discernment and invention as his two things. You can see, this is a good idea, this is the big idea here, and this is what I think you should do. Dan: You have a visitor in the recording. Dean: It's a crow. I think it's funny. Dan: Don't you know that you're sitting. Don't you know that you're occupying his space? I? Dean: must be. Dan: Yeah, he's trying to tell you to get out. This is my space, Anyway it's all interesting. I keep coming back to the whole concept of the difference between convenience and comfort, and purpose and meaning. Yeah because my limousine company that I have in Toronto oftentimes has these sort of elite lifestyle magazines that advertises places to go and none of the people look happy. Yeah they look true. They look like they look like they've got everything they want, and that hasn't made them happy. You know, they look. They look sophisticated, they're obviously wealthy and they have this, but it hasn't done the trick. You know, it's like models. It's like models you know like in Vogue magazine. Babs gets some of the magazines and the Wall Street Journal once a month has a style magazine that comes with one of the additions and they all look well. First of all, I could draw a thought bubble above all their heads and say what I would give for a burger and fries, right, I mean, they look just, you know, they just look so unhappy and yeah, but they're representing the top of the world in fashion. You know, the elite living there are the top and I said, yeah, but they're, it's absent. It's absent meaning and purpose. You know, you've achieved something but and and people will sacrifice enormous amount of inconvenience for purpose and meaning. So it's an interesting discussion, isn't it? No, I mean, I take it may. I'm not a cutting edge guy with technology, but when I hear enough of other people talking about things that seems to work, I said why don't we just include this? And you know, and. I'm really driven by productivity. I like getting a lot of stuff done easier and faster, you know. But it's the thing that is being achieved, that has meaning and purpose. It's not the means of getting there. So yeah. Dean: I think there's a good, no, it's an interesting this thing is you know, yeah, and we live in totally a lot of the world. Dan: We do. Dean: I think that's part of the thing is maybe the, the harmonizing of that is pointing convenience at the end of comfort or out of purpose and meaning. Yeah, to make speaking purpose and meaning more convenient there, there's a new special on Netflix called Blue Zones and it's yeah observation of Okay talk about it. Yeah, and those things, those people, inevitably. They live very simple lives about much adornment. They've got the if you guy, as the Japanese would say, the purpose, you know the meaning that, the thing that brings them joy, connection to people. They love Community, but that's all. Dan: But if you think of your six Right. Dean: Yeah, they're very simple. Dan: They get rid of the eye. They'd wipe out the eye people really fast. Dean: Exactly. A mill that's 150 years old. Dan: I found from their great great grandmother you know, yeah, yeah, there's a famous temple in Japan. This will be. I have to jump right now afterwards, but there's a temple in that every 20 years it's totally torn down and rebuild again. Okay, and this has been happening now for 2000 years. So every 20, that's 100 times, 100 times, wow, and, and, and they have to find wood that's exactly like the wood you know that, the original or the existing one they have to replace with the same kind of woods. There's no mechanical parts of the temple, it's all done with drilling, with ancient yeah and everything they use now. The light screws, yeah, everything like that, and and an American coming into contact with this experience would say why? Why do you do it? Why don't you do it the next time? Why don't you build something different? You know, and, and I said because they have created enormous meaning and purpose out of something that's always the same. Dean: Yeah. Dan: So you know, convenience is a capability, but it's not the really purpose. It's not the ruling me. Right, convenience is not the ruling me. That's a discussion I like you yeah, I really, of course. Let's have a four C's dual. Let's have a four C's dual one, okay, when you do your first free zone with you and I will have a dual in the front of the room between your four C's and my four C's. Dean: Okay, there we go. I like it. Dan: Well, one of them is the same because we have capability and common, and I think capability is the master one. Dean: Yeah, and you're not. You don't think collaboration there. You're putting collaboration as a capability. Dan: Yeah, yeah, I think the other three are actually, I think capability is the center of your four C's and the other three are enhanced capabilities. Connectivity, collaboration and convenience are always being developed new in the world. I love it All right. Dean: Okay, thank you. Well, always great, dan. I'll look forward to next week. Dan: Yeah, and I'll be on the way home from the cottage next Sunday, so I won't be able to so to be the Sunday after. Dean: Okay, no problem, two weeks Okay yeah. Dan: Okay, okay, okay, thanks have a great time, bye-bye. Okay, bye. Dean: Bye.

In today's episode of Welcome to Cloudlandia, we unpack the fascinating story of how Toronto transformed over the decades thanks to the pivotal work of urban theorist Jane Jacobs. As we debate whether our growing dependency on virtual spaces like "Cloudlandia" is weakening local connections, we ponder journalism's evolution from its regional roots. We reminisce about bygone media eras over a nostalgic lunch at Table 10 and trace how universities and ideological factions shaped radio's founding. As always, we aim to provide a balanced look at technology's ability to bring people together globally while potentially distancing them locally.   SHOW HIGHLIGHTS The episode begins with a discussion about Jane Jacobs' significant role in preserving Toronto's neighborhoods in the 80s and how it has shaped the city to this day. There's an exploration of the shift to Cloudlandia and how this virtual universe could be curbing our desire to travel and reinforcing local areas. We rewind to the 80s and trace the evolution of regional media landscapes, debating the impact of Canadians having links to Florida and the emergence of new franchise models. Dan and I discuss the rise of Cloudlandia and its impact on our lives, connecting us to the world like never before. The power dynamics in radio broadcasting, specifically AT&T's control of the AM spectrum are examined. We delve into the ideological divide in radio before the advent of the internet, discussing how universities pioneered FM radio, while AM radio was seized by the right-wing. We contemplate the implications of geographical shifts and changing economic patterns triggered by our migration to the cloud. The future of communication and travel is questioned, and whether our lives continue to be dictated by Newton's laws or if we're slowly transitioning into a world governed by Moore's Law. The episode concludes with the hosts suggesting that as the virtual world expands, people may start reinforcing their local areas more, indicating a balance between global and local influences. Overall, the episode offers a thought-provoking journey through changing times, digital landscapes, and the very fabric of our lives. Links: WelcomeToCloudlandia.com StrategicCoach.com DeanJackson.com ListingAgentLifestyle.com TRANSCRIPT (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors) Dean: Mr Sullivan. Dan: Never gonna leave you. Never gonna leave you. Well come here I am. That's one thing about Cloudlandia Once you're in there, you can't leave. Dean: It's so convenient you know it's addictive. It really is. How was your week? Dan: I had a really super week, I have to tell you. I mean it was a four day week because of the holiday. Dean: Yeah. Dan: And it's not so much what I'm doing, that's what the company is doing, and there's just all sorts of independent projects which have been more or less under the surface. You know, there's kind of an interesting woman from the 80s and economist by the name of Jane Jacobs have you ever heard that name? I haven't. Dean: No. Dan: Yeah, and you know, in Toronto, when they stopped the Spadina Expressway. Yeah, I don't know if you remember that. What seems like yeah, well, you know the Allen Expressway. Dean: I do know the Allen. Dan: Expressway. Yeah, that was supposed to be the Spadina Expressway and it went off. It's gonna go all the way down to the center of the city Right, right, right. Right through the center of the city and it would have gone to the Gardner, it would have hooked up and then they would have traded clover leaves down at the bottom. Dean: And they would have had to remove. Dan: They would have had to remove all those neighborhoods. It would have gone right through Forest Hills actually. I think that was part of the reason why it got stopped, because wealthy people have more votes than poor people. I don't know if you've noticed that Not in my backyard Right exactly. And then the other one was the Scarborough Expressway, which you know, the Gardner extension that went out to the beaches. Dean: You know it went out and it was just called the. Dan: Gardner yeah, it's completely gone. They tore that down one night, basically, oh my goodness. We were away for two days and we had it when we left and when we got back it was gone, you know and but that whole area of Lake now from basically charity, erie Streep, actually, you know where the Gardner goes up the Don Valley. Dean: Yes, exactly. Dan: Yeah, well, that's where you took the extension off and they just tore it down. They tore it down in two, two stages, once about 10 years ago, and then they tore it down again, and so, but this was all the 40 year impact of Jane Jacobs, okay, and she said that she had to preserve your neighborhoods if you're going to have a great city and to tear down I mean, and it's turned Toronto into a congestion madhouse. I mean, that's the downside of it, but on the upside of it, toronto you know, toronto tries to call itself a world class city. Have you ever come across that? And what I noticed is that world class cities don't call themselves world class cities, they just are. Dean: New York. Dan: New York doesn't call itself a world class city, it just is. London doesn't call itself a world class city, it just is you know. So if you're still calling yourself a world class city. That means you're not, oh man it's a Toronto life syndrome. I mean Toronto Life Magazine. Dean: Yeah, and they're Toronto, by a magazine. I'm very intrigued, I'm very, I am very intrigued by these micro you know economies, or micro you know global lenses. I guess that we see through and you're not kind of talked about the whether that is. Dan: I'm talking about mainland. This is mainland stuff. Yeah, that's what I mean. Dean: Yeah, and I wonder if that is. I wonder if that sense is diminishing now that we've fully migrated. Dan: No, I think it's okay, I think it's coming back with, with the vengeance actually you know, and my sense is that the week that COVID started in March I think it was March 13th, friday the 13th I remember when it visited itself upon us, when clients were saying you know, we were seeing 50% drop-offs in future attendance for workshops because of COVID and it was partially, you know, but it was the lockdowns, it was the dropping off of airline flights and everything else I remember I mean all our cash flow got taken away in about a month, right Right and we had to switch. We had to switch to Zoom, you know, and and we had about a three month period where we just had to rework our entire you know, our entire business model to take all the in-person workshops and turn them over to Zoom workshops, you know. So, that's the upside of Cloudlandia, is that if they take away your mainland existence, you have to switch to Cloudlandia to compensate, and it's a bigger opportunity, bigger, broader everything. Yeah, but one of the downsides of this is that people don't feel like traveling anymore. Dean: I mean are you talking about me? Dan: No, I'm talking about us and you know. Dean: I know, yeah, exactly. Dan: I'm talking about everyone you meet, you know. Dean: I know exactly. Dan: You know, our only time when we have full attendance during the week, where we have people in the office, is Wednesday, monday and Tuesday, thursday and Friday, or when there's a in-person workshop. You have to be in the, you have to be in the company on workshop days. Okay and so, but the thing, the Jane Jacobs, the people who really got involved with the number one person in Toronto was Cromby, mayor Cromby, and he was one of the forefront leaders in stopping the Spadina Expressway and the Scarborough Expressway. Okay and so I'm just showing you the interrelationship between mainland and Cloudlandia. My feeling is that the more that Cloudlandia expands, the more people go back and start reinforcing their local areas. That's what I wonder about the whole cycle. How's that for a topic that we didn't know about five minutes ago? Dean: Well, exactly, but I think that I think there is something to that. You know, like I look at the, I think I've been I've mentioned before, like without having moved away from Toronto, like coming into Florida and yeah, when's the last time? Dan: when's the last time you flew to Toronto? Yeah, no, it's been three years, and three years, yeah, the next time will be whenever, april, if you April, if you decide you're coming to Toronto 12th of April is the first Toronto oh it's already set, yeah, it takes us about a year, because we've got to guarantee that we've got a date when people can also do their 10 times workshop in person. I got you, okay, yeah, so you know, I mean pre-zoners, double duty, you know, they double. Dean: Yeah, yeah, okay. Well, this is very exciting. So April 12 is on my calendar then, okay. Dan: I'm pretty sure you're taking a statistic from Dan Sullivan here. So yeah, we better double check on this Well, april 12 is Friday, yeah. It's in the calendar and I think the pre-zone is on or the 10 times is on the Thursday. Dean: Okay, so the 11th and 12th. Dan: All right. Dean: Well, now we're talking. Dan: Dan, and then Dan is on the Saturday and that's what I'm most excited about. Dean: Yeah Well, this will be for those who aren't listening. Dan: Table 10 is Dean and I met meeting for lunch on a Saturday, which really got everything we're doing together started was the table 10. Dean: Exactly right. Dan: Yeah, but that's a mainland, that's a mainland reality which may be possible. Dean: Yes, that's exactly right and I think that this now this is where I can, as I've reflected, I look at where I've been spending time, taking snapshot comparisons this week of today and 25 years ago and seeing where we are. You know, if I look at 25 years and 30 years ago kind of thing, I look back at when I started my you know sort of being in the result economy or launched my entrepreneurial career in 1988. So I look at that as coming up on, you know, 35 years. Dan: this year, 35 years, yeah, yeah, and I just want to look from there Well, it's 35 years. Right now it's 35 years. I mean, we're in the 35th year. Dean: So yeah. Dan: And, what's really interesting, our program where we have workshop programs, started in 1989. Dean: So next year is our 35th year you know it's year 35. Dan: So it's the 35th year of the program and I'll be 80 in May and I've been coaching for 50 years in August. Okay. So it's sort of an anniversary year Nashville in May we're going to have our first worldwide conference in Nashville. Coach Coach Con yeah, coach Con, coach Con, yeah, yeah you can take that in two ways. Coach Con. You can take Coach Con in two ways. Yeah, you can. It's the coach conference, or it's just shows you what 35 years of counting people will do for you. Dean: Oh, that's so funny. Well, I'm very excited about both of those. I'm very excited about both of those things. So where I was going was, you know, in 1988, looking back at the things, it was very much a Toronto-centric kind of lens because I had spent. I left Toronto in 1984 to come down to Florida and finish up. I've been spending a lot of time down there. I spent, you know, I spent those years and driving through this I remember the first time driving down on my own. I had a friend with me. But driving down going through the different cities, like going through Dayton, ohio, and going through Cincinnati. Dan: Ninety-five hits in 75. That's what we took. Dean: That's the main route to Florida. That's the main route, exactly, yeah, yeah, you crossed over at. Dan: Detroit. You probably crossed. Did you cross over at Detroit? Dean: We got a tip to cross over at Port Huron, so up further, which was Further north yeah. Dan: Yeah, but then once you were across it was a straight shot superhighway all the way to Florida, and the reason is that Canadians Florida is part of their Canada. Yeah, I mean Ontario. My Florida includesmy Canada includes Florida. Dean: Yeah, exactly that's true, isn't it? It's like the Southern Extension. You've gotten places in or things in Canadians. Have, you know, links to Florida? You're absolutely right, yeah. Dan: Half the Canadian adult population from around November to April. Well, let's say October to April includes Florida, Scottsdale. Dean: I was just going to say that Calgary you look at the other side, then Calgary is. Yeah, calgary is connected to Palm Springs and Phoenix. Dan: Yes, and then Maui, because I don't know what the situation is now, but I suspect they'll go to the part that didn't burn down. Dean: Yeah, but what struck me was the newspapers. So this is, what struck me is the newspapers and television stations, because we would stay, you know on the road. We would Hotels. Yeah, you would stay, yeah, we would stay in a hotel. And so I don't always, you know, get the newspaper. I've had a long time love for USA Today, which I've always kind of loved as just getting a overview of everything. But it struck me how I had grown up with the lens newspaper, lens being the globe and mail, the Toronto Sun and the Toronto Star and looking that, you know, without any sense of left and right leaning. You know, I didn't understand at that point, you know, the bent of and how that shapes things. But, it was amazing to me that I learned I got kind of on that deep level, these regional kind of markets you know I don't know how to fully describe it, but it was an awakening that I knew that, hey, if you've got something you know that worked in, it was kind of like this franchise. I'd be seeing franchise thinking in place, you know, in different places and seeing the Cracker Barrel restaurant. You have the same exact Cracker Barrel experience at any drop off point along Highway 75, you know, and so yeah. Dan: And that was. Dean: Yeah, at the time the thing was I mean in those days it was the new model. Yeah, yeah, for young college students traveling abroad. Right, but it was so great and that level of you know you wouldn't have any window into Louisville, kentucky, unless you're passing through Louisville and you tune in to the Louisville Echo Chamber or ecosystem where you're seeing the. Louisville anchors and the news and the local things, and you're reading the Louisville newspaper, you know. Dan: And then Macon Georgia. Dean: Yeah. Dan: Macon and everything. Dean: Because you usually made. Dan: I always remember that we shot for Louisville or Lexington on the first night. Yeah, lexington, yeah yeah, but we never saw any of the horse