An Interview with Bryan Dodge!
I remember back in, I guess it was 2005, maybe moving into 2006. I was a senior VP of Sales and Marketing in a public company out in Dallas, Texas, having a blast. Dallas was just on fire. We wanted to have an awesome meeting and were looking for just the 
right person to be able to just fire up our team. We heard about this program “How to Have Your Best Year Ever”. So we began researching to find out who was the person that did that and lo and behold, it was my next guest, a gentleman by the name of Bryan Dodge.
What was even better was Bryan happened to be in Dallas, Texas. So, we picked up the telephone, called Bryan, called his team and worked out the arrangements for Bryan to come and do a presentation for our group. I have to tell you, of all of the presentations that we have had, and we’ve had a number of them over the years, I think Bryan got, clearly, the best reviews. He inspired the team, but not only was it a great presentation that was fun to attend, it was something that had meaning whenever Bryan left to go to his next presentation. We had people talking about this, literally for months, and following the process. “Bryan presented with humor, but yet his knowledge and real-life examples made a huge difference for us.” That’s a wonderful testimonial for what he did for our team.
But what he did for me personally, well it touched my heart, because we had the opportunity to talk a little after the presentation and I told him of my desire to get involved as a professional speaker and it was purely inspirational. Number one, he took the time to talk with me. Number two, he offered some sage wisdom, but most importantly, he offered encouragement. That literally started my career as a professional speaker or helped me get started on that career.
So, Bryan, I know that I’ve taken a little bit of time before you’ve even had a chance to speak, but I wanted to say that so I could personally say thank you, because you made a difference in my life and in the lives of the people who are on my team and we deeply and profoundly appreciate that. Welcome to the show.
BRYAN: What an honor it is to be a part of your show. And… wow! If I listen to that introduction very often, I might get a big head.
[Bryan and Chuck laugh]BRYAN: I’m not one to put out [04:12], but you touched my heart. And it does remind us that, we’re not– Remember when you were discussing your vision and goals, I said, “We’re not lacking students, we’re lacking teachers with good message, good heart, good passion and good ethics.” And, boy have you done well! So, I am so proud that you have reached out and touched so many lives in a very positive way. So, kudos to you my friend.
CHUCK: Well, Bryan, you were right in that. First it’s been said, “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear,” and you appeared. I appreciate that and I appreciate the fact that as good as you are, and you are outstanding, you’re still humble enough to take the time to talk with people one-on-one and realize what you might say at some point in time, even when you don’t know it, it might make a difference in people’s lives. I think, now if I’ve got this right, you speak like what, 250 times or so a year?
BRYAN: [laughs] You know, it’s a fine line between dedication and stupidity.
[Chuck and Bryan laugh]BRYAN: Oh, I’ll tell you… Chuck, first of all, I’ve been married now 36 years.
CHUCK: Congratulations.
BRYAN: Humility is a very easy thing for me because every time I start thinking I’m something special, I just come home and get reminded I’m not.
[Bryan and Chuck laugh]BRYAN: And you know what? That’s okay! Because you know what? Humility allows people to become more thankful.
CHUCK: Yes.
BRYAN: Being more thankful allows people to find their calling, and then when they find their calling, they don’t look at it as hard work. They look at it as an opportunity. People ask me all the time. Yeah, I mean, one year I did short of 396 appearances in one year. Calculate that one out.
CHUCK: Oh, my goodness.
BRYAN: Yeah. And I keep it right around 160-165 now a year. I don’t go out more than 41 nights. I’ve never stayed out more than 41 nights a year in hotels and I’m very blessed, Chuck. You know how many friends I’ve been blessed to have in this industry. But people call me up and say “We want Dodge to come out and do this new program with the whole team.” I’m like “I’m all in, but we don’t want to use one of those nights.” And I love when they do that. They go, “We don’t want to use one of those nights. We’ll fly in in the morning and fly in back that night.” Because you’ve got to realize one thing, you can’t stand on stage, like you do, and talk about the importance of ethics and creating an environment where people make better choices, when you’re not doing it yourself.
CHUCK: True. That’s true.
BRYAN: When you’re not doing it yourself. People figure that out today. I’m thankful for that. I’m thankful that people are wise enough now to be able to say, “Wait a minute. Am I really comfortable with this message? Does this message come from the heart? Or is this coming from the head? Where is this message coming from?” And you know where mine is. So, my goal is to make sure that I do get a chance to reach out and share time and company, but most importantly, I do live what I talk about on stage and that is, I get home. Oh, the other day was funny, Chuck. A guy came up to me after this and he says, “I’ve never heard of you before, but wow! That was the fastest six hours I’ve ever experienced in my life.” And he said, “By the way, that’s the first time as long as I can ever remember, six straight hours and I never thought about looking at my phone.”
CHUCK: Yeah. That’s impressive.
BRYAN: Yes.
CHUCK: Yet, Bryan, I mean, listen, I have to say I’ve been in your audience several times and you are on, fast, furious. I love your last name, but, you know, dude, if you could just—
[Bryan laughs]CHUCK: Let the dodge charger people kind of let you hone in a little longer on that brand, because you can charge up a group of people.
