Building Success through Authenticity: Markus Kaulius on Entrepreneurship, Fitness, and Personal Growth

What if the key to your business success lies in the first impression and how authentically you present yourself? In our latest episode, dynamic serial entrepreneur Markus Kaulius shares his extraordinary journey, highlighting how he built multiple eight to nine-figure ventures, including a supplement company that soared to $170 million. Marcus's dedication to fitness and maintaining a healthy body and mind has helped over 10 million people and inspired clients to collectively lose over 3 million pounds.

Ever wondered how to transform adversity into an opportunity for personal growth? Tune in to hear a personal story of growing up in a challenging environment and the pivotal moment of transformation at age 15 that sparked a lifelong journey of self-improvement. Both Markus and Omar emphasize the critical role of creating positive habits, finding mentors, and the importance of genuine progress over superficial appearances, especially in the age of social media.

Markus also offers insights from his upcoming book, "Play a Bigger Game," and discusses the concept of living a fulfilled life by aligning with a higher purpose rather than merely chasing financial goals. By sharing lessons on setting aside ego, learning from failures, and the value of surrounding oneself with motivated individuals, this episode promises a wealth of actionable insights. Join us as we reflect on the transformative power of gratitude, mentorship, and genuine connections, and how these elements can drive both personal and professional growth.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

I never told no one that my whole life I've been holding back. Every time I load my gun up so I can shoot for the star, I hear a voice like who do you think?

Speaker 2: 0:11

you are all right. Another day, another dollar, another one of my favorite episodes. Yes, I'm biased, because it's my own podcast. What? If it didn't work.

Speaker 2: 0:20

I gotta say I'm actually super excited. I know everybody says it's my favorite podcast, it's my favorite guest, but this man, you know, his publicist came and said would you like to be, would you like to have him on my show? I'm like heck, yeah, man, he's got everything, he's got a presence, he's got online, he's got a following. Marcus Collius, serial entrepreneur and the founder of multiple not just one multiple eight to eight nine figure businesses. Over a 25 year career he grew a supplement company from startup to one hundred and seventy million dollars, helped clients worldwide lose over 3 million pounds. He has impacted the lives of over 10 million people. As a thought leader in the industry, he advises multiple eight nine-figure companies on growth strategy and has been featured in major media markets such as PBS, fox News, apple TV, cnn.

Speaker 2: 1:22

Marcus is even in the Guinness Book of World Records. Talk about a renaissance man. He's recently spoken at a conference on financial literacy which broke the attendance record. His online following, like what I said, over 300,000K. You have to follow him because, let me tell you, I love watching the man's social media his Instagram account blowing up. He shares his daily insights on Instagram with his community, spanning business strategy, mindset, help and faith Through his new venture Play a Bigger Game, something we all need to do. Marcus is bringing together the world's greatest minds and sharing lessons learned from his entrepreneurial journey to help other high achievers break free from imbalance and feelings of discontent so they can find fulfillment beyond career success. Welcome, brother.

Speaker 3: 2:18

Wow, first of all, that was a mouthful, and second, omar. I'm so excited to be here, man, Thank you, I'm going to bring it all the way for you and for everybody listening. We are going to have some fun today.

Speaker 2: 2:31

Yeah, we're going to talk about everything. Man and, like what I said earlier, I might throw this on YouTube because he is always dressed to impress. And let me tell you, but believe it or not, not in the world of business, isn't that what matters?

Speaker 3: 2:46

First impressions a lot of times, absolutely no question. And you know what for me? I had it many years the other way. I ran a supplement company. There was no reason for me to dress up too fancy. This is the stage of my life, man. I love putting on a nice coat. And you know what else? Every time I get dressed, my wife looks at me and she's like oof, this guy's hot. And I'm like that was worth it. There it is, I'll take it.

Speaker 2: 3:10

I can't do that. My ex-wife, no matter what I put on, she'd say I look like a demon Just messing with you. So supplements you know I sold supplements for 20 years. No kidding, yeah, I owned um five smoothie king franchises for 20 years now. Now they're more in the lines of the foo-foo drinks and all that. But at one time we were just like a half nutraceutical company, half um smoothies, and yeah, yeah, uh, definitely sold um supplements, vitamins, wellness, man, because my mind, body, spirit, that that's the the key to success. If you don't have because I'm sure you deal with a lot of people that like, oh, I don't have time for the gym, I don't have time or you might even have people that this, this amazes me that they take supplements and they'll real, the name says it all. Right, supplements, you need to do the work right.

Speaker 3: 4:10

Yes, yes, brother, that's so wild. I love the industry still. I mean, I'm still in it and involved in it. But it's such a beautiful industry because we're helping people live better lives, happier, healthy lives. That's been my goal since day one. I've been so blessed to work with so many people across the planet to help them with that, and now I'm just doing it in a different fashion. But, man, I love fitness and I would not be where I am today without having a healthy body and a healthy mind.

Speaker 2: 4:41

Well, it goes hand in hand, because after a hard day at work I mean I've done plenty of two days owning businesses, having toddlers, having teenagers, whatnot you have to go to the gym. It's way better, everybody. Oh, it's Miller time or let's sink a six pack. Why? You're just going to feel even worse because, but before you know it, you're going to be crying. You're going to be like oh, new, new year, new me. I'm going to wait until 2025.

Speaker 3: 5:13

So true, it's that's. That's one way to go, isn't it?

Speaker 2: 5:17

Well, brand new year, right? How many people? And I've been part of a global gym just on saturdays and sundays. I do the crossfit thing but you know at times I cherry pick if it being at 50, you know there's some I can't do overhead squats and and whatnot. So I'll go to the global gym like clockwork december, completely empty yeah but january.