farms. Well, you did I mean because 75 went past the. But you never got off. Dean: Yeah, yeah. Dan: You had Oasis which were franchise Oasis. Dean: Yeah, exactly, and that way you know what you're going to. You know what you're going to get you know, but now I see now how those things are like with the rise of Cloudlandia, the access to what's going on a national scale and global scale kind of thing, is what direct to the individual. You know, now you've got access to everything, and I've been. Do you follow or is on your list of news outlets? Do you come to Daily Wire? Is that part of your routine or? Dan: are you familiar with. No, that's not one of my. Dean: Do you know? Dan: about the. Dean: Daily Wire. Dan: I've heard of it, but that's not really what I it's not. Dean: No, I mean I'll look at it. Dan: now that you're talking about it, I'll look at it. Dean: Well, Ben Shapiro is the one who basically I know Ben, he's the guy that started the Daily Wire. Dan: Yeah. I'm a Breitbart guy, I'm a Breitbart guy. I check daily caller town hall Breitbart, you know. Dean: Yeah well, the Daily Wire is now a $200 million. They do $2 million a year now and they just Last year. If you think about the VCR formula. And the reason I'm bringing up the Daily Wire is that is a cloudland-centric, a media empire that was started 100% to be online and took advantage of one. They tapped into Facebook's reach and they funneled those people into get readership and get subscribers to their news service and use that money to buy more attention on Facebook. That was the whole very simple model and they executed it flawlessly. And so they built this huge reach and they had a relationship with Harry's Razors. Do you remember? Dan: Oh yeah, Like Dollar. Dean: Shade Club and Harry's Razors. So Harry's Razors was a big advertiser on Daily Wire, doing very successfully, and then Harry's took exception to some content on the Daily Wire that suggested that men are men and women are women and that would Whoa, whoa, whoa. Dan: That's like touching the third rail of the subway, absolutely. Dean: And they dropped it. They stopped advertising, but what Jeremy Borencher, I think, is the president, who's the CEO of the company what they did was they started on the backs of that company called Jeremy's Razors and they built this whole. They did a whole ad launching the process because it's their own audience. They were already very successfully selling Harry's razors to their audience by letting Harry tap into their reach, and so when Harry's left, instead of looking for somebody to replace Harry's as an advertising partner, they said, well, we'll just make the razors ourselves. And they started Jeremy's razors and now Jeremy's razors is a huge subscription-based company speaking directly to the reach that they've built with the media company. And it struck me that now we're getting to where these very specialized. I don't think we're separating geographically as much as we're ideologically now that there's brands for the right and there's brands for the left and there's you know, there's woke brands and there's I won't say successful brands. Now. Dan: But the. Dean: I mean the writings on the wall. I'll tell you. Dan: I'll tell you. Can I tell you an earlier crossover that? Dean: set that up. Dan: Yeah Well, actually FM radio was technologically possible in the 1930s and 1940s but it was never approved by the FEC until the 1970s. Actually, there was about a 40-year thing where the federal what's the FEC, federal communications they couldn't get it passed for, even though it was available and and but FM is strictly a local radio reach. You know, during the day you can get about maybe 30 miles. You lived in Georgetown, I think, when you lived in. Toronto right. Well you could get CJRT, which was an. FM station and you could, but once you got, let's say, up to Orangeville or Newcastle, you couldn't get CJRT anymore. Okay, Because, FM is gets interrupted by solar energy during the day. Am we? When I was growing up, I could listen to New York, I could listen to Chicago. Dean: Yeah. Dan: Remember you put on a clear night, real clear nights. I could get New Orleans, philadelphia was easy, boston was easy on. Am because it's a different bandwidth, okay, and it doesn't get interfered with by the sun, but the sun won't let FM go further than about 30 or 40 miles. It's not true anymore, because all the FM stations now go on the internet you know, so I have an internet delivery so I can get Los Angeles Jazz Station on, you know, on the internet and they're taking advantage of the internet. But what happened was it was AT&T really controlled the AM spectrum. At&t, yeah, I mean they talked about the dominant technologies. You know Google and Meta and you know and everything they talked about it today. You know Amazon, that nobody, they didn't get up to the knees that the type of control that AT&T had. Okay, and. AT&T didn't want any competition for its AM networks and they came in and the. But because FM is a local, it's you know, it's a region, it's where you are, you get a real. The universities are the ones who started it all. Okay, so in you know, cjrt was Ryerson and the Toronto and everywhere you went, like if you went to Louisville it would be the University of Louisville you know, and and everything else. And so, right off the bat, the ideology of the universities by that time was left. You know, that was where the left wing people you know symphony music and it was, you know, the various FM stations, and they abandoned. Am got abandoned and the right took over AM radio, you know, and Ross Limbaugh was the first person who really took advantage of that, and this was strictly the right side of the political spectrum. Dean: Okay so. Dan: AM talk radio. Am talk radio. The left tried to get into talk radio and nobody would listen to it. Dean: Okay, Nobody so the you know. Dan: And so what happened? You already had that ideological split at the radio stage. Okay, so if you were left wing and you were driving to Florida, you would go from university town to university town and pick up the FM station, but you weren't less than the AM radio anymore. So that was the first split. Before you ever got to, you know, you got to the internet with. That split had already happened in the radio spectrum. Dean: Yeah, amazing. Dan: That was before you were born. Dean: Right, right, right, that's something. Dan: But I mean, imagine something happened in the world before you were born. Dean: It is so funny. But I look at that, you know, and it is like it's amazing to see how this is going, and certainly club Landia is enabling that and my, to bring it all, we're back around to the. What we started talking about with the local, saving the neighborhoods kind of thing is, yeah, I wonder if we're starting to see geography kind of shaping up here, that Florida and Texas are becoming like sort of you know conservative, you know safety and some kind of thing that they're gathering all the people there, yeah, yeah, and they've surpassed New York, they've surpassed New York state, they've surpassed Illinois, they've surpassed California. You know the states. Dan: People are leaving those states and going to Florida and they're going to Texas and so, but I believe in Moore's law, which essentially is the you know, the technological formula that's created Cloud Landia is Moore's law, but mainland is controlled by Newton's law and. Newton's third law I mean Moore's law is that every 18 to two years the computing power of the microchip will double and the price of it will get in half, that's the we've lived in that world for the last 50 years. Dean: And but. Dan: But Newton's law is for every action there's an opposite and equal reaction. Yeah, so if you yeah, so so you got to look at both laws. Dean: And I wonder, you know one law triggers the yeah. Yeah, it is interesting to see the like. I wonder if you were to you know, are we bringing back now? The importance of the local infrastructure, the local like. What is the role of the community now in our lives, in our world? I mean, I feel like I'm it's getting narrower on less and less like inclined to have to travel to other places, and it's funny, you know, I don't know. Dan: Well, I won't travel, I mean, except for my own workshops. I won't travel to business, I won't travel for anything. And you know and I mean all my speeches what I used to give speeches for. Now you know where I would be invited to a big conference and I cut that off in 2013. I just you know, you can have me as a speaker, but it's going to be a podcast at the conference. Dean: Yeah right. Yeah, that's kind of the way I've been doing. Dan: Things too is zooming in as opposed to traveling and flying in yeah, yeah and it's easy because you know you're doing whatever you're doing at the Four Seasons Valhalla and then you're someplace else in the world. Dean: Yeah yeah that's so true right. Dan: Yeah so, but people think that because there's a new realm available that eliminates all the previous realms, but actually just the opposite happens. Dean: Yeah, I posted and it's so. I think about how we really have the ability to be a beacon. You know I'm Jamie Smart. I don't know if you've ever met Jamie? Dan: Yeah, well, I know of him. I know of him, yeah. Dean: Yeah, wrote clarity, just like when we were doing all the big seminars. You know when we stopped doing that in 2009,. That was a big, you know, big shift in our world. You know, in terms of having spent 15 years every single month doing a big event somewhere new. Joe was having a conversation with Jamie about that and he was like because for him it had been even longer, you know, doing that with his identity of being a speaker, going to town and being on stage. And Jamie talked about it as a transition from going from being a torch bearer, where you have to take the torch and go city to city to spread the message, switching to being a lighthouse, where you stay in there and be your light from when everybody comes to you and that was a big shift. And even then, 2009, the Internet was here and all the infrastructure and everything was here, but it certainly wasn't the same place as it is now. Zoom and all that stuff was not yet. Now it's just. I look at it and you start to see, man, there's just so many ways to reach the world from your Zoom room. You can really have a global. There's nothing stopping you from having a global broadcasting center in a 6x6 room in your house. Dan: Yeah, it's interesting. You were very helpful to us because we had that flood in our Fraser Street building. Then we were knocked out. I mean, we had just come back from lockdown, from COVID lockdown, and we got three months in and we had the city water main next to our building when Underground just destroyed our my recording studios, our tech team, where our tech team was, where all of our materials were. But they closed the building down because the city inspectors had to come in and they had to check out. Maybe the whole building had to come down because the support structures may have been weakened and they'll just condemn the building, but we were out for eight months before we could get back in, you know. But, in destroying our recording studio we had a company. Toronto is a great post-production center for the film industry. So it's dependent upon the Canadian dollar. If the Canadian dollar is really weak, film studios in the United States ship their post-production work you know of editing and everything and there's about 15 movie studios, tv and movie studios in the Toronto area, all the way from Pickering to Hamilton. You know these are big studios but they do all their inside. They bring all their inside work to Toronto. And now they're creating actual virtual towns with CGI. So did you catch any of the Jack Reacher series. Dean: I did not. Dan: It was a huge hit. But the town that's depicted where Jack Reacher is, it's a small town in Georgia. The first season was the small town in Georgia. It was one Lee Child book, Jack Reacher, and that entire town was created in CGI, doesn't exactly? That's crazy, right, but when you look at it. And then all the inside scenes were constructed in the film studios. You know the homes and everything like that. But that shows you the relationship between Cloudlandia and the mainland. Okay, because once you cross an international border, you're in a different currency system. Yeah even though I mean digitally. Dean: I mean so many things are possible now. I posted up a video. Dan: The one thing that remains constant is the US dollar Okay. I mean the US dollar. And people say, well, why does everybody use the US dollar? And I said you just answered your question. Dean: It's right there Back up to the first part of your sentence. Why does everybody you know that's like yeah, I mean it's like English. Dan: Why does everybody speak English? I said you just answered your question. Dean: That's like the Yogi Berra Nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded right. Dan: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, and yeah. And so the big thing is that since 1989, the differential the average differential, between the Canadian dollar and the US dollar has been 26% in favor of the American dollar. So we get 80% of the US dollar, it's dollar 36, dollar 36 right now Are you crazy? Dean: Well, that's crazy. So I checked the number. Dan: I checked the number no no, because in 19, it was $5.55. Dean: Oh, wow, yeah, but it's been hanging around in the mid 30s. Dan: 30% now for, I would say, last three or four years it's been you know could be as low as 30% and it got up to 42% per hour, but that so we didn't plan it this way. It was just a lucky break for us that we started in. Toronto, and so 80% of our income is in US dollars, but 80% of our expenses are in Canadian dollars and basically can buy the same thing with a Canadian dollar in Canada as you can with a US dollar in the United States. So we've got we don't have 26% because it's 80%. It's not 100, but we've averaged 20% for the four years we've averaged. So every dollar that comes across it's worth a dollar 20 if it comes across from the United States. Dean: Yeah, right Wow. And that's kind of where we're talking about the infrastructure, you know the infrastructure thing of being able to now, you know, build with a main or a Cloudlandia audience to reach with all the but with the capabilities or the expenses and physical delivery stuff happening in the most favorable, you know, mainland place. And I wonder if that's the opportunity that geographically you know places will get, will become sort of specialist in certain things. Dan: Well, that has been the case actually for the last 30 years. Okay, because of one factor that 90% of global trade, 90% so every day, the all the transactions in the world, it's, like you know, it can be like 4 trillion to 6 and a half trillion every day. The total value of it, well, 85% of it is in US dollars, okay, is in US dollars and all of that is. 90% of all global trade happens on water Is that right 90% of all global interactions and you know the, if you just take a look that it's water travel and that's only safe because of one factor, and that's the US Navy. And since you know since and that was. That wasn't for economic purposes for the US, it wasn't at all for you at. You know the everybody says well, the Americans, you know they just did this for their economic that actually the US. You know how much 10, how much percentage of the US economy is actually involved in cross border trade? 10%. Wow the other 90% is just Americans making stuff and selling it to Americans. So the US really doesn't isn't really that involved in the world but they had a problem after the Second World War and it was called the Soviet Union. And so what they did after the war said you know, we don't want to fight the Russians head on, so what we'll do? We'll just create a great economic deal with every other country in the world that's not communist and we'll promise them that we'll guarantee all their trade routes by water and they can sell anything they want into the US without any tariffs. And it was a great deal. Modern China only exists because the US guaranteed all their trade, and now the US has decided not to guarantee their trade, their water transportation and that's why. China's hit a wall, you know, and, and so I mean. But it's really interesting, dean, you're the one who came up with the cloud land idea on the podcast, and. But what I've been examining more and more is what happened if the cloud, if cloud land idea changes your ability to communicate and travel. You know, physically it's not like the mainland is going to be the same after that. I mean, if you make a change in one realm, it's going to make changes. I think this localization is now the, so if you're globalizing on the one hand, you're localizing on the other because you got a balance. That's what I wonder now, and I don't see. Dean: I'm starting to see like there's some shifts in the way that you know. I think that cities or towns I'm not, I can just speak about for winter, what I'm noticing a lot of development in is winter haven is sort of focused on the downtown, on making that kind of a more vibrant gathering center. It's not, you know, spread out like within strip plazas, like it was in the 70s, and it's not about the mall. Now it's about the downtown and they're taking kind of this ghost kitchen or you know model, but building it around social spaces. So there's two or three now of these developing areas where they've got multiple restaurants in one gathering place, right, so it becomes like a social hub where you can go there and they have live music and people gathering but you can eat at whatever, whatever type of food you want. Dan: So it's not like going inside to ask you a question I mean winter haven is a fairly small geographic area, but are there are there new residents buildings? Going up where these social centers are. Dean: Yeah, see, that's the thing? Dan: yeah, because the internet, you know the interstate highway system had bypassed all the downtowns. Dean: You know back in the 50s the right. Dan: You know the. The interstate highway system in the United States is the greatest public works project in the history of the world. It's about 63,000 miles now and they add about another 500 miles every every year. You know bypasses and connectors and everything like that, so it's a never ending project. But in the 50s it just bankrupted almost every small town in the United States when it. You had to go through the small. We went to Florida in 1956 and it was small town after small town after small town. There was no interstate. 