BRYAN: Well, you know, in a good way.
CHUCK: In a good way. Yes.
BRYAN: And people listening right now, I want them to understand where we’re coming from. This is real stuff here. So, if you’re wondering about this conversation, this is real stuff between two individuals that came together. That’s what happens to all of us. Because of that both of our lives have become better, and I thank you for that, but I don’t really believe in the motivational side. You know that. You know, people introduce me all the time, “The motivational speaker is here,” so I pick up the mic and I say, “Yeah, I live in a van down by the river.” It is funny how time has really expanded. There’s the younger generation that looks at me and goes, “Who’s the guy in the van by the river?” [laughs] You know? So, it’s funny how time changes. No, no, no, we’re not talking about motivation. We’re talking about inspiration.
CHUCK: Right.
BRYAN: And where does inspiration come from? Knowledge. And the more you learn how to do what’s right, the more you get inspired to do it. And you do that well.
CHUCK: Well, Bryan, I really want to, in this first segment, I’d like to go backwards in time a little bit. By the way, I have to say, I was speaking to a group the other day and I said “Let’s rewind the tape,” and it occurred to me, I had a group of millennials and they were looking at me like, “Rewind the tape? What is he talking about?”
BRYAN: [laughs] You know when you’ve crossed over is when you see their eyes kind of roll back.
CHUCK: Oh, my goodness. Isn’t that the truth? You know, you sit back and you look and you mention certain people’s names and they’re like, “We’ve never heard of Jack Nicholson,” and it’s like, oh, my Gosh. Well, clearly I need to look at People Magazine and pick up on some names that are a little more current there, Chuck. But tell me a little bit about how did you get into the role of speaking?
BRYAN: That’s a good question and I’ll make it very short. I would not want to bore the people listening here today by any stretch of the imagination, but I never asked to be a speaker. I never wanted to be a speaker. I never wrote a goal to be a speaker. I wasn’t like you where you said, “Someday I’m going to be that.” I never ever said that in my whole life. I went to school to be a veterinarian. I rodeoed a long part of my life. My wife, after college and I went pro. She gave me that motivational talk, “Either you get a real job or I’m getting a real husband.”
CHUCK: Uuuu.
BRYAN: I told her, “Don’t beat around the bush. Get to the point.”
[Chuck laughs]BRYAN: Because I wasn’t very good, but she gave me my shot, but I wasn’t good enough to even pay for gas. So, let’s be honest. I wasn’t that good, but I got my chance to prove that I wasn’t that good, but I now I know the truth, right? And so, then I started into, a guy said to me, he said, “Hey, are you ready to go get a job?” I said, “Yeah.” He said, “You’re hired.” Well, to make a long story short, it’s one of the VPs of Eli Lilly. I went on into Elanco. I broke some records there that still stand today, and I realized, my goodness gracious, if I can do this, anybody can, and that’s true. Chuck, there’s more talent in your life than my whole life, in literally a moment. If this can work for me, it really could work for so many.
Then I started a company called Results and it was all about bringing education to people in a format that fits their model, meaning if they’re working, they have a family, they can’t take off two months to go get education. So that’s kind of the enemy. Well, we built Results to well over 100+ employees and one day company said, “Hey, we didn’t like your speaker, but everybody here said they liked you. Would you mind coming back?” And one thing led to the next and I focus on helping companies. If I could do that without walking on stage, I’m okay with it, 100% okay with it. Actually, probably happier. But since stage is my platform, I am called to do that, Chuck, I’ve been brought to that platform. Today, which is really exciting, I get to share this, the books and all the stuff that comes along, that I’ve been really excited to finally get involved where my heart really lies. I go in and I spend a year with companies now and do corporate turnarounds. We just upgrade everybody. We take their whole company to a higher level. We’re realigning their talent, we’re realigning their organizational chart. We’re realigning their team, making sure everybody is doing their advantage and then we break open up the communication process. And oh, my Gosh, the success that has come from that is so much fun. And you know me, I like to hang around. You know?
CHUCK: Right. Absolutely.
BRYAN: And this is what’s really evolved me into where I am today. I mean, I want to be clear that sometimes your goals are not what the world wants you to do. So what you have to be is humble enough to say, “This what I wanted, but this is what’s calling me.”
CHUCK: Bryan–
BRYAN: And since it’s called me and because of that look what I helped you do.
CHUCK: We’re going to take a short break. This is Chuck Gallagher with Straight Talk Radio. My guest is Bryan Dodge, the realignment expert for companies and an incredible presenter. We’re going to come back and talk about his book The Good Life Rules. So, stick with us. We’ll be back in just a moment.
[Commercial break]CHUCK: My guest is Bryan Dodge and Bryan is an incredible presenter, but more than that, and I think what’s significant for the people who are listening to the show is Bryan helps bring out the best in people so that you can rise to another level. As I started in our first segment, and I said he did that with me, and I am deeply and profoundly appreciative. He wrote a really, really cool book. It’s called The Good Life Rules – 8 Keys to Being Your Best at Work and at Play. I’d like to talk a bit about the eight keys in The Good Life Rules because, Bryan, it seems to me that what you included in your book really can apply to our lives as we live it today, and life seems to be pretty fast, on a pretty quick trajectory, so to speak. I think your first rule was “be willing to change”. So, let’s talk about the book.