Speaker 2: 5:42

Every friggin stairmaster well, not even the stairmaster the elliptical, which is the biggest liar. Don't you laugh that people were on the? On the elliptical and it says like burned 800 calories in 30 minutes.

Speaker 3: 5:56

Talk about a lie that's how they juice it up, don't they keep you coming back? Hey, if it's getting people back in the door, I will actually support that, but I do prefer that they stay in integrity and uh, and really give people an honest, honest number.

Speaker 2: 6:12

Yes, mark marcus, you own multiple businesses. Is the supplement? Is that like your baby, because that's your passion? You look great, you look like you can model, you can be on the cover of Muscle Fitness, men's Health, etc cover of these magazines.

Speaker 3: 6:49

But yes, it was my baby for almost 19 years until I felt God calling me to sell it. And then I sold it and I got to exit and I got called to my next thing and, man, I'm just in this life on this planet to experience a whole bunch of amazing things and help others experience these great things too. There's so much wonderful experience out there waiting for us to tackle. So many people just get so complacent, so I actually I love the name of your podcast, the what if? What if there was more for me? What if there was something more for me to do on this planet? What if I could achieve more?

Speaker 2: 7:22

You know, the thing is so many people always focus on why they can't. Yeah, I'm too old, what if I go to? I create a side hustle and I look desperate out there. I look goofy going on social media.

Speaker 2: 7:37

What if I open up a business and I go to debt or prison or I die? You know, because everybody creates the worst, the worst thing possible. One, you're not going to die. And two, there's no such thing as dead or prison. That's just something from maybe the 15, 16, 1700s. We don't have that anymore. Failure to me has always been for those that, oh, I'll wait for the perfect opportunity, or they keep on studying, they keep on gaining knowledge because they're waiting for the right time.

Speaker 3: 8:07

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 8:08

And they never take it. And in the pain of regret. Well, it's everybody, because I mean you could. Every failure is just that Not going out or just trying half-assing it and quitting Adversity is part of the game.

Speaker 3: 8:27

Yes, that's how we grow, that's how we learn. I totally agree. Failure is never stepping up to the plate, and I love talking about. I'm not even a baseball player, but I love using a baseball analogy. You know, we all have the opportunity to get up to the plate and, just like you talked about this fear that people live with oh, but what if I swing and I miss? What if I spin around and I fall down? I just won't take a swing. Here's what's really exciting and why this creates such a huge opportunity. If you're thinking of taking a swing, get up there. One, the worst case scenario pretty much never happens. Two, because nine out of 10 or 99 out of 100 people don't even want to take a swing. You just stand up there and keep swinging and what people will remember you for is the time you hit it. They will not remember the all the times you missed. And if we're sticking with baseball for a second, if you hit three out of 10 of those balls, you're a hall of famer.

Speaker 2: 9:22

Oh, I tell people all the time, man, the amount of failures or quote unquote, strikeouts. I just keep on swinging. People just love to see the Z, the finished product. My second book was entitled Vacation CEO. And it was a joke because people would see my wife at the time with our kids going to the Amalfi Coast, going all over the world, all these epic trips, and they kept on saying, oh, wow, it must be nice, it must be nice being president of your company and going on vacation and going on vacation. But they weren't saying that when I had to work Monday through Sunday, work Monday through Sunday. They weren't saying that when I had to learn how to be handy, manny, to fix something because I couldn't afford to hire the plumber or the AC guy and you two became a great friend, they weren't saying, oh, must be nice, you're the vacation CEO.

Speaker 2: 10:18

But, you know, everybody sees that man. Everybody loves to go to the movies, Marcus, and they love the adversity. They love seeing the hero fall and come back. But why don't they understand that that's part of their life as well?

Speaker 3: 10:35

Yes, and that's where the juice is in life. Right, like learning how to get back up. That's so much better than just learning how to stay standing still for the rest of your life. No, take some risks, fall down, get back up. Get back up stronger than you were before man. That that's real life.

Speaker 2: 10:57

Marcus, I mean wanting to ask you this were you always the fit guy Like I need an origin story. Were you the guy that in middle school, junior high, you're just like already ripped high school, you're just like crushing gym, you're crushing it, excelling in sports, and right after that you're like man, I'm the fitness man. And it was just, or what was the real story behind that?

Speaker 3: 11:24

I love the question and, honestly, this is where the biggest what if comes into play. My first 15 years on this planet were really tough and I'm not I'm not like I own my backstory. I freaking love my backstory and I love teaching people to love their backstory but those 15 years stunk. Come from a divorced family. Dad's now gone. Mom has to go back to school full-time, work full-time so I was really fending for myself for a long period there.

Speaker 3: 11:51

When I was 13 years old, I had the classic Lithuanian growth spurt that left me 6'4", 120 pounds. It is as bad as you can picture it. It was all skin and bones. It did not look pretty. I had no self-confidence. I had no self-worth. Then there was the what if? One day, when I was 15 years old, I said what if I didn't have to keep living this way? What if I didn't have to be this guy who had no self-confidence, no self-worth? What if I just became somebody better than this? And then I started to be better than that immediately. First it started with the mind and I started just working on who I was, who I wanted to be, and then I started creating the habits to make that happen, and exercise was a key part of that.