75. Dean: Yeah, wow, yeah, that's kind of like Route 66 was going the cross. Dan: Yeah, yeah, you can still take Route 66, but it's small town after small town, you know yeah yeah, just listen to the words of the, the song you know, route 66 and tell you all the small and none of them were big cities. They were small towns you went through, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah yeah, so we're creating an interesting model here that Moore's Law is expanding, you know one realm. But the Moore's Law or Newton's Law says, yeah, if you do that in Cloudlandia, then that there's going to be a decentralization that goes on in the mainland. So winter I mean, you'll probably have people you know more or less spend their life in winter. Hey, winter haven't, because anywhere they want to go else, wise, they'll do it in Cloudlandia. Dean: Yeah, that's what I'm seeing. I just looked up the winter haven in the population right now it's 57,000. Dan: So yeah yeah, and I see you know yeah, yeah, and the interesting thing about the malls, that Mark Mills wrote a great book. Mark Mills is an economist in the Manhattan Institute. I think it's the Manhattan Institute, which, as you the name suggests, is a think tank in New York. City and he writes about the malls. He's got a whole chapter on the malls and he says the malls are going to, they're being abandoned. There's about a thousand failed shopping malls in the United States at any given time. There's about a thousand that have been abandoned. You know they just go bankrupt. And he says they're going to be turned into factories or they're going to be turned into warehouses shipping centers and they're beautiful because they they've got parking for all the work they've already got all the. You know the delivery sites like they have the, the delivering docks you know loading docks, right, the loading that. They've got all the loading docks. They got massive amounts of space and he says that they're going to be robotic and automated factories it's amazing, it's so. Dean: It's such an amazing time to be alive right now. You know, I mean, you think about where, the things that are ready to implement that are all here right now. You know, I don't know that. The next thing, like, as I mentioned, I was doing snapshot comparisons of you know day to day 1988 versus today and, as I said to Stuart Stuart, my operations guy, was with me, we were going, we went to the movie studio movie grill here in about 30, 40 minutes away and I started recounting the day with him, like as we were. I was in these comparisons. I'm saying, okay, so here's how the day started. I him in the morning and said you know, let's go to the movie. I forget what movie was out, but it was a great movie that was had just come out that day or whatever. And so we were going to go for lunch and go to the movie there, because they have Studio Movie Grill is like a dining theater, so you go and they bring food and everything. So started out with the text of that. Then I went to the studio. My video studio recorded a video that I, stuart, and I left. From there I bought the tickets for the movie online through Fandango and, you know, bought the tickets in advance. So we all we had to do was scan the barcode. They just scanned it on my phone when we got there, but the Tesla drove us there using the autopilot function, so we were driven to the movie. We got in our seats without having to go to the thing. We scanned a QR code for the menu of what to get. We pushed a button. They came and took our order, brought us the food. We got back in the car, had the coordinates. The car starts driving us. We were listening to a podcast on the way back and it just in that moment, just that little thing. There's not a single element of that day. That was possible in 1988. Dan: Yeah. I will remind you that in 1988, you probably said what an amazing time to be alive. Yeah, you're probably right. Dean: I mean the dot was like what I got. Dan: Yeah. Dean: I mean look at this. Dan: The fact are you kidding me. Dean: We can send a piece of paper over the telephone. What a relief it comes back. Dan: Yeah, now I'm going to. We've got a mainland collision happening in about five minutes, Okay, okay, and that is from when we started today, the one we finished, because I'm visiting Winterhaven from. I'm in Chicago today, so I'm visiting Winterhaven, florida, from 10 o'clock to two minutes to 11. But in 11,. I have to go to Vienna, Austria, and have an hour's talk with Kim White. Dean: Okay, right, right, right. Yeah, I got to get on the flight to Vienna, right. Dan: Yeah Well, it's a click actually. Dean: Yeah, the zoom I got to get in. Well, I have to switch over. Dan: I have to switch over from my phone to my computer because it's on zoom and anyway, but that I mean what we're seeing here, is you and I are. You know we're early adapters. You know you and I are early adapters, so I say, okay, the world's changed, so how do I have to change? You know, that's my basic response and and all of us got sent to bootcamp for two years during the COVID lockdown. And we might not have chosen the route that we're on right now, but we were forced to. You know we were forced to, right, yeah, you know, I have a goal of never being on welfare during the rest of my life. Okay, yeah, I like to make my own money and everything, but it's an interesting thing. But, more and more, I think that you have to take both Moore's law and Newton's third law into account, because one of them explains the virtual world and Cloudlandia world, but the other one explains what happens to the mainland. When the Cloudlandia keeps getting bigger and bigger, the mainland keeps getting more and more local, like winter. Yeah, so yeah but you gotta you gotta be good at operating in both worlds. Dean: Yeah, you're right. You know I'm staying off welfare, that's well, you know, Dan, there's this little thing. There's a thing called cash confidence, and most people think it's about having an amount of money, but what it's really about is having the ability to create value for other people. So as long, as you keep focused on that, you're going to be just fine. Dan: Yeah. Dean: Yeah. Dan: This is really yeah, and I'm feeling very good going down 80, that I'm starting to get good at living yeah. Dean: So amazing, isn't it? What a world, yeah, the journey. Dan: Yeah. Yeah, Actually you know, the most amazing part of being alive being alive. Dean: Yeah, that is part of it all. That is exactly right. Dan: That is exactly right. Dean: It beats the alternatives you know, and it's funny. Dan: The answer. The answer is in the question. Yeah, I just heard Dion Sanders was talking about how the whole body everything about us is oriented for moving forward and it would be neat if Colorado ends up in the playoffs and the 14 playoffs, oh. Dean: I mean, well, they just beat Nebraska yesterday, so they're two and oh, right now. Yeah, I mean, it's just. It's the most amazing thing to watch. But do you ever think we're meant for moving forward Our eyes, look forward Our ears? Are perfectly positioned to bring us all the sound and everything from in front of us. Our mouth are meant to project forward. There's only one part of our body that points backwards. Dan: And that's the exhaust. That's where, all the way you leave all the way behind you If you keep moving forward. I guess the evolution figured this out a long time ago. Dean: Yeah, a lot of problems. Don't worry about what's happening behind there, don't look back, just keep moving forward. Dan: You know that's in our years of doing the podcast. I think that's the greatest closing statement we've ever had. Dean: Well, it struck me as this that's the first time I've ever heard it explained like that, but it's absolutely true. So that's why it's even more important, to be the lead guy in the line you don't want to be that. Yeah, it's like sled dogs. Dan: Yeah, if you're not with sled dogs. If you're not the lead dog, the future always looks the same. Dean: Oh man, what a day. All right. Well, you have my best. We've got a date, we've got a date next. Dan: If you're up to it, we've got a next Sunday. Dean: Oh yeah, I'm in Chicago today. Dan: So I'm in Chicago today, so I'll be back in Toronto next week. No, it's a permanent fixture in my calendar. Dean: All right. Dan: Thanks a lot, Dean. Dean: Thanks. Dan: bye, bye.

Gottlieb and Beyer in for Dan: They discuss how the NBA season wrapped up, how the Play-In games look, and what intrigues them most about the NBA Playoff matchups.  FSR NFL Insider Adam Caplan joins Doug and Dan to give his insight into the OBJ signing by the Ravens, what that means for Lamar Jackson, and all of the other major headlines in the NFL right now. Plus, the guys play the "IN" game.  #DougGottliebShowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Doug Gottlieb and Dan Beyer filling in for Dan: They react to the news that the Baltimore Ravens have signed Odell Beckham Jr. and what the means for quarterback Lamar Jackson. FSR NBA Insider Ric Bucher joins the show to talk about the NBA post-season, the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Mavs and the other major headlines around the NBA.   Doug and Dan discuss the storylines that intrigued them most from Augusta over the weekend as Jon Rahm won his first Masters title.  #DougGottliebShowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gottlieb and Beyer in for Dan: They react to the news that the Baltimore Ravens have signed Odell Beckham Jr. and what the means for quarterback Lamar Jackson. Doug and Dan discuss the storylines that intrigued them most from Augusta over the weekend as Jon Rahm won his first Masters title. Plus, Doug and Dan try to explain the wild ending of the season for the Minnesota Timberwolves.  #DougGottliebShowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gottlieb and Beyer in for Dan: They discuss the Dallas Mavs, the peculiar ending to their season, and where they go from here.  FSR NBA Insider Ric Bucher joins the show to talk about the NBA post-season, the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Mavs and the other major headlines around the NBA.  Plus, the guys talk about what is going on with the Dodgers.    #DougGottliebShowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gottlieb and Beyer in for Dan: They react to the news that the Baltimore Ravens have signed Odell Beckham Jr. and what the means for quarterback Lamar Jackson. Doug and Dan discuss the storylines that intrigued them most from Augusta over the weekend as Jon Rahm won his first Masters title. Plus, Doug and Dan try to explain the wild ending of the season for the Minnesota Timberwolves.  #DougGottliebShowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Doug Gottlieb and Dan Beyer filling in for Dan: They react to the news that the Baltimore Ravens have signed Odell Beckham Jr. and what the means for quarterback Lamar Jackson. FSR NBA Insider Ric Bucher joins the show to talk about the NBA post-season, the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Mavs and the other major headlines around the NBA.   Doug and Dan discuss the storylines that intrigued them most from Augusta over the weekend as Jon Rahm won his first Masters title.  #DougGottliebShowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gottlieb and Beyer in for Dan: They discuss the Dallas Mavs, the peculiar ending to their season, and where they go from here.  FSR NBA Insider Ric Bucher joins the show to talk about the NBA post-season, the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Mavs and the other major headlines around the NBA.  Plus, the guys talk about what is going on with the Dodgers.    #DougGottliebShowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gottlieb and Beyer in for Dan: They discuss how the NBA season wrapped up, how the Play-In games look, and what intrigues them most about the NBA Playoff matchups.  FSR NFL Insider Adam Caplan joins Doug and Dan to give his insight into the OBJ signing by the Ravens, what that means for Lamar Jackson, and all of the other major headlines in the NFL right now. Plus, the guys play the "IN" game.  #DougGottliebShowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The boys finally rock up in the home of metal and canals for a live show in front of a home crowd (for Dan) They are joined on stage by Eva Echo, Director of Innovation at Birmingham Pride and trans activist - and Dan Tiernan, former dinner lady and winner of the BBC New Comedy Award 2022. Plus a special game of Anal or Canal - is it a sex position or a UK waterway?Trigger warning: This episode contains brief mentions of suicide and eating disorders.For more on Eva Echo - https://linktr.ee/evaechoFor more on Dan Tiernan - https://www.instagram.com/tiernancomedian/?hl=enIn memory of A Gay And A Nongay's biggest fan - Dan's mum.Recorded live at the Mockingbird Cinema in Digbeth as part of the Birmingham Comedy Festival.  Get bonus content on Patreon, with our super exclusive fan feed Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On the Friday edition of The Best of The Dan Patrick Show with Doug Gottlieb and Bucky Brooks filling in for Dan: They talk about the settlement between the NFL and NFLPA involving Deshaun Watson that has resulted in Watson being suspended 11 games and fined $5 million.  Former NFL team executive Michael Lombardi joins Doug and Bucky to give his reaction to the Deshaun Watson settlement, what the Browns should do in the interim, Lamar Jackson's situation in Baltimore, and the other major headlines around the NFL.   Doug and Bucky give their thoughts on Baker Mayfield taking over as QB1 for the Panthers and where that leaves Sam Darnold.  #DougGottliebShowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Friday edition of The Best of The Dan Patrick Show with Doug Gottlieb and Bucky Brooks filling in for Dan: They talk about the settlement between the NFL and NFLPA involving Deshaun Watson that has resulted in Watson being suspended 11 games and fined $5 million.  Former NFL team executive Michael Lombardi joins Doug and Bucky to give his reaction to the Deshaun Watson settlement, what the Browns should do in the interim, Lamar Jackson's situation in Baltimore, and the other major headlines around the NFL.   Doug and Bucky give their thoughts on Baker Mayfield taking over as QB1 for the Panthers and where that leaves Sam Darnold.  #DougGottliebShowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Happy Halloween! We're joined by comics scribe Daniel "D.G." Chichester to talk about the history of horror comics, Marvel's return to the genre in the early 1990s, and the macabre anti-hero Terror (whom Chichester co-created).  ----more---- Issue 18 Transcript   Mike: [00:00:00] It's small, but feisty, Mike: Welcome to Tencent Takes, the podcast where we dig up comic book characters' graves and misappropriate the bodies, one issue at a time. My name is Mike Thompson, and I am joined by my cohost, the Titan of terror herself, Jessika Frazer. Jessika: It is I. Mike: Today, we are extremely fortunate to have comics writer, Daniel, DG Chichester. Dan: Nice to see you both. Mike: Thank you so much for taking the time. You're actually our first official guest on the podcast. Dan: Wow. Okay. I'm going to take that as a good thing. That's great. Mike: Yeah. Well, if you're new to the show, the purpose of our [00:01:00] podcast as always is to look at the weirdest, silliest, coolest moments of comic books, and talk about them in ways that are fun and informative. In this case, we looking at also the spookiest moments, and how they're woven into the larger fabric of pop culture and history. Today, we're going to be talking about horror comics. We're looking at their overall history as well as their resurrection at Marvel in the early 1990s, and how it helped give birth to one of my favorite comic characters, an undead anti-hero who went by the name of Terror. Dan, before we started going down this road, could you tell us a little bit about your history in the comic book industry, and also where people can find you if they want to learn more about you and your work? Dan: Absolutely. At this point, people may not even know I had a history in comic books, but that's not true. Uh, I began at Marvel as an assistant in the mid-eighties while I was still going to film school and, semi quickly kind of graduated up, to a more official, [00:02:00] assistant editor position. Worked my way up through editorial, and then, segued into freelance writing primarily for, but also for DC and Dark Horse and worked on a lot of, semi-permanent titles, Daredevil's probably the best known of them. But I think I was right in the thick of a lot of what you're going to be talking about today in terms of horror comics, especially at Marvel, where I was fiercely interested in kind of getting that going. And I think pushed for certain things, and certainly pushed to be involved in those such as the Hellraiser and Nightbreed Clive Barker projects and Night Stalkers and, uh, and Terror Incorporated, which we're going to talk about. And wherever else I could get some spooky stuff going. And I continued on in that, heavily until about 96 / 97, when the big crash kind of happened, continued on through about 99 and then have not really been that actively involved since then. But folks can find out what I'm doing now, if they go to story maze.substack.com, where I have a weekly newsletter, which features [00:03:00] new fiction and some things that I think are pretty cool that are going on in storytelling, and also a bit of a retrospective of looking back at a lot of the work that I did. Mike: Awesome. Before we actually get started talking about horror comics, normally we talk about one cool thing that we have read or watched recently, but because this episode is going to be dropping right before Halloween, what is your favorite Halloween movie or comic book? Dan: I mean, movies are just terrific. And there's so many when I saw that question, especially in terms of horror and a lot of things immediately jumped to mind. The movie It Follows, the recent It movie, The Mist, Reanimator, are all big favorites. I like horror movies that really kind of get under your skin and horrify you, not just rack up a body count. But what I finally settled on as a favorite is probably John Carpenter's the Thing, which I just think is one of the gruesomest what is going to happen next? What the fuck is going to happen next?