BRYAN: Yeah, yeah. First of all, there’s one thing you said earlier in the opening to the second segment which really touched my heart. One of the things I really get a chance to do, and I know all of us do, and that’s wake up good. Wake up good. There’s people sitting there, there’s friends sitting there, there’s family sitting there being so distracted by the enemies. You know, the enemies, interruptions, distractions, procrastinations.
CHUCK: Oh, my goodness. Yes.
BRYAN: I mean, think about it, Chuck. There’s more interruptions ever recorded in the human race today. Why? Because if we keep you interrupted, you lose your focus.
CHUCK: Right.
BRYAN: If you lose your focus, you’ll adapt to someone else’s agenda. And then the other one has gotten so big, we’ve named it! I mean, when the storm gets so big, we give it a name. Do we not?
CHUCK: Sure.
BRYAN: Right?
CHUCK: Absolutely.
BRYAN: This one, interruptions is number one and distractions is number two. You never change. In the book I really talk about, you know this, we’ve had this conversation, those that focus on the “how” always end up working for those that focus on the “why”.
CHUCK: Right.
BRYAN: Why is the change important to you? Not somebody else telling you to change, but why is it you want to change? Because if you want to change for the wrong reason, the change won’t work. If you want to change it for the right reason, then you’ll be unstoppable. Unstoppable.
CHUCK: Bryan, it’s interesting the way you phrase that, and that is so true, because today you hear a lot of people talking about the speed and the pace of change, but the way that’s phrased is its external change that you better jump on the bandwagon with because you have no control over it. Yet, the reality is if you know your “why” or your “it”, what motivates you, then you can choose what to change.
BRYAN: Well put. And then again, there is where it comes back to your choice. See, the one thing I fight for a lot is family. The one thing I fight for is good in people.
CHUCK: Right.
BRYAN: What I get to do is just wake it up and realize that unless you choose to change, you will be changed.
CHUCK: That’s true.
BRYAN: Unless you choose to do things better, you’ll be replaced. And too often people take a vacation for too long. It’s okay to take a vacation man. My philosophy, I’ve learned this the hard way, and that is slow down so you can go up. The world’s on a fast pace for a reason. The pace itself doesn’t allow people to take time to think. Pause before you make a choice. Focus on the “why” and understand, most importantly, change is a good thing, it’s not a negative thing, and you and I both know that.
CHUCK: That’s true and I have to say I kind of want to go back to this comment that you made. It was really profound and I’d like to use that. It said, “Pause before you make a choice.” I know, I talk with people frequently about making ethical choices and when change is happening so rapidly, it’s easy to get your life out of balance. When your life’s out of balance, the nature of a human being is to get back into balance. But if you don’t pause before you make the choice, you can be like me and make some really dumb, stupid choices which had profound consequences that I had to live through. So, “pause before you make the choice” is probably a great book title at some point.
BRYAN: Well, you know, what I do when I teach people, I count to ten. Any time I’m uncomfortable, I count to ten before I make a response. Why? Because pausing allows the truth to be heard.
CHUCK: Um-hm.
BRYAN: It’s with all the noise, the interruptions and distractions it creates the procrastination which then you’re constantly running at a pace that the good gets tired. It gets tired. Remember my favorite three words? It’s one of the things I’m so thankful of we get to go to so many companies. I’ve been, you know, worked for them for what? Forty-some-thousand national accounts now?
CHUCK: Oh, my goodness.
BRYAN: These favorite three words, one of the most amazing of all and that is “bring energy home”. One of the changes that I would inspire everybody listening to your show right now, here’s my gift from my heart to their heart. All right? You want to make a change right now that’ll change America, change families, change our business? Here it is. Bring energy home! Don’t go home without it. Don’t go home and say you’re tapped. Don’t go home and say, “I’ve used it all up, I’ve got nothing left for you.”
See, all this lack of change is you keep doing the same thing too long and it cost us too much! You have all the energy for your business, you have all the energy for your client, you have all the energy for people who hardly even know your name! And then you go home to the one that gave their life to you and you tell them you’re tapped.
Now, tell me, Chuck, who convinced us of that one? See, you talked about a change that makes a difference in this world. Here’s the other one, “bring energy home” and the other one is “when you’re home, be at home”! When you are where you are, be there. In The Good Life Rules book, which I’m very thankful, it’s now in four different languages, been a best seller six times, and I only wrote it to thank my mom and dad!
CHUCK: Really?
BRYAN: That’s the only reason I wrote the book. That’s the only reason. And my mom and dad, because they believed in me, they would never quit on me. I’ll never forget it. I don’t have the time to tell the whole story, but in Colorado Springs, there’s Barns & Noble. You know? Amazing thing. Amazing. My dad kept calling Barns & Noble, he said, “When are you getting my son’s book?”
[Chuck chuckles]BRYAN: And they’d go, “Mr. Dodge, your son’s book doesn’t come out until January. This is December. Get a life.” Right?