Speaker 3: 12:39

I loved working out and my transformation was immediate. Not physically, it took me years and years of trying to transform my body, but my mind. I liked the confidence that working out gave me. I liked the integrity that I was building by saying here's what I'm going to do. And then I would go out and do it. And I don't think I probably had a good body until I was late 20s man. It took forever. Think I probably had a good body until I was late 20s man, it took forever. And what's really cool is you will get to a point, like I did, where the body stuff is just a side effect, Like now. I just love working out for what it does for my mind, what it does for my energy, what it does for my sleep, what it does for my health. The body stuff is just an added bonus.

Speaker 2: 13:45

Yeah, it starts like I feel horrible, like literally like I'm tired. It should be the opposite. But it's like my mind is like why haven't we worked out? I took a month off and I feel guilty and that's why I always like, after a certain amount of period, oh, I have to do another 75-day challenge. You know, because I love Andy Fusola and I love posting the before and after. But it's really like you start, you create a habit and when you're a couch potato, that's a habit.

Speaker 2: 14:27

In order for success, success you have to create, you have to take away all the horrible habits and you have to replace them with good ones.

Speaker 3: 14:35

Yes, you're so right and you know. I think people hear that and they're like, yeah, but I don't even know where to start. There are a billion books written on this and there are communities who are who are created for this exact purpose to help you on that path. Help you create these good habits. There are great performance coaches, there are great mentors out there who can put you on that path. So my number one recommendation is if you want to start on that path, find somebody who's done it. Find somebody who's shown that they've done it ahead of you. And if it is a physical thing and you want a specific kind of body, find someone who has that body.

Speaker 3: 15:14

I'm always perplexed by watching somebody. You know. You see a little 90 pound young lady working with a 300 pound juiced up dude and I'm watching going. With all due respect to him, I'm like do you want, do you want to look anything like that young lady? Like, do you want to look like this big dude? Like, not, not that you have to now go find a lady physique, but I mean, when I wanted a trainer, I wanted a trainer who had the abs that I wanted. I wanted a trainer who wanted, who did it the way I want to do it. I wanted to do it, natural I wanted to do it this way, this way, this way. So find somebody who's done it on the path that you want to be on, well, that's called mirroring, that's called modeling and it's saving the number one resource, which is time.

Speaker 2: 16:01

If you can condense time, man, that's the fountain of youth right there, because we can have $20 billion and it can't buy time. But if you can cut down the amount of, because, like what you said, find someone that you want to emulate, but a lot of times, okay, if I want success, if I want a consultant, I would go with you, marcus, because you had that, you had, you were, you are an entrepreneur. But a lot of times people just go on social media and they'll be like oh my gosh, that guy is a millionaire. He was mowing lawns, he said it himself two months ago and now he is driving the lambo and for only bucks. I can send him that 60 bucks and I can live that rock and roll lifestyle like him.

Speaker 3: 16:54

Bro, you're so right. Yeah, that's. That's the tough thing about social media these days. Right, you see that one picture with the Lambo. Well, he's got it figured out. Let's, let's be a little bit more discerning, everybody, well you're going to laugh at this, marcus.

Speaker 2: 17:18

Everybody has a credit card, right? Yeah, so we can rent the Lambo, we can go on Airbnb, we can lease for a couple of days or whatever the mansion. We could go to Nobu, we could go to SDK Steakhouse, we go to the Wynn Casino. Drop the credit card, we can post that we're there. We can make sure the whole world finds out, congratulations.

Speaker 2: 17:37

But yeah, when it comes to starting a business, or they have a business and they're like, yeah, I don't want to sound desperate, I'm like desperate, is the bank going to be? Like okay, omar, it looks like this deposit was because you were posting a lot and you were marketing yourself. People just have have it all wrong, man, and it like they'll go on and check into some frigging casino or some hotel or some exotic spot that anybody can go, anybody with a credit card or a little bit of money. But, oh my gosh, why can't you post that? I started my own business? Hey, why don't you come hire me because I'm doing this? Or better yet, hey, my friend is a CPA or he just opened up a bakery or whatnot. Why don't you support that? Yeah, let's stop supporting superstars and people that you have zero commonality with yes and start supporting yourself and your buddy have zero commonality with yes and start supporting yourself and your buddy.

Speaker 3: 18:51

Oh buddy, we, we speak the same language. I love that man I have. I have no pride. When I start a new business, I'm like, hey, everybody, brand new business, if you are willing to spend a dollar with me, I will be your best friend. I don't mind groveling. Hey, I'm an entrepreneur man, I'm a freaking grinder and I respect others who feel that same way. You know, you see it in it, in them. You see they're like hey, I'm going to hustle, I'm going to, I'm a hustler. Let's let's show more respect and let's let's promote those people. I totally agree. How many people are out there listening and sharing what the genders are doing? And it's like who the heck cares what the genders are doing? Why are you supporting them? Support somebody else who's doing it differently and who's still trying to come up.

Speaker 2: 19:31

Well, they also have this delusional little voice in their head that says if I repost this post by the Jenners, the Kardashians, whatnot? They will appreciate it. And one day soon, very soon, I can party and I can hang out with them.

Speaker 3: 19:51

So true, so true. I'm still waiting on that invitation from them. Yeah.

Speaker 2: 19:57

Well, they can't. They're not going to invite me for anything because I've never reposted or reshared anything. That's my downfall, but it's funny because you know, being a business coach and drinking the Kool-Aid when it comes to personal and business development. I see all these people wanting to be carbon copies of the Anthony Robbins and the Grant Cardones and the Brendan Burchard and the Gary V, and it's like God in the universe made you to be the best version of you. The world already has these people. Man, totally, don't be a carbon copy. And two, why do you keep on reposting their stuff? Be original. They're not going to hire you if all you do is you spew what they spew. Totally they're not going to invite you on their private chat, brother.