[00:04:00] And just utter dread. I mean, there's just so many things that combined for me on that one. And I think in terms of comics, I've recently become just a huge fan of, and I'm probably going to slaughter the name, but Junji Ito's work, the Japanese manga artist. And, Uzumaki, which is this manga, which is about just the bizarreness of this town, overwhelmed with spirals of all things. And if you have not read that, it is, it is the trippiest most unsettling thing I've read in, in a great long time. So happy Halloween with that one. Mike: So that would be mango, right? Dan: Yeah. Yeah. So you'd make sure you read it in the right order, or otherwise it's very confusing, so. Mike: Yeah, we actually, haven't talked a lot about manga on this. We probably should do a deep dive on it at some point. But, Jessika, how about you? Jessika: Well, I'm going to bring it down a little bit more silly because I've always been a fan of horror and the macabre and supernatural. So always grew up seeking creepy media as [00:05:00] a rule, but I also loves me some silliness. So the last three or so years, I've had a tradition of watching Hocus Pocus with my friend, Rob around Halloween time. And it's silly and it's not very heavy on the actual horror aspect, but it's fun. And it holds up surprisingly well. Mike: Yeah, we have all the Funkos of the Sanderson sisters in our house. Jessika: It's amazing watching it in HD, their costumes are so intricate and that really doesn't come across on, you know, old VHS or watching it on television back in the day. And it's just, it's so fun. How much, just time and effort it looks like they put into it, even though some of those details really weren't going to translate. Dan: How very cool. Mike: Yeah. Jessika: Yeah. So, but I also really like actual horror, so I'm also in the next couple of days is going to be a visiting the 1963 Haunting of Hill House because that's one of my favorites. Yeah. It's so good. And used to own the book that the movie was based on also. And seen all the [00:06:00] iterations and it's the same storyline the recent Haunting of Hill house is based on, which is great. That plot line has been reworked so many times, but it's such a great story, I'm just not shocked in the least that it would run through so many iterations and still be accepted by the public in each of its forms. Mike: Yeah. I really liked that Netflix interpretation of it, it was really good. Dan: They really creeped everything out. Mike: Yeah. There's a YouTuber called Lady Night, The Brave, and she does a really great summary breakdown explaining a lot of the themes and it's like almost two hours I think, of YouTube video, but she does these really lovely retrospectives. So, highly recommend you check that out. If you want to just think about that the Haunting of Hill House more. Jessika: Oh, I do. Yes. Mike: I'm going to split the difference between you two. When I was growing up, I was this very timid kid and the idea of horror just creeped me out. And so I avoided it like the plague. And then when I was in high [00:07:00] school, I had some friends show me some movies and I was like, these are great, why was I afraid of this stuff? And so I kind of dove all the way in. But my preferred genre is horror comedy. That is the one that you can always get me in on. And, I really love this movie from the mid-nineties called the Frighteners, which is a horror comedy starring Michael J. Fox, and it's directed by Peter Jackson. And it was written by Peter Jackson and his partner, Fran Walsh. And it was a few years before they, you know, went on to make a couple of movies based on this little known franchise called Lord of the Rings. But it's really wild. It's weird, and it's funny, and it has some genuine jump scare moments. And there's this really great ghost story at the core of it. And the special effects at the time were considered amazing and groundbreaking, but now they're kind of, you look at, and you're like, oh, that's, high-end CG, high-end in the mid-nineties. Okay. But [00:08:00] yeah, like I said, or comedies are my absolute favorite things to watch. That's why Cabin in the Woods always shows up in our horror rotation as well. Same with Tucker and Dale vs Evil. That's my bread and butter. With comic books, I go a little bit creepier. I think I talked about the Nice House on the Lake, that's the current series that I'm reading from DC that's genuinely creepy and really thoughtful and fun. And it's by James Tynion who also wrote Something That's Killing the Children. So those are excellent things to read if you're in the mood for a good horror comic. Dan: Great choice on the Frighteners. That's I think an unsung classic, that I'm going to think probably came out 10 years too early. Mike: Yeah. Dan: It's such a mashup of different, weird vibes, that it would probably do really, really well today. But at that point in time, it was just, what is this? You know? Cause it's, it's just cause the horrifying thing in it are really horrifying. And, uh, Gary Busey's son, right, plays the evil ghost and he is just trippy, off the wall, you know, horrifying. [00:09:00] Mike: Yeah. And it starts so silly, and then it kind of just continues to go creepier and creepier, and by the time that they do some of the twists revealing his, you know, his agent in the real world, it's a genuine twist. Like, I was really surprised the first time I saw it and I - Dan: Yeah. Mike: was so creeped out, but yeah. Dan: Plus it's got R. Lee Ermey as the army ghost, which is just incredible. So, Mike: Yeah. And, Chi McBride is in it, and, Jeffrey Combs. Dan: Oh, oh that's right, right. right. Mike: Yeah. So yeah, it's a lot of fun. Mike: All right. So, I suppose we should saunter into the graveyard, as it were, and start talking about the history of horror comics. So, Dan, obviously I know that you're familiar with horror comics, Dan: A little bit. Mike: Yeah. What about you, Jess? You familiar with horror comics other than what we've talked about in the show? Jessika: I started getting into it once you and I started, you know, talking more on the [00:10:00] show. And so I grabbed a few things. I haven't looked through all of them yet, but I picked up some older ones. I did just recently pick up, it'll be more of a, kind of a funny horror one, but they did a recent Elvira and Vincent Price. So, yeah, so I picked that up, but issue one of that. So it's sitting on my counter ready for me to read right now. Mike: Well, and that's funny, cause Elvira actually has a really long, storied history in comic books. Like she first appeared in kind of like the revival of House of Mystery that DC did. And then she had an eighties series that had over a hundred issues that had a bunch of now major names involved. And she's continued to have series like, you can go to our website and get autographed copies of her recent series from, I think Dynamite. Jessika: That's cool. Mike: Yeah. Jessika: Nice. Mike: Speaking of horror comedy Elvira is great. Jessika: Yes. Mike: I recently showed Sarah the Elvira Mistress of the Dark movie and she was, I think really sad that I hadn't showed it to her sooner. Jessika: [00:11:00] That's another one I need to go watch this week. Wow. Don't- nobody call me. I'm just watching movies all week. Dan: Exactly. Mike: It's on a bunch of different streaming services, I think right now. Well it turns out that horror comics, have pretty much been a part of the industry since it really became a proven medium. You know, it wasn't long after comics became a legit medium in their own, right that horror elements started showing up in superhero books, which like, I mean, it isn't too surprising. Like the 1930's was when we got the Universal classic movie monsters, so it makes a lot of sense that those kinds of characters would start crossing over into comic books, just to take advantage of that popularity. Jerry Siegel and Joel Schuster, the guys who created Superman, actually created the supernatural investigator called Dr. Occult in New Fun Comics three years before they brought Superman to life. And Dr. Occult still shows up in DC books. Like, he was a major character in the Books of Magic with Neil Gaiman. I think he may show up in Sandman later on. I can't remember. Jessika: Oh, okay. Dan: I wouldn't be surprised. Neil would find ways to mine that. [00:12:00] Mike: Yeah. I mean, that was a lot of what the Sandman was about, was taking advantage of kind of long forgotten characters that DC had had and weaving them into his narratives. And, if you're interested in that, we talk about that in our book club episodes, which we're currently going through every other episode. So the next episode after this is going to be the third episode of our book club, where we cover volumes five and six. So, horror comics though really started to pick up in the 1940s. There's multiple comic historians who say that the first ongoing horror series was Prized Comics, New Adventures of Frankenstein, which featured this updated take on the original story by Mary Shelley. It took place in America. The monster was named Frankenstein. He was immediately a terror. It's not great, but it's acknowledged as being really kind of the first ongoing horror story. And it's really not even that much of a horror story other than it featured Frankenstein's monster. But after that, a number of publishers started to put out adaptations of classic horror stories for awhile. So you had [00:13:00] Avon Publications making it official in 1946 with the comic Erie, which is based on the first real dedicated horror comic. Yeah. This is the original cover to Erie Comics. Number one, if you could paint us a word picture. Dan: Wow. This is high end stuff as it's coming through. Well it looks a lot like a Zine or something, you know it's got a very, Mac paint logo from 1990, you know, it's, it's your, your typical sort of like, ooh, I'm shaky kind of logo. That's Eerie Comics. There's a Nosferatu looking character. Who's coming down some stairs with the pale moon behind him. It, he's got a knife in his hand, so, you know, he's up to no good. And there is a femme fatale at the base of the stairs. She may have moved off of some train tracks to get here. And, uh, she's got a, uh, a low, cut dress, a lot of leg and the arms and the wrists are bound, but all this for only 10. cents. So, I think there's a, there's a bargain there.[00:14:00] Mike: That is an excellent description. Thank you. So, what's funny is that Erie at the time was the first, you know, official horror comic, really, but it only had one issue that came out and then it sort of vanished from sight. It came back with a new series that started with a new number one in the 1950s, but this was the proverbial, the shot that started the war. You know, we started seeing a ton of anthology series focusing on horror, like Adventures into the Unknown, which ran into the 1960s and then Amazing Mysteries and Marvel Tales were repurposed series for Marvel that they basically changed the name of existing series into these. And they started doing kind of macabre, weird stories. And then, we hit the 1950s. And the early part of the 1950s was when horror comics really seemed to take off and experienced this insane success. We've talked about how in the post-WWII America, superhero comics were kind of declining in [00:15:00] popularity. By the mid 1950s, only three heroes actually had their own books and that was Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. Which, I didn't realize that until I was doing research. I didn't, I just assumed that there were other superhero comics at the time. But we started seeing comics about horror and crime and romance really starting to get larger shares of the market. And then EC Comics was one of those doing gangbuster business during this whole era. Like, this was when we saw those iconic series, the Haunt of Fear, the Vault of Horror, the Crypt of Terror, which was eventually rebranded to Tales from the Crypt. Those all launched and they found major success. And then the bigger publishers were also getting in on this boom. During the first half of the 1950s Atlas, which eventually became Marvel, released almost 400 issues across 18 horror titles. And then American Comics Group released almost 125 issues between five different horror titles. Ace comics did almost a hundred issues between five titles. I'm curious. I'm gonna ask both of you, what [00:16:00] do you think the market share of horror comics was at the time? Dan: In terms of comics or in terms of just like newsstand, magazine, distribution. Mike: I'm going to say in terms of distribution. Dan: I mean, I know they were phenomenally successful. I would, be surprised if it was over 60%. Mike: Okay. How about. Jessika: Oh, goodness. Let's throw a number out. I'm going to say 65 just because I want to get close enough, but maybe bump it up just a little bit. This is a contest now. Dan: The precision now, like the 65. Jessika: Yes. Mike: Okay. Well, obviously we don't have like a hard definite number, but there was a 2009 article from reason magazine saying that horror books made up a quarter of all comics by 1953. So, so you guys were overestimating it, but it was still pretty substantial. At the same time, we were also seeing a surge in horror films. Like, the 1950s are known as the atomic age and media reflected [00:17:00] societal anxiety, at the possibility of nuclear war and to a lesser extent, white anxiety about societal changes. So this was the decade that gave us Invasion of the Body Snatchers The Thing from Another World, which led to John Carpenter's The Thing eventually. Um, and the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Hammer horror films also started to get really huge during this time. So we saw the beginning of stuff like Christopher Lee's, Dracula series of films. So the fifties were like a really good decade for horror, I feel. But at the same time, violent crime in America started to pick up around this period. And people really started focusing on juvenile criminals and what was driving them. So, there were a lot of theories about why this was going on and no one's ever really come up with a definite answer, but there was the psychiatrist named Frederick Wortham who Dan, I yeah. Dan: Oh yeah, psychiatrist in big air quotes, yeah. Mike: In quotes. Yeah. [00:18:00] Yeah. And he was convinced that the rise in crime was due to comics, and he spent years writing and speaking against them. He almost turned it into a cottage industry for himself. And this culminated in 1954, when he published a book called Seduction of the Innocent, that blamed comic books for the rise in juvenile delinquency, and his arguments are laughable. Like, I mean, there's just no way around it. Like you read this stuff and you can't help, but roll your eyes and chuckle. But, at the time comics were a relatively new medium, you know, and people really only associated them with kids. And his arguments were saying, oh, well, Wonder Woman was a lesbian because of her strength and independence, which these days, I feel like that actually has a little bit of credibility, but, like, I don't know. But I don't really feel like that's contributing to the delinquency of the youth. You know, and then he also said that Batman and Robin were in a homosexual relationship. And then my favorite was that Superman comics were [00:19:00] un-American and fascist. Dan: Well. Mike: All right. Dan: There's people who would argue that today. Mike: I mean, but yeah, and then he actually, he got attention because there were televised hearings with the Senate subcommittee on juvenile delinquency. I mean, honestly, every time I think about Seduction of the Innocent and how it led to the Comics Code Authority. I see the parallels with Tipper Gore's Parent Music Resource Center, and how they got the Parental Advisory sticker on certain music albums, or Joe Lieberman's hearings on video games in the 1990's and how that led to the Electronic Systems Reading Board system, you know, where you provide almost like movie ratings to video games. And Wortham also reminds me a lot of this guy named Jack Thompson, who was a lawyer in the nineties and aughts. And he was hell bent on proving a link between violent video games and school shootings. And he got a lot of media attention at the time until he was finally disbarred for his antics. But there was this [00:20:00] definite period where people were trying to link video games and violence. And, even though the statistics didn't back that up. And, I mean, I think about this a lot because I used to work in video games. I spent almost a decade working in the industry, but you know, it's that parallel of anytime there is a new form of media that is aimed at kids, it feels like there is a moral panic. Dan: Well, I think it goes back to what you were saying before about, you know, even as, as things change in society, you know, when people in society get at-risk, you know, you went to Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Right. Which is classically thought to be a response to communism, you know, and the feelings of communist oppression and you know, the different, you know, the other, and it's the same thing. I think every single one of these is just a proof point of if you want to become, suddenly well-known like Lieberman or Wortham or anything, you know, pick the other that the older generation doesn't really understand, right? Maybe now there are more adults playing video games, but it's probably still perceived as a more juvenile [00:21:00] thing or comics or juvenile thing, or certain types of movies are a juvenile thing, you know, pick the other pick on it, hold it up as the weaponized, you know, piece, and suddenly you're popular. And you've got a great flashpoint that other people can rally around and blame, as if one single thing is almost ever the cause of everything. And I always think it's interesting, you know, the EC Comics, you know, issues in terms of, um, Wortham's witch hunt, you know, the interesting thing about those is yet they were gruesome and they are gruesome in there, but they're also by and large, I don't know the other ones as well, but I know the EC Comics by and large are basically morality plays, you know, they're straight up morality plays in the sense that the bad guys get it in the end, almost every time, like they do something, they do some horrific thing, but then the corpse comes back to life and gets them, you know, so there's, there's always a comeuppance where the scales balance. But that was of course never going to be [00:22:00] an argument when somebody can hold up a picture of, you know, a skull, you know, lurching around, you know, chewing on the end trails of something. And then that became all that was talked about. Mike: Yeah, exactly. Well, I mean, spring boarding off of that, you know, worth them and the subcommittee hearings and all that, they led to the comics magazine association of America creating the Comics Code Authority. And this was basically in order to avoid government regulation. They said, no, no, no, we'll police ourselves so that you don't have to worry about this stuff. Which, I mean, again, that's what we did with the SRB. It was a response to that. We could avoid government censorship. So the code had a ton of requirements that each book had to meet in order to receive the Comics Code Seal of Approval on the cover. And one of the things you couldn't do was have quote, scenes dealing with, or instruments associated with walking dead or torture, which I mean,[00:23:00] okay. So the latter half of the 1950's saw a lot of these dedicated horror series, you know, basically being shut down or they drastically changed. This is, you know, the major publishers really freaked out. So Marvel and DC rebranded their major horror titles. They were more focused on suspense or mystery or Sci-Fi or superheroes in a couple of cases, independent publishers, didn't really have to worry about the seal for different reasons. Like, some of them were able to rely on the rep for publishing wholesome stuff like Dell or Gold Key. I think Gold Key at the time was doing a lot of the Disney books. So they just, they were like, whatever. Dan: Right, then EC, but, but EC had to shut down the whole line and then just became mad. Right? I mean, that's that was the transition at which William, you know, Gains - Mike: Yeah. Dan: basically couldn't contest what was going on. Couldn't survive the spotlight. You know, he testified famously at that hearing. But had to give up all of [00:24:00] that work that was phenomenally profitable for them. And then had to fall back to Mad Magazine, which of course worked out pretty well. Mike: Yeah, exactly. By the end of the 1960s, though, publishers started to kind of gently push back a little bit like, Warren publishing, and Erie publications, like really, they didn't give a shit. Like Warren launched a number of horror titles in the sixties, including Vampirilla, which is like, kind of, I feel it's sort of extreme in terms of both sex and horror, because I mean, we, we all know what Vampirilla his costume is. It hasn't changed in the 50, approximately 50 years that it's been out like. Dan: It's like, what can you do with dental floss, Right. When you were a vampire? I mean, that's basically like, she doesn't wear much. Mike: No, I mean, she never has. And then by the end of the sixties, Marvel and DC started to like kind of steer some of their books back towards the horror genre. Like how some Mystery was one of them where it, I think with issue 1 75, that was when they [00:25:00] took away, took it away from John Jones and dial H for Hero. And they were like, no, no, no, no. We're going to, we're going to bring, Cain back as the host and start telling horror morality plays again, which is what they were always doing. And this meant that the Comics Code Authority needed to update their code. So in 1971, they revised it to