[Chuck laughs]BRYAN: And he goes, “When are you getting my son’s book?!” You know how powerful it is, guys that are listening to the show right now, do you know how powerful it is? How somebody just unconditionally believes in you? When you’re down, they pick you up. When you quit, they inspire you. They never leave you because they’re there for you beyond anything you can come up with. You know what I’m talking about, right, Chuck?
CHUCK: Absolutely.
BRYAN: Yeah. Well one of the things was, so they called McGraw-Hill and they said, “Would you mind sending us three of Bryan’s book so we can shut his father up?”
[Chuck chuckles]BRYAN: True story. So, they called my dad and you know this, being an author, they called my dad and said, “Mr. Dodge, your son’s book is in the front window downtown Colorado springs. Come get the sucker.” Haha. He goes down and he sees it in the front window. Yeah, me, Chuck, Bryan Dodge, books in the front window? Really? And he goes, “I’ll take two.” There’s a guy standing right next to him, he says, “Is that a good book?” “Hm, are you stupid? You’re asking my dad.” He says, “Yeah, it’s a good book.” He says, “I’ll take the other one.” Chuck, let me tell you something. My life is blessed forever because of this. That day my dad called me on the cellphone. You know what he said? He said, “Son, Barns & Noble sold out.”
CHUCK: Oh, that is too cool!
BRYAN: Three books. See, here’s the key. They talk about exposing things. See, one part of your life says you got to have a best seller. No you don’t. I just needed three books.
CHUCK: Right.
BRYAN: To thank my mom and dad. All I needed was three books. And what I’m asking, the change that needs to come is the real change that lasts. Then decide what’s important to you in life. Turn off the interruptions, turn down the distractions and stop procrastinating on the things that you need to change in life. I know you talk about it all the time. “What are you studying?” If the answer is, “Nothing,” don’t stay there too long. I hope that helped. And by the way, what my greatest goal now is?
CHUCK: What’s that?
BRYAN: And you know being an author, is that now all the money– If anybody goes, and I’m thankful, just listening to the show, and gets online and looks up The Good Life Rules by Bryan Dodge and orders the book from Amazon or wherever, all that money, all that money goes to the wounded borders now.
CHUCK: Oh, how awesome.
BRYAN: All of that. And so, what I’m saying to people is it’s a great gift in life is when you got what you wanted. I got what I wanted, to thank my mom and dad.
CHUCK: Sure.
BRYAN: Now I get to give back to the people that I want to thank. So, please, anybody does that. It’s, again, one way we can go back to giving back to the people that fight everyday to protect our freedom so we can choose to change on our own and I have somebody [23:03]. I hope they said that loud.
CHUCK: You did. You said that great. Bryan, I’ve got to tell you a little story. [laughs] You said something to me a minute ago, “when you come home, be home” and “don’t let interruptions get in the way”. In today’s environment with smartphones and the expectation of employers, you’re working nonstop. Well, a good friend of mine went home, boss was with him. He walks out, boss is carrying his laptop. David, my good friend, he wasn’t carrying his. And his boss looked at him and he said, “What’s wrong, man? Why are you not taking your laptop home?” He said, “I don’t work when I’m at home. I’m with my family.”
BRYAN: Um-hm.
CHUCK: Boss says, “Well, you know, you need to have your laptop. You need to be able to answer emails.” And David just, good old West Virginia fellow, looked at him and he says, “Let me get this. You want me to take my laptop home so that I can be available to answer emails?” “Yeah!” David says, “So you’re okay then if I bring my children to work so I can play with them during a few off times?”
[Bryan laughs]CHUCK: And boss looked at him and just shook his head and they never talked about that again.
BRYAN: Love it. Love it! Love it.
CHUCK: It’s like, ”David, dude, you are the man! High five, that’s absolutely right.”
BRYAN: High five. See, and that is “when you are where you are, be there”.
CHUCK: That’s right.
BRYAN: When you’re at work, be at work. When you’re at home, be at home.
CHUCK: Yeah.
BRYAN: I teach time management and how can you teach it if you can’t live it?!
CHUCK: Yep. Bryan, we are pushing a break so, from a time management perspective, we’ll take a break here in just a second. This is my guest, Bryan Dodge. Author of The Good Life Rules, an awesome book. We’ll get back and we’ll talk about some more of the principles that you teach that impact people’s lives. This is Chuck Gallagher with Straight Talk Radio. Stick with us. We’ll be back in just a moment.
[Commercial break]CHUCK: If you want to know how to live a better life, you have to be a lifelong learner and be willing to understand those things that take place in life that can pull us off of our center or our balance. My guest is Bryan Dodge. Bryan is an incredible presenter. I would say coach, that’s not maybe the right word for it, but certainly a consultant to businesses that helps turn them around and take them to a new level. He’s also the author of a book called The Good Life Rules. We’ve been talking a little bit about The Good Life Rules, be willing to change and finding your “whys” in life. But I think, Bryan, you have a segment talking about diminishing intent. Explain that to our audience.
BRYAN: Chuck, this one will get out of the ball park so far, they won’t even go looking for the ball.
CHUCK: [laughs] I love the way you put things.
BRYAN: Have you ever gone to a baseball game and somebody hits so hard, nobody even runs. They just go, “It’s gone.”