Speaker 3: 20:48

Omar, I love this point and I really want to encourage everybody listening here to find out who the authentic you is and be it. Keep moving towards that every single day. When you find that alignment of who you're supposed to be on this planet, this planet bows to you. Like you were made like this, you just can perfectly fit where you're supposed to fit. When we try and change who we are, it doesn't work and we have to work so much harder to try and figure stuff out. Be authentically you and you will draw the people who are supposed to be in your life. They'll be magnetized to you. Yeah, you're also going to repel others. That's a great thing. Those people are supposed to be repelled, but then you also create more space for the people who are supposed to be magnetized to you. And it took me way too many decades to figure that out for myself, but once I did, oh my goodness, life is so much better and so much cleaner and so much more awesome.

Speaker 2: 21:49

Well, the hardest lesson for an entrepreneur is that you're not going to be liked by everybody. That not everybody is a prospect, not everybody is a client. You have to know your niche. Like what you said, if I look like I'm an Olympia, I shouldn't be trying to go after, you know, the 90-year-old that wants to still stay active, the guy that looks like he lost on the Biggest Loser and he regained all the weight. Or the 100-pound girl that you know just wants to look good for her senior prom no, man. And it's like no, no, no. Everybody. Everybody wants my cookie and everybody can hire me, and it's like no man. When you feel that everybody and you want to be liked by everybody and you're just playing vanilla, it's like, guess what? Nobody likes you and nobody's going to buy you and nobody's going to use your services Nobody likes you and nobody's going to buy you and nobody's going to use your services.

Speaker 3: 22:54

Trying to be everything to everyone, you end up becoming nothing to no one.

Speaker 2: 22:55

Exactly Now, man, the passion that you've been showing it already. Your new venture play a bigger game. From the moment we started, you, you've been completely aligned. You speak it, you breathe it, you live it. So let's talk about playing a bigger game.

Speaker 3: 23:20

Oh, thank you, brother. I really appreciated that. Man. That's beautiful encouragement.

Speaker 3: 23:24

Uh, play bigger gamecom. Is this community that that all my life I've been led to? I love surrounding myself with high achievers. You know we are the average of the five people we spend the most time with. So if you put yourself in rooms with people who are smarter than you, who are better at fitness than you, who are doing the things you want to do at a higher level, it's going to raise your average. You are going to become that better version of yourself.

Speaker 3: 23:51

And I wanted to create a community for people who knew they should be playing a bigger game in life, who knew they had more in them, but maybe they just didn't know where to start or didn't know who to surround themselves with. And this is the invitation Come join us, come take a peek. There's a free discovery call. I mean, first check out our website, but have a discovery call with us. You'll just talk with us. We'll tell you what to expect. We'll find out if you're the right fit for us and if we're the right fit for you. It's a growth community. It's a loving community. It's a support community. You're going to get challenged, you're going to be held accountable. You're going to make real plans and then you're going to take real action to make those plans happen. I want to see people live the life they dream of living. That is definition of success to me. My definition of success is helping somebody else live out their definition of success.

Speaker 2: 24:45

You know, what I love about that, marcus, is that that's how you become successful. You become a person in service, you become someone that lives in abundance, you become someone that helps out everybody and anybody that needs the helping hand, and you don't look at them like a checking account and go well, I might help them, but what can he do for me? Does he have a lot of followers? Does it? Does he have a lot of money? Can he pay me? No, that's having ulterior motives. Man being in services, I want to see you succeed, plain and simple.

Speaker 3: 25:28

Yep, man, it feels so good I totally agree with what you're saying, of course but it feels so good to help somebody like that and that is your reward. Let it be that alone. Of course, you do end up without the rewards, especially if you're coming at it with an honest and just that is really what you want. People can see that, people know authenticity, and the more I can encourage people to become that version of themselves, you won't even be able to write a story this good.

Speaker 2: 26:02

Well, everybody wants to say that they're religious or that they're Christian, but the pure definition of being Christian means to be more Christ-like. Yeah, but, and he never said whether people believe in it or not and any religious figure. It wasn't like for him. Well, maybe I will help out this leper or this cripple. How many likes do you think I can?

Speaker 3: 26:33

get. Can I get more disciples? Peter, get the camera rolling, let's go live. I'm gonna heal this guy exactly, exactly and it's.

Speaker 2: 26:43

It's like people will do stuff like that with ulterior motives too, like, oh, I want to be an influencer, maybe this will help my following. Hey, you like what you said? Yeah, back in the day, you know, st Peter would be like Jesus. We got it, man, we got it. I'm looking at, we're trending higher, dude, we're growing. This is great, man. Let's try to do that. Turn water into wine, bit again, bro. You're crushing it.

Speaker 3: 27:15

Hashtag Jesus saves bro Hashtag.

Speaker 2: 27:18

Exactly, exactly so. Play a bigger game. Who would be the ideal, or is there an ideal? Person to join this.

Speaker 3: 27:30

I love this man First and foremost. If you have a calling and you know you should be playing a bigger game in life, that's our number one criteria. If you think you are right where you're supposed to be, you're probably right. You got a good story. You're telling Awesome. At the most, I'm going to encourage you. Keep doing what you're doing. But if you think you could be doing something bigger, that's number one.

Speaker 3: 27:54

I love working with high achievers and I know I'm going to speak a little bit of your language. I know you're an amazing coach. We love working with people who have good self-awareness. If you have some self-awareness, oh, that's the ideal person to work with. Hey, here's who I am, here's where I am, here's where I want to get to. Oh, man, I love working with that.