be a little bit more horror friendly. Jessika: Scenes dealing with, or instruments associated with, walking dead or torture shall not be used. Vampires, ghouls and werewolves shall be permitted to be used when handled in the classic traditions, such as Frankenstein, Dracula, and other high caliber literary works written by Edgar Allen Poe, Saki, Conan Doyle, and other respected authors whose works are read in schools around the world. Mike: But at this point, Marvel and DC really jumped back into the horror genre. This was when we started getting books, like the tomb of Dracula, Ghost Rider, where will finite and son of Satan, and then DC had a [00:26:00] bunch of their series like they had, what was it? So it was originally The Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love, and then it eventually got retitled to Forbidden Tales of the Dark Mansion. Like, just chef's kiss on that title. Dan: You can take that old Erie comic and throw, you know, the Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love as the title on that. And it would work, you know. Mike: I know. Right. So Dan, I'm curious, what is your favorite horror comic or comic character from this era? Dan: I would say, it was son of Satan, because it felt so trippy and forbidden, and I think comics have always, especially mainstream comics you know, I've always responded also to what's out there. Right. I don't think it's just a loosening the restrictions at that point, but in that error, what's going on, you're getting a lot of, I think the films of Race with the Devil and you're getting the Exorcist and you're getting, uh, the Omen, you know, Rosemary's baby. right. Satanism, [00:27:00] the devil, right. It's, it's high in pop culture. So true to form. You know, I think Son of Satan is in some ways, like a response of Marvel, you know, to that saying, let's glom onto this. And for a kid brought up in the Catholic church, there was a certain eeriness to this, ooh, we're reading about this. It's like, is it really going to be Satanism? And cause I was very nervous that we were not allowed even watch the Exorcist in our home, ever. You know, I didn't see the Exorcist until I was like out of high school. And I think also the character as he looks is just this really trippy look, right. At that point, if you're not familiar with the character, he's this buff dude, his hair flares up into horns, he just wears a Cape and he carries a giant trident, he's got a massive pentacle, I think a flaming pentacle, you know, etched in his chest. Um, he's ready to do business, ya know, in some strange form there. So for me, he was the one I glommed on to the most. [00:28:00] Mike: Yeah. Well, I mean, it was that whole era, it was just, it was Gothic horror brought back and Satanism and witchcraft is definitely a part of that genre. Dan: Sure. Mike: So, that said, kind of like any trend horror comics, you know, they have their rise and then they started to kind of fall out of popularity by the end of the seventies or the early eighties. I feel like it was a definite end of the era when both House of Mystery and Ghost Writer ended in 1983. But you know, there were still some individual books that were having success, but it just, it doesn't feel like Marvel did a lot with horror comics during the eighties. DC definitely had some luck with Alan Moore's run of the Swamp Thing. And then there was stuff like Hellblazer and Sandman. Which, as I mentioned, we're doing our book club episodes for, but also gave rise to Vertigo Comics, you know, in the early nineties. Not to say that horror comics still weren't a thing during this time, but it seems like the majority of them were coming from indie publishers. Off the top of my head, one example I think of still is Dead World, which basically created a zombie apocalypse [00:29:00] universe. And it started with Aero comics. It was created in the late eighties, and it's still going today. I think it's coming out from IDW now. But at the same time, it's not like American stopped enjoying horror stuff. Like this was the decade where we got Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm street, Evil Dead, Hellraiser, Poltergeist, Child's Play, just to name a few of the franchises that we were introduced to. And, I mentioned Hellraiser. I love Hellraiser, and Dan, I know that you have a pretty special connection to that brand. Dan: I do. I put pins in my face every night just to kind of keep my complexion, you know? Mike: So, let's transition over to the nineties and Marvel and let's start that off with Epic Comics. Epic started in the eighties, and it was basically a label that would print, create our own comics. And they eventually started to use label to produce, you know, in quotes, mature comics. So Wikipedia says that this was your first editorial job at Marvel was with the [00:30:00] Epic Line. Is that correct? Dan: Well, I'll go back and maybe do just a little correction on Epic's mission if you don't mind. Mike: Yeah, yeah. Dan: You know, first, which is it was always creator owned, and it did start as crude. And, but I don't think that ever then transitioned into more mature comics, sometimes that just was what creator-owned comics were. Right. That was just part of the mission. And so as a creator-owned imprint, it could be anything, it could be the silliest thing, it could be the most mature thing. So it was always, you know, part of what it was doing, and part of the mission of doing creator-owned comics, and Archie Goodwin was the editor in chief of that line, was really to give creators and in to Marvel. If we gave them a nice place to play with their properties, maybe they would want to go play in the mainstream Marvel. So you might get a creator who would never want to work for Marvel, for whatever reason, they would have a great Epic experience doing a range of things, and then they would go into this. So there was always levels of maturity and we always looked at it as very eclectic and challenging, you know, sometimes in a good [00:31:00] way. So I'll have to go back to Wikipedia and maybe correct them. My first job was actually, I was on the Marvel side and it was as the assistant to the assistant, to the editor in chief. So I would do all of the grunt work and the running around that the assistant to the editor in chief didn't want to do. And she would turn to me and say, Dan, you're going to go run around the city and find this thing for Jim Shooter. Now, then I did that for about five or six months, I was still in film school, and then left, which everyone was aghast, you don't leave Marvel comics, by choice. And, but I had, I was still in school. I had a summer job already sort of set up, and I left to go take that exciting summer job. And then I was called over the summer because there was an opening in the Epic line. And they want to know if I'd be interested in taking on this assistant editor's job. And I said, it would have to be part-time cause I still had a semester to finish in school, but they were intrigued and I was figuring, oh, well this is just kind of guaranteed job. [00:32:00] Never knowing it was going to become career-like, and so that was then sort of my second job. Mike: Awesome. So this is going to bring us to the character of Terror. So he was introduced as a character in the Shadow Line Saga, which was one of those mature comics, it was like a mature superhero universe. That took place in a few different series under the Epic imprint. There was Dr. Zero, there was St. George, and then there was Power Line. Right. Dan: That's correct, yep. Mike: And so the Shadow Line Saga took his name from the idea that there were these beings called Shadows, they were basically super powered immortal beings. And then Terror himself first appeared as Shrek. He's this weird looking enforcer for a crime family in St. George. And he becomes kind of a recurring nemesis for the main character. He's kind of like the street-level boss while it's hinting that there's going to be a eventual confrontation between the main character of St. George and Dr. Zero, who is kind of [00:33:00] a Superman character, but it turns out he has been manipulating humanity for, you know, millennia at this point. Dan: I think you've encapsulated it quite well. Mike: Well, thank you. So the Shadow Line Saga, that only lasted for about what a year or two? Dan: Probably a couple of years, maybe a little over. There was about, I believe, eight to nine issues of each of the, the main comics, the ones you just cited. And then we segued those over to, sort of, uh, an omni series we call Critical Mass, which brought together all three characters or storylines. And then try to tell this, excuse the pun, epic, you know story, which will advance them all. And so wrapped up a lot of loose ends and, um, you know, became quite involved now. Mike: Okay. Dan: It ran about seven or eight issues. Mike: Okay. Now a couple of years after Terror was introduced under the Epic label, Marvel introduced a new Ghost Rider series in 1990 that hit that sweet spot of like nineties extreme with a capital X and, and, you know, [00:34:00] it also gave us a spooky anti heroes like that Venn diagram, where it was like spooky and extreme and rides a motorcycle and right in the middle, you had Ghost Rider, but from what I understand the series did really well, commercially for Marvel. Comichron, which is the, the comic sales tracking site, notes that early issues were often in the top 10 books sold each month for 91. Like there are eight issues of Ghost Rider, books that are in the top 100 books for that year. So it's not really surprising that Marvel decided to go in really hard with supernatural characters. And in 1992, we had this whole batch of horror hero books launch. We had Spirits of Vengeance, which was a spinoff from Ghost Rider, which saw a Ghost Rider teaming up with Johnny Blaze, and it was the original Ghost Writer. And he didn't have a hellfire motorcycle this time, but he had a shotgun that would fire hell fire, you know, and he had a ponytail, it was magnificent. And then there was also the Night Stalkers, [00:35:00] which was a trio of supernatural investigators. There was Hannibal King and Blade and oh, I'm blanking on the third one. Dan: Frank Drake. Mike: Yeah. And Frank Drake was a vampire, right? Dan: And he was a descendant of Dracula, but also was a vampire who had sort of been cured. Um, he didn't have a hunger for human blood, but he still had a necessity for some type of blood and possessed all the attributes, you know, of a vampire, you know, you could do all the powers, couldn't go out in the daylight, that sort of thing. So, the best and worst of both worlds. Mike: Right. And then on top of that, we had the Dark Hold, which it's kind of like the Marvel equivalent of the Necronomicon is the best way I can describe it. Dan: Absolutely. Yup. Mike: And that's showed up in Agents of Shield since then. And they just recently brought it into the MCU. That was a thing that showed up in Wanda Vision towards the end. So that's gonna clearly reappear. And then we also got Morbius who is the living vampire from [00:36:00] Spider-Man and it's great. He shows up in this series and he's got this very goth rock outfit, is just it's great. Dan: Which looked a lot like how Len Kaminsky dressed in those days in all honesty. Mike: Yeah, okay. Dan: So Len will now kill me for that, but. Mike: Oh, well, but yeah, so these guys were all introduced via a crossover event called Rise of the Midnight Sons, which saw all of these heroes, you know, getting their own books. And then they also teamed up with Dr. Strange to fight against Lilith the mother of demons. And she was basically trying to unleash her monstrous spawn across the world. And this was at the same time the Terror wound up invading the Marvel Universe. So if you were going to give an elevator pitch for Terror in the Marvel Universe, how would you describe him? Dan: I actually wrote one down, I'll read it to you, cause you, you know, you put that there and was like, oh gosh, I got to like now pitch this. A mythic manifestation of fear exists in our times, a top dollar mercenary for hire using a supernatural [00:37:00] ability to attach stolen body parts to himself in order to activate the inherit ability of the original owner. A locksmith's hand or a marksman, his eye or a kickboxer his legs, his gruesome talent gives him the edge to take on the jobs no one else can, he accomplishes with Savage, restyle, scorn, snark, and impeccable business acumen. So. Mike: That's so good. It's so good. I just, I have to tell you the twelve-year-old Mike is like giddy to be able to talk to you about this. Dan: I was pretty giddy when I was writing this stuff. So that's good. Mike: So how did Terror wind up crossing into the Marvel Universe? Like, because he just showed shows up in a couple of cameos in some Daredevil issues that you also wrote. I believe. Dan: Yeah, I don't know if he'd showed up before the book itself launched that might've, I mean, the timing was all around the same time. But everybody who was involved with Terror, love that Terror and Terror Incorporated, which was really actual title. Love the hell out of [00:38:00] the book, right. And myself, the editors, Carl Potts, who was the editor in chief, we all knew it was weird and unique. And, at one point when I, you know, said to Carl afterwards, well I'm just gonna take this whole concept and go somewhere else with it, he said, you can't, you made up something that, you know, can't really be replicated without people knowing exactly what you're doing. It's not just another guy with claws or a big muscle guy. How many people grab other people's body parts? So I said, you know, fie on me, but we all loved it. So when, the Shadowline stuff kind of went away, uh, and he was sort of kicking out there is still, uh, Carl came to me one day and, and said, listen, we love this character. We're thinking of doing something with horror in Marvel. This was before the Rise of the Midnight Sons. So it kind of came a little bit ahead of that. I think this eventually would become exactly the Rise of the Midnight Sons, but we want to bring together a lot of these unused horror characters, like Werewolf by Night, Man Thing, or whatever, but we want a central kind of [00:39:00] character who, navigates them or maybe introduces them. Wasn't quite clear what, and they thought Terror, or Shrek as he still was at that point, could be that character. He could almost be a Crypt Keeper, maybe, it wasn't quite fully baked. And, so we started to bounce this around a little bit, and then I got a call from Carl and said, yeah, that's off. We're going to do something else with these horror characters, which again would eventually become probably the Midnight Sons stuff. But he said, but we still want to do something with it. You know? So my disappointment went to, oh, what do you mean? How could we do anything? He said, what if you just bring him into the Marvel Universe? We won't say anything about what he did before, and just use him as a character and start over with him operating as this high-end mercenary, you know, what's he going to do? What is Terror Incorporated, and how does he do business within the Marvel world? And so I said, yes, of course, I'm not going to say that, you know, any quicker and just jumped into [00:40:00] it. And I didn't really worry about the transition, you know, I wasn't thinking too much about, okay. How does he get from Shadow Line world, to earth 616 or whatever, Marcus McLaurin, who was the editor. God bless him, for years would resist any discussion or no, no, it's not the same character. Marcus, it's the same character I'm using the same lines. I'm having him referenced the same fact that he's had different versions of the word terrors, his name at one point, he makes a joke about the Saint George complex. I mean, it's the same character. Mike: Yeah. Dan: But , you know, Marcus was a very good soldier to the Marvel hierarchy. So we just really brought him over and we just went all in on him in terms of, okay, what could a character like this play in the Marvel world? And he played really well in certain instances, but he certainly was very different than probably anything else that was going on at the time. Mike: Yeah. I mean, there certainly wasn't a character like him before. So all the Wikias, like [00:41:00] Wikipedia, all the Marvel fan sites, they all list Daredevil 305 as Terror's first official appearance in. Dan: Could be. Mike: Yeah, but I want to talk about that for a second, because that is, I think the greatest villain that I've ever seen in a Marvel comic, which was the Surgeon General, who is this woman who is commanding an army of like, I mean, basically it's like a full-scale operation of that urban myth of - Dan: Yeah. Mike: -the dude goes home with an attractive woman that he meets at the club. And then he wakes up in a bathtub full of ice and he's missing organs. Dan: Yeah. You know, sometimes, you know, that was certainly urban myth territory, and I was a big student of urban myths and that was the sort of thing that I think would show up in the headlines every three to six months, but always one of those probably friend of a friend stories that. Mike: Oh yeah. Dan: Like a razor an apple or something like that, that never actually sort of tracks back. Mike: Well, I mean, the thing now is it's all edibles in candy and they're like, all the news outlets are showing officially [00:42:00] branded edibles. Which, what daddy Warbucks mother fucker. Jessika: Mike knows my stand on this. Like, no, no, nobody is buying expensive edibles. And then putting them in your child's candy. Like, No, no, that's stupid. Dan: No, it's the, it's the, easier version of putting the LSD tab or wasting your pins on children in Snickers bars. Jessika: Right. Dan: Um, but but I think, that, that storyline is interesting, Mike, cause it's the, it's one of the few times I had a plotline utterly just completely rejected by an editor because I think I was doing so much horror stuff at the time. Cause I was also concurrently doing the Hellraiser work, the Night Breed work. It would have been the beginning of the Night Stalkers work, cause I was heavily involved with the whole Midnight Sons work. And I went so far on the first plot and it was so grizzly and so gruesome that, Ralph Macchio who was the editor, called me up and said, yeah, this title is Daredevil. It's not Hellraiser. So I had to kind of back off [00:43:00] and realize, uh, yeah, I put a little too much emphasis on the grisliness there. So. Mike: That's amazing. Dan: She was an interesting, exploration of a character type. Mike: I'm really sad that she hasn't showed back up, especially cause it feels like it'd be kind of relevant these days with, you know, how broken the medical system is here in America. Dan: Yeah. It's, it's funny. And I never played with her again, which is, I think one of my many Achilles heels, you know, as I would sometimes introduce characters and then I would just not go back to them for some reason, I was always trying to kind of go forward onto something new. Mike: Yeah. Jessika: Is there anything about Terror's character that you related to at the time, or now even. Dan: Um, probably being very imperious, very complicated, having a thing for long coats. Uh, I think all of those probably, you know, work then and now, I've kind of become convinced weirdly enough over time, that Terror was a character who [00:44:00] and I, you know, I co-created him with Margaret Clark and, and Klaus Janson, but I probably did the most work with him over the years, you know? So I feel maybe a little bit more ownership, but I've sort of become