CHUCK: Right, no, absolutely.
BRYAN: “It’s gone.” And this one, oh, my Gosh. See, the enemies, interruptions, distractions, procrastination. Right?
CHUCK: Right.
BRYAN: They’re out there.
CHUCK: Right.
BRYAN: More than ever. So, here’s how you beat it, and this is one of the 45 undeniable truths in life and I’m so thankful that you asked about this. What it is, is the truth of the diminishing intent says what comes to your heart, you have to act upon within 48 hours. Ah, what a concept! And guess what? When you find yourself in that change mode, meaning when something comes to your heart, I got to do it! I got to make the phone call, I got to make the apology, I got to pick up the paper, I got to fill this out, I got to go do that. You do it within 48 hours. Oh, my Gosh, Chuck! You beat them. You beat the interruptions, you beat all the distractions and you destroyed procrastination and here’s the whole run, hit portion of it all. You’re always moving good forward, because what’s in your heart is good. That is how we pull out the good. See, what’s happening is, too much is getting moved forward that’s not, because the world we’re in is feeding it.
CHUCK: Right.
BRYAN: How do you know what’s good? People ask me all the time, “How do you know what’s good Mr. Dodge?”
[Chuck laughs]BRYAN: I said, “Simple, follow your heart, big boy! I mean, your heart doesn’t lie to you.” And I always tell them “I’m sure you’ve all met somebody before they felt very uncomfortable around.” You know, they all raise hands.
[Chuck laughs]BRYAN: And I said, “Follow your heart! Come on, man.” We talked about this. You know, I did a tour for the veterinarians in Canada and I’m doing some here in the States, and they love this part, because they know. Anybody that’s listening right now knows one simple thing, a dog doesn’t lie. A dog doesn’t lie.
CHUCK: Sure.
BRYAN: Meaning if you come to the house and you’re having a bad agenda, the dog will expose you. When my daughter was dating, that was my favorite game. I believe in being fair to all the studs. I gave them five steps before the vehicle before I release my dogs on them.
[Chuck laughs]BRYAN: And one night I said to her, “Where are you going, babe?” She goes, “I’m going on a date.” “With who?” “A friend of a friend.” She goes, “Dad, you’re not doing the dog thing.” I said, “Of course I am. That’s why you call me “dad”. I paid a lot for that title, you’re not taking it back.” Well, he pulls up, gets out his car. I’m down at the barn getting my five labs, I raise white AKC pointed labs and I said, “Go check him out.” No exaggeration at all, Chuck. Not only did they put him back in the car, they surrounded it.
CHUCK: No way!
BRYAN: No way! And I went to Nicole and said, “When are you getting home, babe?” and she goes, “12:30,” I said, “No, that would be a no. Make it 9:30. Keep your cell phone close. Trust the puppies on this one.” [chuckles] Right? Well, guess what? No exaggeration at all. She walks in the house at 9 o’clock.
CHUCK: Really?
BRYAN: The only thing she said to me going upstairs, “Dad! Dogs are right.”
CHUCK: Oh, no! That is too funny.
BRYAN: Oh, my goodness. And guess what it is? I went outside and said to my puppies, “Are you with me?” See, what we have to start doing more of in life is feeding those who got your back covered.
CHUCK: Right.
BRYAN: Don’t take them for granted. Water them, feed them, reward them. Because here’s the key: How come a dog knows? Because a dog doesn’t have an agenda. Do you have a cat?
CHUCK: I do, actually.
BRYAN: Okay. Cats have an agenda.
CHUCK: [chuckles] Right. It’s true.
BRYAN: Just to let you know that. Dogs have owners, cats have staff.
[Bryan and Chuck laugh]BRYAN: So, let’s understand that this is not hard to grasp, ladies and gentlemen. But here’s what I do know, what you need to know, how do you beat the enemies? Act upon it within 48 hours. I guarantee you right now, your show, and I hope that the message is touching somebody listening right now like they never saw this coming. They’re saying to themselves right now, “You know what? My sister called back and she apologized to me over a year ago and I didn’t accept that apology. And you know what? The sad part, she’s right. She really meant it.” Now guess what happens, Chuck. All of a sudden they say, “You know what? They’re right. I’ve been so interrupted, so distracted and, so procrastinating. Almost a year has gone by and I this is my sister?” And guess what? Now they’re going to say, “Okay. I’m going to beat that. I’m going to call my sister in 48 hours. I’m going to pick up my phone and call her right now. As soon as I’ve finished listening to Chuck Gallagher’s radio show, I’m going to pick up the phone and I’m going to call my sister and I’m going to say, ‘Thank you. Thank you for your apology because when you gave it to me, I don’t know what was wrong with me. I thought you didn’t mean it, but now I know you did and I accept it.’” And guess what? Now we have a stronger family. When a family gets divided–
CHUCK: Yep.
BRYAN: And you and I know how important it is to bring them together. Go ahead, I’m sorry.
CHUCK: No, it’s interesting that you say that and there is such truth to your words. I have to tell you a little side story. Back in this past fall, November, December, moving into January, I had a herniated disc, which was pinching a sciatic nerve. For anybody that’s ever had that, it’s a real pain in the butt. Literally.