Speaker 3: 28:17

But ultimately, in our community, the real prerequisite is you're coming from a place of love and respect, and we all know what that looks like and we all know what it doesn't look like. And so imagine social media where it was only positive stuff, and I mean not fake positive, but like legit what you did, that I'm so proud of you. That's amazing. And it doesn't mean you're not going to be challenged. Absolutely Real love involves challenging each other, but it's from a place of respect, not ah, what a dummy. You did that. Stupid. No, but like hey, omar, that's really interesting. See, I usually go right. You went left. Tell me why you went left. I'm really interested in knowing it's.

Speaker 3: 29:01

It's such a cool community and when people come on the calls, by the way, we do free calls here and there. So if you sign up for our newsletter, you'll get an invite to a free call. Come and check it out. The last call we had it was a two-hour call and at two hours we said hey guys, thank you so much for being here. It was so loving, it was so amazing. You know you're free to go. We want to be respectful of your time, but we, or Q&A, 55 people stayed for another 45 minutes and only four people had questions. The rest of the people were just like. I'm not used to hanging out with people who are all like sharp and supportive and loving. I just want to stay here. It was like a beautiful hot tub that you're like. The water's just right. I don't want to get out. So at any point, man, come, come, check us out, come, come, get in the tub with us.

Speaker 2: 29:50

But that, right there you said a couple of things. One I do believe social media. When it first came out, when Mark Zuckerberg was, it was supposed to be social. Nothing to do with anti-social, nothing to do with. Let me judge you, let me bring you down, let me push you down, let me try to drown you with my beliefs, whether it's social, personal, financial. Let me go up on my soapbox. To me it was always meant to be social. And oh my gosh, hey, my fraternity brothers. I haven't seen you guys in 15 years. I'm so glad let's connect. But somehow something like that.

Speaker 2: 30:35

And then it could also be a tool man, when I first owned all those stores, marketing meant pain for these print ads that if you got 1% return, 1.5% return, you felt like you're Hugh Hefner, huge, yes. And then you didn't know what was going to work or what wasn't, or guerrilla marketing, or I mean when times were slow because of the economy and I had two toddlers, I would get into an inflatable blow up with the sign and people making fun of me and you know, at the end of the day it built character. But at the end of the day I had a wife and two children to support. Yeah, buddy, and when you have a strong enough why? You saw you check the ego at the door.

Speaker 2: 31:24

It wasn't like I was like was like everybody. I've got a master's degree in communications. I'm a multiple store owner and I am just doing this for a challenge. No man, you suck it up and you do it, yeah, but but I love what you just said there, because when you join a, an organization, you, you form a group of people that want to play a bigger game. It's like the tide rises, all ships yes.

Speaker 2: 31:55

And that's what it is, man, you're right, who you hang out with after work, whether you own a business or whatnot, and you're going home and you're streaming nonstop, because you have no time to write a book, you have no time to work out, but you have like five hours every day to stream Netflix and make sure Netflix hits its quarters, which, by the way, they had record subscriptions. The quarter came out today and they crushed it, but yet nobody has time because they're too busy.

Speaker 3: 32:31

That's right.

Speaker 2: 32:32

But everybody you hang out with is doing the same thing and you're taking notes over like six different, seven different random shows. Yeah, and it's like oh my gosh, and it's crazy because it's also the water cooler mentality, marcus. Because it's like oh my gosh, and it's crazy because it's also the water cooler mentality, marcus. Because it's like I don't want to be left behind. How about if I can't talk with everybody about what happened on the last season of Ozark?

Speaker 3: 33:03

It's so true, brother, it's so true. It got us all caught up in that, you know. I just want to jump back to something you said that I really loved, because I want to highlight it for everybody this do learn to check your ego at the door, and ego shows up in so many different ways. So you got to do some self-check, some self-awareness here. What is your ego asking you to do? How is your ego making you act? And you check that. The first thing I did as an entrepreneur is I hung up my ego forever. Ego is what has you go? Well, I know I'm in the right. Okay, you will be in the right all the way to the bankruptcy. Versus this idea of hey, I can be wrong, yeah, we can see this two different ways, and you know what? I'm okay with, even taking the blame or taking the heat or whatever, even if I don't think I'm in the wrong. Those, to me, are the most successful entrepreneurs.

Speaker 2: 34:15

You have to be able to check the ego, because you're going to have to pivot at times. Yeah.

Speaker 2: 34:21

This marketing strategy that you thought was going to be like the second coming of sliced bread or the fountain of youth, or it was going to put you on the map and it blows up and it does absolutely nothing, but you keep on doing it because you're smart. No, you suck it up, you go. Okay, I wasted some money, I wasted a little time, but I learned a lesson yes, what not to do? Yes, something different, but a lot of people will do the same thing all the way through bankruptcy. And then they'll tell you oh yeah, owning a business is so risky, being an entrepreneur is so risky.

Speaker 3: 35:00

So true, bro, you know and I love what you just said we learn from these things. I'm such a big fan of this idea. Like I don't lose, I either win or I learn. And the learning lessons are so valuable. How much does an education cost? Well, when I learned these big lessons, yeah, I paid a price. I would have paid a price to learn anything. Nothing is free in life. So just keep trying, you will learn. And the other thing I love talking about with learning, I really believe I learned 90% of what I'm going to need to know in any given scenario on the path. That means if I don't start moving, if I don't start going, taking action, the most I can ever learn for what I need to learn is 10%. So, yeah, I collect the data that I can, I make the best plan that I can, but then I start moving, because when you start moving, you start learning.