convinced that he was just his own thing, and he just existed out there in the ether, and all I was ultimately was a conduit that I was, I was just channeling this thing into our existence because he came so fully formed and whenever I would write him, he would just kind of take over the page and take over the instance. That's always how I've viewed him, which is different than many of the other things that I've written. Mike: He's certainly a larger than life personality, and in every sense of that expression. Jessika: Yes. Mike: I'm sorry for the terrible pun. Okay. So we've actually talked a bit about Terror, but I [00:45:00] feel like we need to have Jessika provide us with an overall summary of his brief series. Jessika: So the series is based on the titular character, of course, Terror, who is unable to die and has the ability to replace body parts and gains the skill and memory of that limb. So he might use the eye of a sharpshooter to improve his aim or the arm of an artist for a correct rendering. And because of the inability for his body to die, the dude looks gnarly. His face is a sick green color. He has spike whiskers coming out of the sides of his face, and he mostly lacks lips, sometimes he has lips, but he mostly lacks lips. So we always has this grim smile to his face. And he also has a metal arm, which is awesome. I love that. And he interchanges all of the rest of his body parts constantly. So in one scene he'll have a female arm and in another one it'll sport, an other worldly tentacle. [00:46:00] He states that his business is fear, but he is basically a paid mercenary, very much a dirty deeds, although not dirt cheap; Terror charges, quite a hefty sum for his services, but he is willing to do almost anything to get the job done. His first job is ending someone who has likewise immortal, air quotes, which involves finding an activating a half demon in order to open a portal and then trick a demon daddy to hand over the contract of immortality, you know, casual. He also has run-ins with Wolverine, Dr. Strange Punisher, Silver Sable, and Luke Cage. It's action packed, and you legitimately have no idea what new body part he is going to lose or gain in the moment, or what memory is going to pop up for him from the donor. And it keeps the reader guessing because Terror has no limitations. Mike: Yeah. Dan: was, I was so looking forward to hearing what your recap was going to be. I love that, so I just [00:47:00] want to say that. Jessika: Thank you. I had a lot of fun reading this. Not only was the plot and just the narrative itself, just rolling, but the art was fantastic. I mean, the things you can do with a character like that, there truly aren't any limits. And so it was really interesting to see how everything fell together and what he was doing each moment to kind of get out of whatever wacky situation he was in at the time.So. And his, and his quips, I just, the quips were just, they give me life. Mike: They're so good. Like there was one moment where he was sitting there and playing with the Lament Configuration, and the first issue, which I, I never noticed that before, as long as we ready this time and I was like, oh, that's great. And then he also made a St. George reference towards the end of the series where he was talking about, oh, I knew another guy who had a St. George complex. Dan: Right, right. Right, Mike: Like I love those little Easter eggs. Speaking of Easter eggs, there are a lot of Clive Barker Easter eggs throughout that whole series. Dan: [00:48:00] Well, That's it. That was so parallel at the time, you know. Mike: So around that time was when you were editing and then writing for the HellRaiser series and the Night Breed series, right? Dan: Yes. Certainly writing for them. Yeah. I mean, I did some consulting editing on the HellRaiser and other Barker books, after our lift staff, but, primarily writing at that point. Mike: Okay. Cause I have Hellraiser number one, and I think you're listed as an editor on it. Dan: I was, I started the whole Hellraiser anthology with other folks, you know, but I was the main driver, and I think that was one of the early instigators of kind of the rebirth of horror at that time. And, you know, going back to something you said earlier, you know, for many years, I was always, pressing Archie Goodwin, who worked at Warren, and worked on Erie, and worked on all those titles. You know, why can't we do a new horror anthology and he was quite sage like and saying, yeah. It'd be great to do it, but it's not going to sell there's no hook, right? There's no connection, you know, just horror for her sake. And it was when Clive Barker [00:49:00] came into our offices, and so I want to do something with Archie Goodwin. And then the two of them said, Hellraiser can be the hook. Right. Hellraiser can be the way in to sort of create an anthology series, have an identifiable icon, and then we developed out from there with Clive, with a couple of other folks Erik Saltzgaber, Phil Nutman, myself, Archie Goodwin, like what would be the world? And then the Bible that would actually give you enough, breadth and width to play with these characters that wouldn't just always be puzzle box, pinhead, puzzle box, pinhead, you know? And so we developed a fairly large set of rules and mythologies allowed for that. Mike: That's so cool. I mean, there really wasn't anything at all, like Hellraiser when it came out. Like, and there's still not a lot like it, but I - Jessika: Yeah, I was going to say, wait, what else? Mike: I mean, I feel like I've read other books since then, where there's that blending of sexuality and [00:50:00] horror and morality, because at the, at the core of it, Hellraiser often feels like a larger morality play. Dan: Now, you know, I'm going to disagree with you on that one. I mean, I think sometimes we let it slip in a morality and we played that out. But I think Hellraiser is sort of find what you want out of it. Right. You go back to the first film and it's, you know, what's your pleasure, sir? You know, it was when the guy hands up the book and the Centobites, you know, or angels to some demons, to others. So I think the book was at its best and the movies are at their best when it's not so much about the comeuppance as it is about find your place in here. Right? And that can be that sort of weird exploration of many different things. Mike: That's cool. So going back to Terror. Because we've talked about like how much we enjoyed the character and everything, I want to take a moment to talk about each of our favorite Terror moments. Dan: Okay. Mike: So Dan, why don't you start? What was your favorite moment for Terror [00:51:00] to write or going back to read? Dan: It's a great question, one of the toughest, because again, I had such delight in the character and felt such a connection, you know, in sort of channeling him in a way I could probably find you five, ten moments per issue, but, I actually think it was the it's in the first issue. And was probably the first line that sort of came to me. And then I wrote backwards from it, which was this, got your nose bit. And you know, it's the old gag of like when a parent's playing with a child and, you know, grabs at the nose and uses the thumb to represent the nose and says, got your nose. And there's a moment in that issue where I think he's just plummeted out of a skyscraper. He's, you know, fallen down into a police car. He's basically shattered. And this cop or security guard is kind of coming over to him and, and he just reaches out and grabs the guy's nose, you know, rips his arm off or something or legs to start to replace himself and, and just says, got your nose, but it's, but it's all a [00:52:00] build from this inner monologue that he's been doing. And so he's not responding to anything. He's not doing a quip to anything. He's just basically telling us a story and ending it with this, you know, delivery that basically says the guy has a complete condescending attitude and just signals that we're in his space. Like he doesn't need to kind of like do an Arnold response to something it's just, he's in his own little world moments I always just kind of go back to that got your nose moment, which is just creepy and crazy and strange. Mike: As soon as you mentioned that I was thinking of the panel that that was from, because it was such a great moment. I think it was the mob enforcers that had shot him up and he had jumped out of the skyscraper four and then they came down to finish him off and he wound up just ripping them apart so that he could rebuild himself. All right, Jessika, how about you? Jessika: I really enjoyed the part where Terror fights with sharks in order to free Silver Sable and Luke Cage. [00:53:00] It was so cool. There was just absolutely no fear as he went at the first shark head-on and, and then there were like five huge bloodthirsty sharks in the small tank. And Terror's just like, what an inconvenience. Oh, well. Mike: Yeah. Jessika: Like followed by a quippy remark, like in his head, of course. And I feel like he's such a solitary character that it makes sense that he would have such an active internal monologue. I find myself doing that. Like, you know, I mean, I have a dog, so he usually gets the brunt of it, but he, you know, it's, it is that you start to form like, sort of an internal conversation if you don't have that outside interaction. Dan: Right. Jessika: And I think a lot of us probably relate to that though this pandemic. Mike: Yeah. Jessika: But the one-liner thoughts, like, again, they make those scenes in my opinion, and it gave pause for levity. We don't have to be serious about this because really isn't life or death for Terror. We know that, and he just reminds us that constantly by just he's always so damn nonchalant. [00:54:00] Dan: Yeah. He does have a very, I'm not going to say suave, but it's, uh, you know, that sort of very, I've got this, you know, sort of attitude to it. Mike: I would, say that he's suave when he wants to be, I mean, like the last issue he's got his whiskers tied back and kind of a ponytail. Dan: Oh yeah. Jessika: Oh yeah. Dan: Richard Pace did a great job with that. Mike: Where he's dancing with his assistant in the restaurant and it's that final scene where he's got that really elegant tuxedo. Like. Dan: Yeah. It's very beautiful. Mike: I say that he can be suave and he wants to be. So I got to say like my favorite one, it was a visual gag that you guys did, and it's in issue six when he's fighting with the Punisher and he's got this, long guns sniper. And he shoots the Punisher point blank, and Terror's, like at this point he's lost his legs for like the sixth time. Like he seems to lose his legs, like once an issue where he's just a torso waddling around on his hands. And so he shoots him the force skids him back. [00:55:00] And I legit could not stop laughing for a good minute. Like I was just cackling when I read that. So I think all of us agree that it's those moments of weird levity that really made the series feel like something special. Dan: I'm not quite sure we're going to see that moment reenacted at the Disney Pavilion, you know, anytime soon. But, that would be pretty awesome if they ever went that route. Mike: Well, yeah, so, I mean, like, let's talk about that for a minute, because one of the main ways that I consume Marvel comics these days is through Marvel unlimited, and Terror is a pretty limited presence there. There's a few issues of various Deadpool series. There's the Marvel team up that I think Robert Kirkman did, where Terror shows up and he has some pretty cool moments in there. And then there's a couple of random issues of the 1990s Luke Cage series Cage, but like the core series, the Marvel max stuff, his appearance in books like Daredevil and Wolverine, they just don't seem to be available for consumption via the. App Like I had to go through my personal [00:56:00] collection to find all this stuff. And like, are the rights just more complicated because it was published under the Epic imprint and that was create her own stuff, like do you know? Dan: No, I mean, it wouldn't be it's choice, right. He's probably perceived as a, if people within the editorial group even know about him, right. I was reading something recently where some of the current editorial staff had to be schooled on who Jack Kirby was. So, I'm not sure how much exposure or, you know, interest there would be, you know, to that. I mean, I don't know why everything would be on Marvin unlimited. It doesn't seem like it requires anything except scanning the stuff and putting it up there. But there wouldn't be any rights issues. Marvel owned the Shadow Line, Marvel owns the Terror Incorporated title, it would have been there. So I'm not really sure why it wouldn't be. And maybe at some point it will, but, that's just an odd emission. I mean, for years, which I always felt like, well, what did I do wrong? I [00:57:00] mean, you can find very little of the Daredevil work I did, which was probably very well known and very well received in, in reprints. It would be like, there'd be reprints of almost every other storyline and then there'd be a gap around some of those things. And now they started to reappear as they've done these omnibus editions. Mike: Well, yeah, I mean, you know, and going back the awareness of the character, anytime I talk about Terror to people, it's probably a three out of four chance that they won't have heard of them before. I don't know if you're a part of the comic book historians group on Facebook? Dan: I'm not. No. Mike: So there's a lot of people who are really passionate about comic book history, and they talk about various things. And so when I was doing research for this episode originally, I was asking about kind of the revamp of supernatural heroes. And I said, you know, this was around the same time as Terror. And several people sat there and said, we haven't heard of Terror before. And I was like, he's great. He's amazing. You have to look them up. But yeah, it seems like, you know, to echo what you stated, it seems like there's just a lack of awareness about the character, which I feel is a genuine shame. And that's part of the [00:58:00] reason that I wanted to talk about him in this episode. Dan: Well, thank you. I mean, I love the spotlight and I think anytime I've talked to somebody about it who knew it, I've never heard somebody who read the book said, yeah, that sucks. Right. I've heard that about other things, but not about this one, invariably, if they read it, they loved it. And they were twisted and kind of got into it. But did have a limited run, right? It was only 13 issues. It didn't get the spotlight, it was sort of promised it kind of, it came out with a grouping of other mercenary titles at the time. There was a new Punisher title. There was a Silver Sable. There was a few other titles in this grouping. Everyone was promised a certain amount of additional PR, which they got; when it got to Terror. It didn't get that it like, they pulled the boost at the last minute that might not have made a difference. And I also think maybe it was a little bit ahead of its time in certain attitudes crossing the line between horror and [00:59:00] humor and overtness of certain things, at least for Marvel, like where do you fit this? I think the readers are fine. Readers are great about picking up on stuff and embracing things. For Marvel, it was kind of probably, and I'm not dissing them. I never got like any negative, you know, we're gonna launch this title, what we're going to dismiss it. But I just also think, unless it's somebody like me driving it or the editor driving it, or Carl Potts, who was the editor in chief of that division at that point, you know, unless they're pushing it, there's plenty of other characters Right. For, things to get behind. But I think again, anytime it kind of comes up, it is definitely the one that I hear about probably the most and the most passionately so that's cool in its own way. Mike: Yeah, I think I remember reading an interview that you did, where you were talking about how there was originally going to be like a gimmick cover or a trading card or something like that. Dan: Yeah. Mike: So what was the, what was the gimmick going to be for Terror number one? Dan: What was the gimmick going to be? I don't know, actually, I if I knew I [01:00:00] can't remember anymore. But it was going to be totally gimmicky, as all those titles and covers were at the time. So I hope not scratch and sniff like a, uh, rotting bodies odor, although that would have been kind of in-character and cool. Mike: I mean, this was the era of the gimmick cover. Dan: Oh, absolutely. Mike: Like,that was when that was when we had Bloodstrike come out and it was like the thermographic printing, so you could rub the blood and it would disappear. Force Works is my favorite one, you literally unfold the cover and it's like a pop-up book. Dan: Somebody actually keyed me in. There actually was like a Terror trading card at one point. Mike: Yeah. Dan: Like after the fact, which I was like, shocked. Mike: I have that, that's from Marvel Universe series four. Dan: Yeah. we did a pretty good job with it actually. And then even as we got to the end of the run, you know, we, and you can sort of see us where we're trying to shift certain aspects of the book, you know, more into the mainstream Marvel, because they said, well, we'll give you another seven issues or something, you know, to kind of get the numbers up. Mike: Right. Dan: And they pulled the plug, you know, even before that. So, uh, that's why [01:01:00] the end kind of comes a bit abruptly and we get that final coda scene, you know, that Richard Pace did such a nice job with. Mike: Yeah. I mean, it felt like it wrapped it up, you know, and they gave you that opportunity, which I was really kind of grateful for, to be honest. Dan: Yeah. and subsequently, I don't know what's going on. I know there was that David Lapham, you know, series, you did a couple of those, which I glanced at, I know I kind of got in the way of it a little bit too, not in the way, but I just said, remember to give us a little created by credits in that, but I didn't read those. And then, I know he was in the League of Losers at one point, which just didn't sound right to me. And, uh. Mike: It's actually. Okay. So I'm going to, I'm going to say this cause, it's basically a bunch of, kind of like the B to C listers for the most part. And. So they're called the Legal Losers. I think it's a really good story, and I actually really like what they do with Terror. He gets, she's now Spider Woman, I think it's, Anya Corazon, but it was her original incarnation of, Arana. And she's got that spider armor that like comes out of her arm. And so she [01:02:00] dies really on and he gets her arm. And then, Dan: That's cool. Mike: What happens is he makes a point of using the armor that she has. And so he becomes this weird amalgamation of Terror and Arana's armored form, which is great. Dan: Was that the Kirkman series? Is that the one that he did or. Mike: yeah. That was part of Marvel Team-Up. Dan: Okay. Mike: it was written by Robert Kirkman. Dan: Well, then I will, I will look it up. Mike: Yeah. And that one's on Marvel unlimited and genuinely a really fun story as I remembered. It's been a couple of years since I read it, but yeah. Dan: Very cool. Mike: So we've talked about this a little bit, but, so

This was supposed to be the New Years episode, but Dan They discuss joining cults as Neil Yonge collects rocks with his, the Black Eyed Peas, really bad 90's pop music, Todd's weird dream about Dave Grohl, Smokey Robinson's now famous Cameo video, and more! 