[Bryan laughs]CHUCK: Literally.
BRYAN: That’s a visual. [laughs] Right?
CHUCK: No, you got that right. And I’m sitting there and one evening, it was a Sunday evening, I was sitting there thinking to myself, I’ve got a pain in my butt, and it hit me. Who have I been a pain in the butt to? Perhaps, maybe, I know this is a little stretched for some people, but maybe this is a physical reminder of the fact that I need to apologize and that perhaps I had been so caught up in the noise, that I haven’t been the truth to myself. And I thought to myself, who have I really been a pain in the butt to? And one gentleman came to mind and we had a strange relationship for the past year or so. I went back to work on Monday, this is within your 48-hour rule, I said. “Hey, are you available for lunch?” He looked at me like, “Okay, I don’t know what’s getting ready to happen, but this is probably not good. But okay,” and we went to lunch and I said, “Okay, I know this is going to be weird to you, but you know I’ve got a sciatic nerve problem, I’ve got a pain in the butt. I think I’ve been a pain in the butt to you. I don’t want to be a pain in the butt to you and I don’t want to have a pain in the butt. I need to apologize for how I have been.” Now, I had surgery, removed the pain in the butt.
[Bryan laughs]CHUCK: But it did change our relationship. And it made it–
BRYAN: You didn’t have to have surgery to remove him from, you know–
CHUCK: I didn’t have surgery to remove him, but it changed things. And it’s so powerful what you say when you follow your heart. And I love “within 48 hours” so you don’t procrastinate and find yourself a year later wondering, why didn’t I develop that relationship with my sister because of her apology? You’re so on.
BRYAN: Yeah. And all we’re doing is just waking up the good. See, people say, “What are you doing?” You know exactly what we’re doing. And I understand why, because one of the other 45 undeniable truths, which is in The Good Life Rules book, and I really do hope that people do reach out, because I do want to be able to give a lot more back to the Wounded Warriors, is to talk about the truth of the universe. This is something that I know you really lean towards. The truth of the universe says, “The easier you choose to be on you, when nobody’s around, the harder life chooses to get on you.”
CHUCK: Right.
BRYAN: Some people are having a tough time in life, not because of life. No. Life has got itself. But they’re having a tough time in life right now, Chuck, because they’ve been too easy on themselves for too long and it has caught up. This kind of a show, your kind of programs that you put together, reminds people, “Go back to working harder on yourself and to do your job. And watch how your job will go back to work for you.” And you become the leader and I would love to, in our next segment, to come back and give them the four keys on how to get 25% back to doing what matters most in their life when it comes to time management. I hope we can do that. So, let me know if I can do that for your listeners.
CHUCK: I am absolutely certain we can do that. Bryan, you’re absolutely right. When you focus attention on being a better you, everything else falls into place. We so try to manipulate the external around us that we fail to look at the internal within us. That really creates some serious problems. And listen, I’ve lived that and I understand the consequences of focusing so much on the external and forgetting who is it that Chuck Gallagher really is? Because I lost it for a while.
BRYAN: [laughs] Yeah. Some might say you took a trip and never left the farm, did you?
CHUCK: [laughs] Yeah. I took the trip, thought I left the farm, found out I was just caught up in the cow crap. But, you know…
BRYAN: Yeah, [35:21], there goes Chuck. Hey, by the way, here’s what we’ll do, and anybody that’s listening to the show right now, I’d love to give them a gift. Are you okay with that?
CHUCK: Absolutely.
BRYAN: All right. Here’s what I’m going to do. You send me right now your email. You just send me, get on there, here’s the email you should go to. Send it to bryan@bryandodge.com (like the car). All right? You say, “I listened to Chuck Gallagher’s show. I would like to have the eight keys of being your best at work and at play,” and I’ll send them, all eight keys, and I’ll also send them specific actions they can take on each of those categories to help everybody move up even that much further. And that’s my gift to everybody listening right now. I hope you’re thankful for that, Chuck, because I think it’s important to give back to people. Don’t you?
CHUCK: Oh, I am absolutely thrilled with that, Bryan. Thank you so much. As we push on our break, Bryan Dodge, author of The Good Life Rules, two things I want to remind our audience of. Number one, when you buy a copy of The Good Life Rules from Amazon or go to Bryan’s website, the proceeds go to the Wounded Warrior project, which that in it of itself is an awesome gift, but in addition to that, send Bryan an email to bryan@bryandodge.com and you will receive a special gift for having listened to this show. This is Chuck Gallagher with Straight Talk Radio. My guest is Bryan Dodge. We will be back with our last segment, here in just a minute and I am excited about it. Stick with us.
[Commercial break]CHUCK: And it is Bryan Dodge and you’re hearing him because he is so excited in the background. This is Chuck Gallagher with Straight Talk Radio and we talked about, in the last segment, Bryan talking about four key steps to getting time to work for you instead of against you. We’ve got 10 minutes. So, Bryan, go! Let’s talk about some of those steps.
BRYAN: You’re the best. First of all, I would like to share this with everybody listening, and that is, life is too short not to be happy. So, if you’re not happy right now, change it.
CHUCK: Amen.