Speaker 2: 35:57

And Marcus. We're talking about a process, we're talking about a journey. We're talking about a road that one must take in order to succeed, wait for someone to save them, or wait for someone like a fairy, godmother or genie or some mythical person to say here's all your dreams. Even if that was possible, you didn't put your time, you didn't put any effort, you didn't learn any lessons. You had zero skin in the game, and that's why every lottery winner, that's why everybody that wins big in the casino, they blow it and it's just like, even at the biggest loser, they didn't have that year or or whatever. They didn't have that mental mindset of having to check in every day, even when they didn't feel like it, and that's why they gained the weight back. And that's the same reason. Yes, people, if we gave you your dream life and we gave you whatever money that you equate happiness with, you're going to lose it all because you never earned it. You don't know, you don't have that muscle, brother.

Speaker 3: 37:15

We are so on the same page with that and it makes me sad that people do not recognize that at all. You know, when I started to come into more and more money and and people had their hands out, I'm like, listen, I would love to, honestly, I'd love to give you some money. It's going to be, it'll be a vice. It will actually be a curse more than anything, because you will lose it. You didn't build the muscle yourself to learn what to do with this stuff. This isn't just bad luck that you don't have money in your life. These are the habits you've chosen to take on in your life.

Speaker 2: 37:50

The path you've chosen leads to the exact amount of money you have, and yeah, bro, every decision good, bad, lack of taking action, lack of even thinking about doing a decision, has led everybody to this right moment, right here, right now, your network, everything all depended on A when you were born. All the way till now, nobody had it. You and I, we're both products of single parents. Awkward as hell. Me, because you know, when I never met my father mom and dad divorced before I was born and, like you know, I was like the only one in the late 70s, early 80s I felt weird. I felt like I was unworthy and those were all those. So if I can overcome that, you overcame your childhood. People have overcome far worse options than us, but everybody wants well, it's not fair. Since when in time has there ever been fair?

Speaker 3: 39:06

Never, never. And you know, let's put a silver lining, let's put a positive bow on this that if you're hearing this and you're going yeah, but I still think there's more then make the choice. Make it right now. It doesn't matter what age you are. It doesn't matter what handcuffs you think are on your life. You can make the choice to change from victim to victor. You can be the hero. You can be that hero in your family. Choose to be and then surround yourself by people who you see being heroes. Learn from them. Start doing the things that they do. Success leaves clues. Take those clues. Figure that stuff out. Ask questions it's okay to ask questions. I love when people are coming up and they're asking me questions and they're actually going to take action with it. What I don't care for is people asking questions and they have no intention. I just wanted to hear you say it. I just wanted to hear you say it. I just wanted to hear you talk. Now I feel better. I'm going to go. Don't consume. Take some action with these things.

Speaker 2: 40:08

Exactly and, like what you said yesterday, you could have failed the day before. But guess what? That's all in the past Today. Today's a new day. God, the universe, Jesus Christ, gave you today to crush it, to be the best version of who you are, to live the life that you were always meant to be living. I love that.

Speaker 3: 40:31

I love that. Listen, I have no doubt there's a bunch of Christians listening right now who are getting pretty fired up that you're saying those things. So I want to add on to something If you believe in Jesus, you have the Holy Spirit in you. You've got God in you. You are the co-creator of your life. You have that power.

Speaker 3: 40:51

God did not create you to go sit on the couch for six hours a day and complain about a life that is crappier than it should be. He created you for something awesome and you absolutely have the power to make change today. Will you be able to drive the Lambo tomorrow? No, life does not work like that, even though Instagram says it does. But you can start making the changes today and start seeing the difference tomorrow and start just start to recognize that, hey, you know what I actually feel better about myself. I am a man of of integrity. I said I was going to do this. I did it. You start developing these habits, you will become a totally different person. It might take a month, it might take a year, it might take five years, but if you stay on that path, it's going to be glorious and so worth it. And here are two guys that did it and are telling you you can do it too.

Speaker 2: 41:44

Amen. I always tell people, if we were made in God's image, he didn't make you to suffer. He didn't make you to just get by, to live in scarcity, to live with pain. He gave you all the tools and he gave you free will, sound mind, sound body to create the life. You are the master of your life. You're the creator of your destiny.

Speaker 3: 42:08

Oh, I love that bro.

Speaker 2: 42:09

Now, Marcus, not only do you have this amazing group, but you have a book coming out, don't you?

Speaker 3: 42:17

Yeah, brother, so in June. And it is also called Play a bigger game. Uh, you know, god called me to write this book and then he wrote the book through me, which really excites me to share with people, because, man, when, when he would write these words and I'm reading them, going holy smokes, this is better than anything I could write. Uh, I'm, I'm just excited to share it with the world. It's the game that I learned to play, starting from crap.

Speaker 3: 42:47

I was the zero and I wanted to become a hero and the stuff that God did in my life. But there's mindset techniques, there's perspective shifts. I give you all these things in the book. I give you challenges so you can take action on these things that you can change your life immediately. And, yeah, it has my story in it, which has some pretty wild twists and turns. But, yeah, I'm really excited to share this with the world. And if you end up buying the book, we're going to be doing pre-sales pretty soon and pre-sales lead to tickets to a big conference I'm going to do in June and I'm going to bring out some of the best speakers on the planet. It is going to be a life-changing event.

Speaker 2: 43:31

Are you going to keep us hanging? Where is this conference?