This episode, we’re talking about people who are coming to Pittsburgh, whether it’s for work or just visiting.We’ll break down a report that suggests the city might be a better fit for tech workers than the mecca of the digital economy, Silicon Valley (gotta love our standard of living). We’re also talking about a recent article that probes the need for a new hotel at the convention center. (Hint: The answer isn’t very simple.)In between, we welcome the Breaking Brews Podcast’s host Jason Cercone for a chat about the business of beer and Pittsburgh’s place in the industry.This episode is sponsored by WordWrite:Centuries before cellphones and social media, human connections were made around fires, as we shared the stories that shaped our world. Today, stories are still the most powerful way to move hearts, minds and inspire action.At WordWrite, Pittsburgh’s largest independent public relations agency, we understand that before you had a brand before you sold any product or service, you had a story.WordWrite helps clients to uncover their own Capital S Story – the reason someone would want to buy, work, invest or partner with you through our patented StoryCrafting process. Visit wordwritepr.com to uncover your Capital S story.Logan:You are listening to the P100 podcast, the bi-weekly companion piece to the Pittsburgh 100, bringing you Pittsburgh news, culture, and more. Because sometimes 100 words just isn't enough for a great story. Logan:Hello, and welcome to a brand new episode of the P100 podcast. You're here with myself, Logan Armstrong, and co-hosts Dan Stefano and Paul Furiga. Guys, how are you doing?Paul:Great, Logan.Dan:Emphasis on the co-host there. You're the host with the mostest there.Logan:I try to be. I do what I can, but-Paul:Yes he does and he does it well.Logan:I get my mostest from the people I'm surrounded with. On today's episode, we're going to be examining tech jobs in Pittsburgh, and there have been a few recent articles for some vying to leave and some vying to stay that you may have seen. So we're going to be talking about that and seeing how Pittsburgh ranks compared with cities and metros around the country in tech jobs.Logan:Then we're going to bring in our good friend Jason Cercone from the Breaking Brews podcast. He takes a drink from breaking, excuse me. He takes a break from drinking beer and talks about the business side of it.Paul:Wait a minute, that wasn't in this segment. There was no beer drinking?Logan:Unfortunately no.Logan:We asked him about it and he said that he'd be happy to rejoin us.Dan:Logan, let's remember we're talking to the CEO of our company within the office, so no. There's no-Paul:Well that's fine. Let's chat.Dan:We don't have a video of this, but if you could see the winking eye. No, there is no-Logan:No beer during this segment.Dan:Drinking during this segment.Paul:Of course not.Logan:Okay, and then finally we're going to wrap up with what's missing from downtown.Paul:Oh.Logan:Indeed, mysterious.Paul:Question.Logan:That's right. You'll have to stick around to see what we're talking about, but we're in for a great episode so we hope you stick around.Dan:I hope it's not my car or anything.Paul:Okay guys, time to do one of our favorite things on the podcast. Talk about Pittsburgh getting another great national ranking.Dan:Another list, right?Paul:We're on another list.Dan:Yeah.Paul:This one's a good one. Although, if you're in the Silicon Valley area, maybe not so good.Dan:Right.Paul:A couple of weeks ago, Wallet Hub, which is an online service provider that looks at financial things, very popular with millennials.Dan:They make many lists.Paul:They make many lists of many different things. Top places to live in the country for tech workers. Pittsburgh, number five. Silicon Valley, not so high, which caused the San Jose Mercury News, which San Jose's a community that's smack in the middle of Silicon Valley, to write sort of a cheeky little article. Pittsburgh is better for tech workers than Silicon Valley? Question mark. Well, yes, if you want to live affordably, apparently it actually is.Dan:That's completely accurate. Yeah. The Bay Area, it's got to be one of the highest costs of living-Paul:It is actually.Dan:In the country.Paul:It has the highest cost of living in the country. And Logan, you were looking inside some of the rankings, and Pittsburgh ranked in the top 15 in a number of categories, right?Logan:Yes. So the three categories were professional opportunities, STEM friendliness, and quality of life. And Pittsburgh ranked 13th, 14th, and 11th in those, respectively. And some of the reasons that places like San Francisco and the Bay Area didn't rank so highly is that they would rank very high in one or two of these categories. So for example, San Francisco ranked third in both professional opportunities and STEM friendliness but then ranked 63rd in quality of life for reasons we were alluding to earlier. So it's good to see that Pittsburgh ranked in these lists as being as an all around. Maybe it's not top five or the best in STEM friendliness or professional opportunities, but it's well-rounded and our quality of life here is, according to this list, far better than some of our counterparts.Paul:And certainly as the community here has continued to transform, and I'm thinking now of Uber, and Apptive, and Apple's got a good presence in the city. Facebook's virtual reality company, Oculus, is wholly sited here in the Pittsburgh region. We're trying to attract more tech workers and we've got these great university programs, CMU and Pitt at the head of the pack, but others as well, where we're building this tech community. And I guess it does still surprise people in the more traditional communities, but it's legit. There's something going on here.Dan:Right. For better or worse, Pittsburgh will always kind of bring that blue collar atmosphere, that blue collar mentality, a bit rough around the edges. I talk about it all the time, but my wife's family, who, they grew up in California, they all lived in California for a while. They came to Pittsburgh here and they said, "Wow, I had no idea it was this green." So there's always going to be a bit of a stigma that the city carries around, but I think these lists show that to that the news is catching on here. And Pittsburgh is basically known now for the meds and eds and now tech. The reputation is definitely growing here and starting to overcome that stigma.Paul:That perception.Dan:Yeah. But there's ... Well, not to be Debbie Downer or play devil's advocate here, there are still the legacies of that history here that carries on, especially in our environment.Paul:Yeah. We still have work to do, that's for sure. I can remember when I first moved back to this region from the Washington DC area. I had a job in the south side and what is now South Side Works was still a working steel mill, and as I would drive across the Birmingham Bridge every morning, the smell of burning coke was my appetizer before breakfast.Logan:Morning coffee.Dan:That'll wake you.Paul:And there's been plenty of coverage, and legitimately so, that we still have environmental problems in the region. And certainly one of the reasons why the Bay Area, Silicon Valley, is disadvantaged on a list like this, is because there's such a huge economic disparity there. It's the most expensive metropolitan area in the country. Ours is not. Part of the reason Pittsburgh's so affordable, the collapse of the steel industry and heavy industry. So there's all this housing stock and we didn't have the kind of inflation maybe that a place on the coast like San Francisco has had, but we have economic disparity too, and that's something that we have to work on too.Dan:Right. I think that's being recognized now. We talked about a couple episodes ago here, that the city is starting to take a hard look at itself, especially in terms of the racial inequalities that exist here.Paul:Yes.Dan:Again, the three of us aren't the best people to speak to this. We don't live the same experiences that a lot of people do in this city, but we can play a role by listening and being active and playing a part in recognizing that. And trying to create opportunities, being part of the solutions here. It's going to take a long time for Pittsburgh to completely shrug off some of the legacies that came from the 20th century here, some of the stuff that might be dragging down the city, but we can do it.Paul:We absolutely can. And if we can, we'll put in the show notes, there have been a couple of interesting public source articles that have dug into some of these issues, and I was reading-Dan:Quite a battle in tech, here.Paul:It was a battle in tech, and there's one written by a fellow named Noah Theriault, I believe that's how his name is pronounced, and he's at CMU. And the conclusion of this article, which you found, Dan, I thought was really interesting. He said "Here many of us who come here for opportunities in the city's universities, hospitals, and tech firms, do so in a state of willful ignorance. We take advantage of the low cost of living, we relish the walkability of the neighborhoods. We gentrify. Many of us smugly believe that we are the city's rebirth, the salvation from rust and blight. Too few of us learn about the historical and ongoing realities that make it most livable." And I think that's something that's really at the heart of what we need to remember. It's great to be on lists like this, but really there is no Nirvana -Dan:Right?Paul:That exists among places to live in this country. We have work to do too.Dan:It's hard to put a number on somebody's personal experiences here. I think that's the crux of what you were talking about there.Paul:Exactly. Exactly.Dan:All right. We're here with Jason Cercone. He's the chief brand officer at Breaking Brews, also the founder there and they're a content network and digital resource platform for people in the beer industry. Not only that, he hosts the Breaking Brews podcast, which takes a pretty unique look at the beer industry. They focus a lot on the business side of things. So Jason, thanks for being here.Jason:Thanks for having me guys.Dan:Awesome. Okay. As we mentioned, what you like to do with Breaking Brews your podcast and kind of spins off of your business. You look at a pretty different side of things in the spirits industry, in the alcohol industry there, that people don't think of all the time and that's actually selling the stuff and getting it out there, right? Yeah.Jason:Yeah. What I discovered was there are a lot of podcasts dedicated to drinking beer and reviewing and having fun and those podcasts are all great, but I wanted to bring something different to the podcast world. And I started looking at the fact that we don't have a ton of podcasts that are dedicated to the business side. Which talks about sales and marketing and distribution, all those different facets that are very important and very critical to the beer world. That was where it really started to ... or where I really started to make it take off. And I talked to a lot of industry professionals that felt the same way. They said when they're cleaning kegs and doing some of the horrible work that goes on in the brew houses that they want to put on a good podcast and listen to something that they can learn from, and that was the resource I wanted to put out there for them.Dan:Right, well the industry's really exploded as far as the craft production or the craft beer segment goes. I think ... I'm just looking at some facts here from the Brewer's Association, retail sale dollars of craft beer in 2018, I think the most recent year of stats was $27.6 billion. You said you've seen that since you started the Breaking Brews podcast yourself, you started about four years ago, or is that just your business?Jason:Breaking Brews itself started back in 2014. This is actually my third iteration of a podcast. I actually did one, like I was saying before, where we just sat around and drank beer, and that got old after a while.Dan:Why aren't we doing that right now?Jason:That's a very good question. I know. I was quizzed on that when I walked in the door, why I didn't bring beer and I'm starting to regret that.Dan:We'll just have our first kegger podcast, here.Logan:Yeah, well that'd make for some good conversation, that's for sure.Dan:That's a great idea.Jason:I'm always happy to come back for a second round if you guys want me to bring some-Dan:Right.Jason:Good drinks.Dan:Great idea. But yeah, as we were talking about the industry is just enormous right now. We're seeing that too in Pittsburgh, right?Jason:Absolutely. Yeah. I mean when I started things in 2014, there was probably maybe a dozen local craft breweries and now you look at the landscape, there's over 50 throughout the region. It's incredible. So many of them are doing great products and getting it out to bars around the area and also creating an awesome taproom experience too.Dan:Why do you think that is?Jason:Pittsburgh loves its beer, man.Dan:Yeah.Jason:But overall I think that ... I mean we haven't ... we hear the talk about the bubble a lot and has craft beer reached its saturation point. And I've always been a firm believer that we haven't even come close because we're not even close to the number that we had, or number of breweries we had before prohibition.Dan:Yeah.Jason:I mean we're creeping up, we're getting close, but the population of all these different cities and states across the country is so much higher. And when I go out to events and I do samplings and I talk to beer drinkers, a lot of folks still really aren't aware of what's going on in the craft beer industry. So there's still a lot of education that we can provide and that was one of the main drivers of Breaking Brews was putting some education out there so people can better understand what's going on in the industry and what's going on with these products.Logan:That's an interesting benchmark that you mentioned there that the number of brewers before the prohibition. Is that a common milestone in the craft beer business? And are there things that were happening back then that are happening now? The same way?Jason:I think it's, it's obviously changed a lot in regards to how beer is made. Brewers have pushed the envelope to the furthest degree possible and then a little bit more. You see a lot of crazy ingredients going into beers that probably pre-prohibition they weren't putting donuts into stouts and Twinkies-Logan:What were they doing?Jason:Breakfast cereal. I know it's like they weren't living their best life at all. However, a lot has changed. It's just the question of people's tastes have changed too and it's what do they want? And that's what these brewers are constantly trying to stay on top of, is what does the beer consumer want to drink today? And that's why I think you see such a variety out there in the market.Dan:Is it fair to say that it's easier to start a brewery round now or at least, somebody can be in their basement and actually trying to kickstart their own beer?Jason:That's probably the biggest misconception is that it's so easy to start a brewery because it's like any other business.Dan:Look, I've seen the Drew Carey show and he had a brewery in his basement. I know how this works .Jason:That's one of the big problems when you see some of these breweries that come out and their beer really isn't that great. They're standing around with their friends in a circle and all their friends are drinking their beer saying, "This is the best beer I've ever had. You need to start a brewery." And that's all well and good, but if they don't have a business sense that goes along with making a good product or even a subpar product, if they don't manage it properly, it's just not going to succeed. So it's just like anything else. I think that the barriers to entry are a little bit less because a lot of people have done it, but the smart thing to do would be go into it knowing that it's a business and you have to do all the things that you would normally do to run a business, or partner with somebody that can handle that end of your business for you.Logan:Partner with someone like Jason, Jason Cercone.Jason:I am for hire. I am here if anybody needs assistance. I'd be happy to help.Dan:Have you ever, you yourself, have you ever actually started ... Well maybe not started your own brewery, but have you ever brewed your own drafts?Jason:I've partnered and done some collaboration beers with a few different breweries across town. I did an event last year where I partnered with Yellow Bridge Brewing out in Delmont. I just went out and brewed with them for the day and I was able to say that I helped and I call that a collaboration. And I've done that with a couple of other breweries too. And that's fun. I mean that's the brewing side of it for me. I've always been more of a beer drinker and I like to obviously talk about it and promote it and market it. Brewing it just wasn't really something I wanted to do full time. It's a hard job. I think that's where a lot of people look at that like a glamorous thing and brewers will tell you, those are long days. It's very industrial and they work their asses off to put together a good product. End of the day, they are dog tired.Dan:Sure.Jason:So yeah, important. If you're going to be a brewer, know you'll be working hard.Dan:Right. We talk about hard work there. We're talking about having a good business sense. What do you see are some of the secrets to say these successful craft brewers and the people that maybe ... even some of these breweries that say are smaller, let's think about Southern Tier years ago, nobody knew who they were. Now they've got their own brewery on the North shore and what are some of the secrets to some of these businesses that have made it?Jason:I think it's understanding how to grow and being very deliberate about it and not trying to just shoot the moon right out of the gate. Obviously you have to establish a loyal fan base and make good product at the same time. But if you try to go too heavy, if you're a small local brewery and you try to