BRYAN: And don’t tell anybody you’re not happy, because let me tell you the truth, 80% of the people that you tell that you’re not happy, they’re actually happy to hear you’re not happy. So, what are you pumping up their day for? And the other 20% really don’t care.
Who’s responsible in your life to making you happy? It’s not about motivation, it’s an internal choice. And that is, be good, don’t be average. Good people appreciate what they have where they have it. Average people only appreciate what they got after they lose it. Stop being average in your life. To people listening right now, I know you have so much to be thankful for. So, be thankful. And how do you be thankful? Be good! Appreciate what you have. Appreciate it like never before. And now, let me share some great ideas, because I teach time management. Hey, Chuck, I went to a time management class some time. It took two and a half days. What’s wrong with that picture?
CHUCK: [laughs] Okay. Well, there you have it.
BRYAN: [laughs] I told them… “You’re not a very good teacher. Two and a half days. Hello? I can it done here in about three minutes.” We’ll have plenty more time to share and discuss. God, I wish we could take calls because I bet there’s a lot of good questions. All right. So, here’s what we’re going to do. Everybody write it down. Number one, number two, number three, number four. Number one is, here’s the number one thing to do if you’re going to get time to work for you. Here it is. When you wake up, get up. That’s the law. When you wake up, get up. If you’re developing yourself, you’re learning new skills, you’re going to want to get up earlier. So, do yourself a favor, if you’re getting up at 5:30 in the morning, don’t look at the alarm clock and say, “It’s 5:30 in the morning. I’m not supposed to be up until 6:30! I’m going back to sleep.” Hello? You go back to sleep, are you more tired at 6:30 than you were at 5:30? Yeah.
CHUCK: Probably. Yeah.
BRYAN: That’s a big yes. So, a) when you wake up, get up. By the way, Chuck, a guy said to me the other day, “What happens if you have to go to the bathroom?” I said, “That’s different.”
[Chuck and Bryan laugh]BRYAN: I don’t care what you say, that’s good radio right there.
CHUCK: Oh, that is funny.
BRYAN: Okay. When you wake up, get up. Here’s number two, okay. Finish tomorrow’s priorities on paper before you go home today. Finish tomorrow’s priorities on paper before you go home today. Meaning, at the end of the day, before you leave the office, I don’t care if it’s in your car, I don’t care if it’s a room in your house, I don’t care if you have an executive big suite, okay? Before you leave your office, you write down the priorities of tomorrow and no more than three. No less than two, no more than three priorities. You write them down on a piece of paper and you leave them there. Leave them there. Leave them in the office, leave them in the car, leave them in your room. I don’t care. Leave them there.
CHUCK: Right.
BRYAN: And people go, “What happens if I have to lock them up?” No, you’re not that lucky. People are not going to steal your priorities, okay?
[Chuck laughs]BRYAN: So, the simple fact of it is why– I got a question actually, Chuck. Why is that so important?
CHUCK: If you know what your plan action is for tomorrow, you will be mentally better prepared to take action to create and complete those things.
BRYAN: Well put. Well put. I’d like to add one additional word on there and that is that you will have separation.
CHUCK: Oh, I like that.
BRYAN: Separation is really crucial. You see, too many people sit at home thinking about work. When they get to work, they think about home.
CHUCK: Right.
BRYAN: They’re sitting on the beach, thinking about work. When they get to work, they think about the beach. They cross over. I mean, hello? Have you ever introduced yourself to somebody and no more your hand eaves their hand you’re already what? Their name. That has nothing to do with memory! You’re not that dumb! Come on people, you’re not that dumb! Somebody gives you a name and your hand hasn’t even left theirs and you can’t remember? The only reason you don’t remember their names, you weren’t there. You’ve gotten so comfortable of not being where you are. So, before you finish today, you have to write down your three priorities for tomorrow and leave them.
CHUCK: Okay.
BRYAN: That’s the second step. All right?
CHUCK: Okay. Got it.
BRYAN: Now, the third step is start with your priorities and have a goal to finish all three. So, that means throughout the day you’re going to have interruptions, you’re going to have distractions, you’re going to have a lot of people interrupting and distracting. It’s called life!
CHUCK: Sure.
BRYAN: Like this one guy came up to me the other day, he says, “Dodge!” he says, “I’m having the best day ever.” I said, “You might want to tell your face that.”
[Chuck laughs]BRYAN: I’m serious. I’m serious, and my point is this, when you are in [42:19], when you are really doing well, you don’t have to tell people you’re having a good day, do you?
CHUCK: No. Not at all.
BRYAN: No, you don’t have to. No, you don’t have to because you’re just being it. Like, eyes don’t lie. Eyes don’t lie. They’ve just got that sparkling eye, man. You’re in the game, right? And number four, okay? Number four is hold yourself accountable to the priorities. Not getting them started, but finishing them and not having any alarm until the end of the day. To me, people that had “left hand, sneak in the backdoor” approach, I got to keep adding on these priority, now you got more than you can do and it’s exactly what it wants to happen to you. And here’s the key. You know what all that does? God, I wish we had more time. You know what that does, Chuck? They’ll start to see a pattern. See, you know as well as I do. There’s patterns in life that are failure and there’s patterns in life that are success.