Speaker 3: 43:37

You're going to have to check out our page to find out How's that sound, but it's going to be in the US. We'll do it in at least one of the major cities, and I've already got some amazing speakers lined up. It's going to be one of those conferences that you talk about for decades.

Speaker 2: 43:54

Marcus is going to have me as a speaker for 2025. I'm putting that in existence right now. I love it. I'm letting Jesus Christ I'm putting that in existence right now. I love it. I'm letting Jesus Christ, I'm letting God know that I'm going to grace his presence and his stage, and you know, be a bigger person.

Speaker 2: 44:25

So seven universal principles to experience real fulfillment and win at life. Now, what do you tell people I'm sure you hear this all the time that equate a certain amount of money. When I make $80,000, when I make $100,000 a year, that's when I'm going to be happy, that's when nirvana hits, that's when I become a spiritually enlightened human being.

Speaker 3: 44:43

Brother, it's so crazy that you ask this question because that question, right there, is why we have that title on the book. I don't know if it's just a male thing, but every time I talk to a male it's like we were sold that bag of goods at a young age. Just get to that number. Get to that number. That's where happiness lies and we believe it. And when you talk to people, they believe it to their core. No, no, no man, I'm this close. When I'm at 100K, then I'll be happy. And you get to it and there's nothing there. There's nothing.

Speaker 3: 45:17

It actually feels worse to get there because you banked on everything being there. You got to the end of the rainbow and you're like what the heck? There is no pot of gold here. There's no magic joy here. In fact, I had to work so hard and this is all I was focused on that I don't have a good relationship with my wife anymore, or my kids, or my health. Everything else has fallen apart, and now think of how bad that torpedoes your life.

Speaker 3: 45:45

So the big thing with my book and why I called it what I did, why those principles are there, is because I want people to experience real fulfillment. Real fulfillment is not yeah, I'll get you to that 100K, we'll do it together and then we'll be happy. No man, there's no truth to that. Real fulfillment comes in finding happiness today, in the life that you're living today. Find joy, find bliss on the journey who you have to become to reach that level of success. Whatever that level of success will be and, by the way, it will radically change once you get onto this journey, once you find that bliss, you'll realize you need much less money. If I said to you, you will have the wife of your dreams who loves you like crazy kids who respect and love you like crazy.

Speaker 3: 46:36

Do you have to have a number? Now we have a hold on. Am I making at least a hundred K? No, now, yeah, but hold on. Am I making at least 100K? No, I'll take 20K with the rest of that stuff. Oh, and, by the way, your health is also spectacular. Oh, my goodness, I'll take 15K. You can figure out ways to live if you've got this other success. But here's the craziest thing If you experience this other stuff, if you find that joy, that bliss inside on that journey, those are the most successful people on the planet, those are the people who have more money more everything else that you're looking for, because they found joy in it, marcus, I was one of those people and I was consumed, yeah, children, and just shallow, but consumed with a magic number.

Speaker 2: 47:28

If I become an accredited investor, when I if I become, once I hit that number, yeah.

Speaker 2: 47:34

Once. Once I hit that number, the heavens are going to open up. St Peter, all, all the saints, all the angels are going to welcome me in. I'm going to be extremely happy, I'm going to feel loved, I'm going to feel worthy. And you're right, it was such a and then what? It was depressing. Yes, it wasn't until many years after I had to realize happiness is a decision. Yes, I have to wake up every day and go. Jesus, god, thank you for giving me today. Thank you for letting me breathe, thank you. Thank you for giving me another opportunity. Thank you for giving me two opportunity. Thank you for giving me two healthy teenage daughters. That, yeah, they're. They can be a pain in the ass, but they're. They're alive, they're thriving with health, with, with happiness, with being able to decide that everything else is all trivial and, like what said, we can figure out everything and anything, because any problem that's ever been out there has been solved with people with less talent.

Speaker 3: 48:51

Yes, Bro, I love that so much and you just gave people such a beautiful answer for anybody listening going. Okay. So then what? How do I start on this magical journey you guys are talking about? Omar just gave you the answer Start with gratitude. If you lead with gratitude, if you live a life of gratitude, you are going to experience so much joy. Thank the Lord, thank whoever you need to thank for the life that you have. Be so grateful and you're like, yeah, but my life sucks. It does. If you think it does. You got air in your lungs. There's something to be thankful for. Do your legs and arms still work? There's something to be thankful for.

Speaker 3: 49:33

If you have anything going in your life, you can figure out ways to be thankful. And the more you spend thinking about the things you are grateful for, the more is going thinking about the things you are grateful for, the more is going to come into your life to be grateful for. And I heard a beautiful quote recently. I don't know who said it, but it's a beautiful way to live life. What if, tomorrow, you woke up and the only things left in your life were the things that you were grateful for today? Oh man, how would that make you treat the things in your life today, the people in your life today. How much more grateful would you be for all the stuff in your life? Because anything that you're not is gone tomorrow. And here's the crazy truth that's exactly what does happen as soon as you stop being grateful for things. That clock has started. Yeah, it might not be tomorrow, but it's going to be the day after tomorrow or the day after that, including the air in your lungs.

Speaker 2: 50:29

Well, time stands for no one and people take it for granted. Loved ones will be gone. If your parents are alive, be grateful. If your grandparents are alive, if you're healthy, if you're healthy, if you're sound, there's just so much. You know that that lambo that people are obsessing over, eventually that's just a vehicle that gets you to point a to point b. Yeah, you're gonna be like, you know, feeling it. You're gonna be feeling amazing. I mean I, I would material items, I would buy a new car, oh yeah. And then a week or two later it was like this, isn't it?