make a statewide distribution, your number one priority, chances are you're not going to succeed because you don't have the liquid to supply the markets. So there's a lot of different aspects that you have to look at, but probably the most important is to use a popular phrase of our time, stay in your lane, and understand what it takes to build that brand from the ground up.Jason:Don't try to get too far ahead of yourself before you're ready. And then once the time comes where you've established that brand, then you can start looking at ... popular thing now other than distribution is looking at secondary spaces. We're starting to see some breweries in the Pittsburgh area open up secondary spots so they've proven that their brand is good enough to support it and we wish them the best in carrying that out.Dan:Who would you point to as some really good success stories in the Pittsburgh area then and what they've done successfully?Jason:Oh man, that list is long.Dan:Yep.Jason:Yeah. One of the breweries that I work with, the Spoonwood brewing in Bethel Park.Dan:I was there just this weekend.Jason:Awesome. What'd you think?Dan:I loved it. It was my second time there. I had a great time.Jason:Yeah, they're doing great beer. Great food. It's a great tap room atmosphere. You really can't ask for much more than that. They've been ... they're coming up on five years.Dan:Wow.Jason:And I've been working with them since pretty much the beginning and we've been building that brand and we don't do a ton of distribution, but a lot of the beer that we put out there ultimately was just to build that brand and give people an opportunity to taste it. To where they might say, "Wow, this is in Bethel Park. I'm going to go down there and see what else they have to offer." Another brewery I work with is Four Points Brewing out of Charleroi. They've ... just under two years old at this point, actually just about a year and a half now and they're killing it. They're doing some great beer and then you've got a lot of the names that people hear of all the time, like your Grist Houses and your Dancing Gnomes and Voodoos and Hitchhikers of the world. Again, we could sit here and do a whole podcast where I just rattle off the list because there's a lot of good beer happening.Dan:Well, you're in luck, our next segment, we're going to list breweries for the next 25 minutes. All right.Jason:Yeah. Close off with reading the phone book.Dan:Exactly.Jason:Riveting radio.Logan:Now you've learned a lot of these techniques and methods. You have over 20 years’ experience in marketing and sales. Did that start off in beer, or and if not, how did you navigate into the beer industry from that?Jason:That was ... I mean that was broken compasses for days, man, that was ... No, it did not start in beer. I've been working in the beer industry – counting what I did with starting Breaking Brews – for going on six years now. I sold cell phones right out of college, landed at Enterprise-Rent-a-Car for several years after that. Ran Hair Club for Men here in Pittsburgh for about four years. And with Breaking Brews, when I started it, it was ultimately just to build something that I felt was a good resource that could teach people how to gravitate to these beers in a very approachable way. Because as I learned, a lot of people just weren't aware of what was happening around them. So I was able to parlay my skillset from all my years in the professional world into a business that now I can help the breweries and help the different businesses that I work with do sales and marketing and create a good customer experience. All those good things, all things that are very important to building a good brand.Dan:Bring it back a little bit locally here to ... Pittsburgh I feel like is ... we've got a pretty special relationship to beer here. And it's some pretty big names in terms of, you think of Iron City, Duquesne, there's obviously Rolling Rock used to be around. How do you feel like the city's adopted and adapted to this craft brewing? I don't know if you could call it a Renaissance because it hasn't been around until right now, but this upsurge right now that people are ... they are doing with craft brewing.Jason:Yeah I think with the breweries now, I mean obviously as we spoke about earlier, we've got over 50 across the region now. It says a lot for the fact that people are going to go to a good brewery regardless of where they're at. It's become very neighborhood centric where you look like an old neighborhood pub, that's in some respects, being replaced by the local neighborhood brewery. You're seeing them essentially on every corner, quote unquote. And I think that helps with the fact that these guys are able to grow their brands so well because then it expands beyond their neighborhood as well. But yeah, we have a very rich history here in Pittsburgh with beer going back years and years back to ... I mean, Iron City was the beer.Jason:And I think now you're starting to see more of a shift towards the craft brands and many of them have been here for ... You look at East End, they've been here for 15 plus years now and they really were setting some good trends for what could happen and how people could gravitate towards a craft brand. Same with Penn Brewery. I believe 1986, was when they hit the scene. So a lot of good things have come along that have really helped push it forward. And now Pittsburgh is becoming one of those hot beds and I shouldn't say becoming it already is. And probably our closest rival in the state, just like everything else, is Philadelphia. And I think both of us have a tremendous beer scene that we can be proud of.Dan:Yeah. I think if you ever see a Penguins, Flyers game, it looks like more than a few people have beers.Jason:Well now, you see breweries have gotten in with the rivalries, like Grist House, and I'm forgetting the brewery that they partnered with out of Cleveland, they did a Browns, Steelers rivalry beer.Dan:Oh did they really?Jason:Rivertowne and Sly Fox had partnered up a couple of years ago for the stadium series. And they did a ... Glove Dropper was the name of the beer. And they worked together on that and sold it in both markets and worked out really well.Dan:All right Jason, well thanks so much for being here with us, for everybody at home. If you're listening, make sure to visit. If you're interested at all about starting a brewery and perhaps finding ways to market it and get it out to the world, you can go to breakingbrews.com. Look for Jason Cercone and also look for Breaking Brews podcast. You can find that on all the major platforms including Apple podcast, Stitcher, Google play, Spotify, iHeart, all the big ones where you can find us. And Jason, thanks so much for being here.Jason:Thanks again guys. Appreciate it.Logan:Sure thing.Dan:Great.Logan:Centuries before cell phones and social media, human connections are made around fires, as we shared the stories that shaped our world. Today stories are still the most powerful way to move hearts and minds and inspire action. At WordWrite, Pittsburgh's largest independent public relations agency, we understand that before you had a brand, before you sold any product or service, you had a story. WordWrite helps clients to uncover their own Capital S Story. The reason someone would want to buy, work, invest, or partner with you through our patented story crafting process, visit WordWritePR.com to uncover your Capital S Story.Paul:It's now time to talk about the biggest building that is not in the downtown skyline. We are talking about what is known in the travel trade as a headquarters hotel. In other words, if Pittsburgh were to host a very large convention, a large hotel would be designated as the headquarters hotel. In many cities, this is a large hotel that's attached to the convention center.Dan:Right.Paul:And that typically has somewhere in the neighborhood of a thousand rooms.Dan:Right.Paul:Pittsburgh – yinz don't have one of those n’at.Dan:Oh, they do have a hotel connected to the convention center, right?Paul:Yes, yes. We do the Weston and actually Dan, I'm glad you mentioned that.Dan:Yeah.Paul:Because in the original plans for the convention center development, that hotel was supposed to be about twice as big as it is and if it were, it would be the size of a headquarters hotel.Dan:Sure. Well, I think that is, it's interesting that you're bringing this up and I think we rewind a little bit. The reason we're bringing this up is, on February 3rd, in the Post-Gazette, Craig Davis, who used to be the CEO of Visit Pittsburgh.Paul:Yes.Dan:Yeah. Visit Pittsburgh is the local-Paul:It's the Convention and Visitor's Bureau in part supported byPaul:Our tax funds and they promote the city to businesses like conventions.Dan:Right, yeah.Paul:But also to leisure travelers.Dan:Draw people into the city. Yeah, it's important. Yeah. This article, what it did with, again with Craig Davis here, he had a piece of parting advice for Pittsburgh is how Mark Belko, the writer introduced this and he did a really nice job with this piece. Craig wanted to build a convention center hotel.Paul:Right.Dan:And that's what we're talking about here. And there's a lot of back and forth about whether it should be done, whether ... what kind of impact it would bring on the city here. And he had some really good information about it, yourself, but a lot of people, they want to see more here. And that's what we're talking about today.Paul:Right. So in the tourism and convention industry in Pittsburgh, this is the third rail of politics. Nobody really wants to talk about it. And I look at this article in the Post-Gazette, Visit Pittsburgh, great organization. Craig Davis, very effective leader and he's been hired to run a similar organization in Dallas. Smart person. He's in Dallas now, so he can kind of say, what maybe he couldn't say before when he was in Pittsburgh. And for people in his business, his line of work, you need to have a convention center hotel. The thing is, to build that would cost about, Oh, kind of like the same amount of money to build PNC Park or Heinz Field.Dan:Right? Yeah. In this article here, they have an estimate of $350,000 to $400,000 a room to build.Paul:Or in other words-Dan:That's all.Paul:Yeah. $240 million.Dan:Right. That's for a 600-room hotel.Paul:Exactly.Dan:Yeah.Paul:It's a lot of money. And it was not easy to get PNC Park and Heinz Field built. There was actually a referendum on the ballot one year that failed. It was called the Regional Renaissance Initiative. I mean we put renaissance in the name of everything, don't we? And it was after that, that a deal was brokered. A lot of critics said behind closed doors and smoke-filled back rooms that wound up producing Heinz Field and PNC Park. There doesn't seem to be a lot of political appetite for spending that kind of money, again.Dan:Right.Paul:On something like a convention center hotel.Dan:Again here, Mark did a great job with this article here and he put it pretty succinctly here. He said, "In recent years, Davis' pitch has landed with all of the enthusiasm of a root canal."Paul:Yes.Dan:I don't know about you guys, I get too enthusiastic over root canals, but I suppose not many other people do, but the article does bring up a good point. That there's been a recent hotel building boom in the region, in the downtown area, particularly across the river. Some other smaller hotels that have cropped up here and there, the Marriotts and whatnot.Paul:Many. You could throw a rock from where we sit right now, we can hit the Monaco.Dan:Absolutely, yeah.Paul:Throw it across the way, hit the Embassy Suites. We've got the William Penn, which has been here for a long time. The Drury is in the old federal reserve building.Dan:Right and that's just a block away from the convention center. But the kind of full service hotel that, again, this is from the article here that Mr. Davis would see here, that would require huge public subsidies. And that's-Paul:Yes.Dan:I think the sticking point that it comes down to.Paul:That is the third rail part.Dan:Whether we want this here and I think it's one of those things where you balance. You say, "How much are these conventions going to be worth compared to the costs, the investments that you have to make in a city here." And it could take a while until the scales tip one way.Paul:Well, and what's very interesting about this is, there are statistics, there don't seem to be any statistics readily available to say, "Yes, Pittsburgh, you should do this." What we tend to fall back on, are a couple of really great seminal events. First was the Bassmaster Classic several years ago. And still of course people who don't know Pittsburgh want to depict it as a smoky mill town. And we had this freshwater national competition for bass fishing. And it went off really great. And that's led, as Mark Belko's article points out to Visit Pittsburgh getting into seeking sports events. And we've had, I can't believe this, I didn't even realize this number, 22 NCAA championship events have been held in Pittsburgh and we've got more coming.Dan:Yeah. Just recently they had the National Women's Volleyball championship out here.Paul:Yeah.Dan:And I think a big part of that comes down to, they now have a world-class arena to do it in.Paul:Yes.Dan:Where Civic Arena definitely showed its age after a while.Paul:Right.Dan:That plays a different part here. But certainly the downtown hotel building boom assists with that.Paul:Absolutely. Absolutely.Dan:Convention centers is ... that's a little different. And again, I think what, Craig Davis is trying to say here is, having it connected to the convention center, people love that. It's very convenient just to grab an elevator, have a little sky walk over to the convention center. It's not always a feasible immediately though, it's nice to think of these things, but it's hard to find room for it. And whether you're going to supplement what is already there or again, it takes money.Paul:Well, my point about Bassmaster, the other thing that happened of course was the G20 in 2009. Those two events put Pittsburgh, reputation-wise, on a world stage. In the article, Mark Belko talks about Milwaukee, which is a nice enough town and they have a baseball team that has a better record over the last decade of a postseason-Dan:They spend more than the Buccos, but that's a-Paul:They do.Dan:That's a whole other podcast.Paul:However, in terms of the hotel market, not quite the same size as Pittsburgh and they're getting the Democratic convention this year.Dan:Absolutely.Paul:Why does Pittsburgh not have that sort of convention? And if we did, aside from the monetary benefits of the convention itself, what would it do for the city in terms of raising the reputation even more and bringing more convention business to Pittsburgh? It's hard to say. It's also hard to argue that it was really cool to have Bassmaster or certainly the President and world leaders for the G20. That was awesome exposure for Pittsburgh. This is kind of a question of how much is the region willing to spend? And apparently it's going to have to spend something, in order to create that kind of environment.Dan:I think what's important when you look at these national conventions, particularly in the political arena, that is strategic by the parties too.Paul:Oh yes.Dan:Wisconsin's very important in this upcoming election to the Democrats. As is Pennsylvania.Paul:Right.Dan:But they were also in Philadelphia not that long ago, so do they want to spend so much more time in Pennsylvania and look, Wisconsin, the people ... whenever they do the Monday morning quarterbacking of that election, they did not spend all the time there. So it's ... they're showing ... it's a quite a statement that they are spending the time in Milwaukee for this upcoming convention. But it also shows that if Milwaukee can host something like this, then, so can Pittsburgh.Paul:Why not Pittsburgh, yeah.Dan:I think Pittsburgh actually held the very first Republican convention that was back in the 1860s or so. And we had the hotel rooms for that one, I guess. You know.Paul:We did.Dan:Yeah.Paul:Well, country was a little smaller then.Dan:Indeed. Yeah.Paul:Might be a difference, but I think this is a topic we're going to come back to again, so we wanted to put it out there for everybody. Again, props to Mark Belko and his article and the truth speaking, shall we say, of Craig Davis. We'll have to watch the skyline and see where this one goes.Dan:Well, most importantly, just as a final coda to this, and Mark's article did describe this a bit at the end, for the leaders that want to see this kind of change, that want to see a hotel down here, they have to show their work. It has to be ... You have to come to ... with studies from respected institutions, respected people, who are proving that, "Okay, hey, when Milwaukee hosted this type of thing, if they had a hotel here, this is the impact that they would have got."Dan:There are other areas here in Louisville and Columbus that are building hotels. What will those hotels do for their ability to draw conventions? Are they stealing them from Pittsburgh? You have to come up with that information. You have to present it to the leaders, not only in our government, but the community to approve ... like, "Hey, okay, some of tax dollars should go to this."Paul:Absolutely.Dan:And if you can do that, if you can convince enough people, then maybe it happens. But that stuff takes some time too.Paul:Well, and just a final thought on this since Craig Davis left Visit Pittsburgh, they are engaged in a search for a CEO. So I would expect that once a new CEO is named, one of the first things that we should be looking for, is some thinking around this topic.Dan:Absolutely.Logan:And we are well beyond 100 words today. Thank you for listening to the P100 podcast. This has been Dan Stefano, Logan Armstrong, and Paul Furiga. If you haven't yet, please subscribe at p100podcast.com, or wherever you listen to podcasts and follow us on Twitter at Pittsburgh100_ for all the latest news updates and more from the Pittsburgh 100.