CHUCK: Right.
BRYAN: But as long as I keep you interrupting and distracting, constantly procrastinating and always running late, you may never sit back and pause enough to say, “Wait a minute. There’s a pattern to this life.” And once you see it, it’s easy to get in, and once you get in, here’s the best part. You know why I’ve given so much of my time to you today? Not only because I respect you, I think the world of you. Do you really want to know why?
CHUCK: Oh, share. Come on, Bryan, tell me really.
BRYAN: It’s not about you either, so get over it.
[Chuck laughs]BRYAN: It’s about the people depending on us and you know what I just said, didn’t you?
CHUCK: Absolutely.
BRYAN: There’s a lot of people listening to this show that have a lot of things that need to change. Bringing energy home, setting your priorities, and all you have to do is those four things. All you got to do is those four things. If you do it consistently for 21 days, it becomes a habit. We all know that came from World War I and now you don’t know how to go back. Once you don’t know how to go back, then you start realizing, if you’re the smartest one in the group, it’s time to upgrade. So, now you start reaching for people that are coaches. Yes, I do do executive coaching. Yes, I’m very proud to have a team that goes and really raises the bar for companies. And yes, I do enjoy getting on stage which I’m headed right now to go to California to do exactly that. So, if anybody is listening right now that would say, “I really would like to take a look at Bryan Dodge and see if I could bring him in for my team,” like you did, and I’m thankful that you did, then go to bryandodge.com, call my office, I’ve got the best team ever. One of the things I’m teaching right now, how to get people to work harder for you when you’re not there because now you know you have loyalty where it matters most.
CHUCK: Right.
BRYAN: I hope that makes a lot of sense.
CHUCK: You know, it does, and I will say to the folks that are listening, Bryan, number one, I think this segment of all the segments is kind of brought at home and obviously that would be the intent. But at the same time four simple things that consistently applied, will change your life.
As I said in the first segment, if you didn’t join us at the very beginning of the show, Bryan changed my life. He took time from a program that he was presenting to our company and did an incredible job, but he took the time to talk with me and to encourage me to stay focused on moving in the direction of my dreams. I am deeply appreciative of that. Bryan, I have to say, I’m amazed at the enthusiasm that you continue to bring to the stage and to your consulting business because the stage is one thing, but to be able to help turn a company around and to improve it and help take it to the next level is something that, in all honesty, many of us who call ourselves “speakers” don’t get the opportunity to do, and that’s kudos to you for being able to do that. I appreciate you being on the show.
BRYAN: I laugh all the time. People ask me all the time, “Is he always like this? Is he like this? Like a show when he gets on stage?” And people that know me, like you, go, “No. You ought to see him in real life. He’s [46:25] down on stage.”
[Chuck laughs]BRYAN: “It would be scary if he did that in real life.” Hey, do I have a second to share one more gift? Because you know I love gifts.
CHUCK: Sure.
BRYAN: Right?
CHUCK: We’ve got a minute left so go forward.
BRYAN: Here’s what I love. Everybody listening right now, I want you to do an exercise in the next 48 hours. What a perfect time of year to do this, at Easter, and to be able to do an exercise for whenever the show is going to run. Here it is. If you’re married or if you’re not married, you do the exercise. If you’re married, you go home and you play the “no list” game. It’s called “the no list game”. N-O list game. That means you get a piece of paper, your wife gets a piece of paper. You draw a line down the middle of your piece of paper, you draw a line across the middle of the piece of paper, on top. Now, you get to go in one room and on the left-hand side you get to write down, “Here’s what I’m going to say no to.” Right? And then on the right-hand side of your piece of paper, you get to say, “Here’s what I wish my spouse would say no to.” Right? Now, here’s the best part, guess what your spouse is doing? She is in another room and she’s saying, “Here’s what I’m going to say no to.” Um, that would be nothing. And oh, by the way, and here’s what I want my spouse to say no to – tatatatatatatatatatata. Right?
Now, you come together, you have dinner, you have fun. You got to trust me on this. I get thousands of people that have sent me emails saying, “Oh, my God, Bryan, that was the coolest thing ever.” You come together, you have dinner. Swap the papers. It’ll be an interesting conversation, because here’s the key, nobody knows what you need to say no to more than the one that gave their life to.
CHUCK: Wow.
BRYAN: If you can’t do it by yourself, you’ll never do it with another. Learn how to subtract, so you can add on. Learn how to be thankful, so you can appreciate what you have. And learn how to bring energy home, so our country and our families will be stronger. And you and I fight for family. Thanks for allowing me to be on your show.
CHUCK: Bryan Dodge, bryandodge.com is the website. Go to Amazon to pick up his book The Good Life Rules. All of the proceeds go to the Wounded Warrior project. This is Chuck Gallagher with Straight Talk Radio. This has been an incredible show. And remember, every choice we make in life has a consequence. Bryan has given us some food for thought about the choices that we make. We appreciate you being with us on this show and look forward to next Monday, when we bring another exciting guest, but Bryan, again, thank you so much. It’s been a pleasure. God bless.
BRYAN: We are blessed. Thank you very much.
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