Speaker 2: 51:08

And chasing, chasing things, chasing material items or chasing things that really don't serve you. It's like you know all you have to do is love yourself, love God, love your children, love your spouse. You know, love your neighbor, help out other people. Everybody's looking for the magic bullet. You follow. Gratitude. You follow just being thankful, too, for this opportunity. You know, nothing translates on when you're sending emails. He thought I was trying to tell the guy that that booked you on my show, that I was thankful, but he thought I was being sarcastic. Yeah, that's awesome. I'm like that's all. I'm like that's awesome. I see he has a social media following. That's cool, but he felt that meant well, he's not following me and it's like brother. There's billions of people on this planet that aren't following me on it.

Speaker 2: 52:11

there's millions, there's billions of people out there that have never bought my book, that don't know me, and that's why, to me, sometimes everything's lost in translation. If you don't pick up the phone and you don't just say, hey, man, but yeah, ultimately, anybody that wants to be on my show, I am frigging thankful. I don't care if it's your first time speaking, I don't care. We all have a story. We all have something that we overcame. We all have a lesson that we can instill on people to learn.

Speaker 3: 52:43

Totally, brother. I just want to say how grateful I am to have spent this time with you and to be invited on. This has been awesome. You're a great dude and I love your philosophies and man. There's so much alignment we have with each other, eh.

Speaker 2: 52:58

Well, that's what I said. That's why I was thankful and happy. But when I jumped on and I saw your because the first picture I'm like, oh shit, this guy's gonna want to talk to me about, because I've had plenty of personal trainers or people, people, something like, oh, I'm like, okay, I'll sleep, I'll sleep through this hour. You know, know, we'll do the. You know, I was a fat kid and I got bullied and the fat chick, the chick called me fat and I said never again.

Speaker 2: 53:32

And my lesson is to make sure nobody else lives a fat life. You know, but no man, anybody. There's so much negativity on social media, there's so much crap out there and for people that use that, well, I can't afford it. You know, they can afford Netflix, they can afford anything. Follow Marcus on social media, especially Instagram, and that you follow those little lessons, you're going to expand your vision, you're going to expand your mind. You're going to go out living in discomfort because the comfort that you think is safe, that's putting you in an early grave. Yeah, it is oh well said, well said.

Speaker 2: 54:25

Marcus, I know how to find you. I know how to social media stalk you. I know how to join your movement. I know how to play a bigger game. I know how to find you, but more. But tell the listener how do we find you, how do we find you, how do we find you on everything that you want to promote and how, even though we said it like six, seven times, a website, you know, when it comes to people, their short attention span because they're on TikTok they never said how to find you.

Speaker 3: 55:00

Thank you, brother. Listen, people come hang out with me, man. I'd love to. I'd love to celebrate some wins with you. If there's anything I can do to serve you, I would love to be on that journey with you. Come find me at playabiggergamecom, playabiggergamecom. And come find me on Instagram at Marcus Collius. I know that's super easy to spell, but it'll be in the notes, I'm sure. And yeah, I just I give perspective tips almost every single day. I just want to help people live that healthier, happier life, and then let me be in your corner and cheer you on. We're going to go through some serious wins together. Now there's going to be challenges in life and I love talking about those and I love giving perspective shifts on facing your challenges so you are stronger, so you recognize those challenges as gifts, because the challenging times are the times that we get to level up in life, so we can do that together.

Speaker 2: 55:54

Now, marcus, this is a question I have for you, the final one, thought provoking a little. The final one thought provoking a little. What words of wisdom do you have to take or do you have to give to someone that's given up, that's on the sidelines, just the victim, pointing fingers, saying marcus is lucky, he's got everything, saying Marcus is lucky, he's got everything. Everybody else is lucky. My horoscope, my biorhythms, my mercury retrograde, whatever excuse people use. What words of wisdom do you have to? It's not over.

Speaker 3: 56:36

If you feel like you're at the end of your rope, this is a really great opportunity. You're in a really good place, because this is where the best stories begin. And I encourage you to ask the big question what if? What if these guys are right? What if Marcus and Omar are right and I could be living this better life? What if I could change things today, be living this better life? What if I could change things today and then start doing something to be on that path? Start with gratitude. Second, start surrounding yourself by better people who can help you on that path. I have so much mercy. I have so much sympathy.

Speaker 3: 57:21

I was once the guy at the end of my rope. I hated the life I had. I hated it. I hated everything about it. There was nothing I felt like it was nothing I could even be grateful for. And then one day I asked that question what if? And my whole life changed radically. So it's a simple answer. Now the process won't end up being easy, but it's a simple answer and it's a simple start, and I just want to encourage you. Make that choice today.

Speaker 2: 57:52

And this is where I'm going to end it Play a bigger game Social media stock. In Marcus I came up with a quote. It's on his page Just a reason to join, any simple little reason. It's good to have a community and mentors who can walk you through it and give you some peace about your decision. Marcus. Callius.

Speaker 3: 58:21

Thank you, brother. I love what you do, man, god bless you and thank you for everything.

Speaker 2: 58:25

God bless me by putting people like you in my life, thank you. Thank you for your wisdom. Sometimes I wonder if it's just for me, because everything, every people like you that, yeah, it's for the listener, but it's also for me. Thank you for believing in me enough to want to be on my show, and I'm going to buy the book because I'm a voracious reader and this isn't the last you'll see me on play a bigger game, and then everybody. I will be bothering markets now through till 2025. So I can be one of the speakers. All right, brother, I love you. Thanks for being on man. What if it did? Work.