Glass Half Full
Glass Half Full
Steve Gamlin's Journey: From Visualization to Goals, Authenticity, and Joy
In this weeks episode on Chris Levens talks with Steve Gamlin. What if the path to achieving your goals was simply a matter of seeing them? Join us as we sit down with Steve Gamlin, a man who has worn many hats, from radio DJ to stand-up comedian, author, and teacher. Steve has spent his life pursuing his dreams, and in our chat, he shares his insights on the power of visualization and the need to understand the 'why' behind our goals. You'll also find out how to find joy in your life, even if it's just a few minutes a day.
But don't think it's all fun and laughter. Steve’s commitment to goal-setting extends into the corporate world, where he has spent 16 years helping to create positive, motivating work environments. He shares the transformative power of vision boards and offers insights into how they foster positive changes in energy and work dynamics. His personal journey, stepping out of his comfort zone, and discovering authenticity and purpose will inspire you to embrace a greater sense of purpose.
Brace yourselves for some entertaining revelations as we engage in a hilarious "Would You Rather" segment. You'll find Steve's choices between rabbit buck teeth and a pig nose, and never having to do laundry or dishes again, both hilarious and revealing. Steve's journey is a testament to the power of self-belief and courage. His story is filled with motivation, authenticity, and yes, plenty of laughs. Tune in to be inspired, to find your 'why,' and perhaps even to visualize your own path to success.
Good morning, good afternoon and good evening. Wherever you are in the world. Welcome to another episode of Glass Half Full, a podcast and a safe platform where we talk with a variety of teachers, entrepreneurs, spiritualists, uplifters, givers, shakers and serenaders. Everyone has a lesson to learn and a lesson to share. Let's use our life experiences to enrich someone's heart, mind, spirit and soul. Through sharing our experiences, we can be a learning inspiration for one another. I'm your host, chris Levens. Let's welcome today's guest. Today's guest is Steve Gamlin. As the motivational firewood guy, steve Gamlin blends back to basics positivity, visualization and humor, teaching his clients to see their desired outcomes, understand their why and build action plans to achieve them. Via his vision board mastery program, one-to-one and group coaching, plus live and virtual events. Bottom line, steve teaches the necessary mindset to identify what your goals look like, feel like, sound like, smell like and even taste like. Let's give a warm welcome to Steve Gamlin. Good morning, good morning, hey there, chris. Hello, hello, hello. How ar e you this morning?
Steve:I am doing great. How are you?
Chris:I'm good. Thank you so much for taking some time out to be a guest here on Glass have Fool. We're so happy to have you today, happy to be here, thank you. Yes, I'm going to tell you on where you are in the world and what time it is.
Steve:I am in the Northeast United States, where it is currently just after 8 am.
Chris:Yes, how's that weather today?
Steve:It's cloudy and rainy today, which means I get to do some inside stuff. I was traveling with my wife earlier this week, so I've got a list of stuff that I get to be caught up on.
Chris:Well, that's good, and we need the rain definitely, so awesome. Well, we're going to jump right on in. I'd like to ask all my guests this first question I believe that our lives are in spiritual design. Can you share your life layout or blueprint with everyone? This is how you grew up, where your family lifestyle yeah, I grew up gosh.
Steve:I've never really left the Northeast United States. I live in a little state called New Hampshire. My wife and I currently live in a very small town, kind of out in the woods on a dead end street off another dead end street. So it's a pretty isolated existence, which I love. But I grew up in a city near here.
Steve:Great family life mom, dad, my sister played a lot of sports as a kid, made my way through school. School was not my favorite thing in the world because when I was 11 years old I wanted to be a radio DJ, a stand-up comedian, an author of my own books and a teacher of people, but not in a classroom. So as time went on from that, your parents say get a good job with a good company with good benefits and put your head down for 45 years and then retire and enjoy your golden years. That was never my philosophy. I wanted to do those four things DJ, comedian, author and teacher of people. So, for better or for worse, now at age 55, I've done all four, with more highs and lows than I ever expected. But despite all the dents here I am enjoying life and, I've got to say, the most happy and rewarded version of me so far.
Chris:Wow, Now that's awesome. This is what we want. Right Is to feel like we are becoming the best version of ourself, so I love that, and so do you have any dogs or cats, any birds or any children?
Steve:No kids. And let's see, we've got birds in the backyard. As long as there's bird seed in the feeders, no indoor pets. But if you want to count three very fat squirrels who camp out under the bird feeder in a skinnier one who climbs up and knocks the seed out, I guess those would be our pets. Oh, okay.
Chris:Wow, okay, we'll take those. The community pets, the community pets, yes, exactly, awesome. Let me ask you, what advice would you give someone who wanted to pursue these fields that you've touched upon, maybe something that is professional or personal, that has gotten you to where you are today?
Steve:Think of why you really want it and it really needs to resonate so deep in your gut. You know we get sold this build of goods all the time by people in my industry, which is part of why I got into this industry. You know people who just float all these. You know material rewards of everything and for me it's just always been doing something that in the word passion, gets thrown around a lot. You know you don't have to say this is my passion, this is my passion.
Steve:But if it's something that brings you joy, even if you can't do it as a full-time gig, it's okay. But make it a significant part of your life and it needs to have that emotional reward, that emotional connection. And for me, when I was 11, I just thought those were four of the coolest things I could ever do with my life. It never gave thought to money about oh, I could get rich doing this, it's well, I could have fun doing this. And, like I said, for better or for worse, at age 55, here I am, having done all four. So figure out something that's going to bring you joy, make you happy or feel rewarded or just buoyed by the emotions, or even by doing it, even if it's just a few minutes a day, in addition to whatever it is you need to do to pay the bills, go for it.
Chris:I love that. Yeah, just go for it. I agree too. Just go, just do it. So tell us, why is it important for us to see our goals?
Steve:You know and I kind of alluded to people saying that, you know, it gets dangled in front of us, the definition of success. And I've seen it over the years. I've been doing this now for almost 20 years and teaching vision boards and visualization for about 16 or 17 years. I see people say, oh, steve, I made a vision board. And I say, all right, send me a picture. And a lot of times it's what I refer to as the vision board starter kit. It's a Lamborghini, a yacht, a mansion, a private jet, a helicopter, a big honking gold watch and a bank vault full of gold bars. This is success. And I'm like, oh my gosh.
Steve:So I'll say, well, okay, what does success really look like for you? Like, what do you mean? I said, well, what floats your boat? Well, you know this and this and this, I go. Do you really want a Lamborghini or a yacht or a mansion or all that? Well, I don't know. But I mean, that's what that motivational guru said. So that's why I put that there, so I can aspire to big things.
Steve:And for me it comes down to I'll ask people, you know, what does your goal look like? And then they'll say, well, kind of like this and they'll describe it to me a little bit and I'll watch for that smile or that little flicker in their eye and say, all right, they're on to something now. Now I'm really tapping into what they want. And then I'll say, all right, what does it feel like, sound like, smell like or taste like? And usually I want to get the smell and taste. People like what do you mean? What does it go taste like?
Steve:And I had a guy recently shared a picture of a house he wants to buy and I said, all right, it looks great. And he goes yeah, I said what are you going to do the day you move in? He goes oh, we're going to have a big barbecue to feed everybody who helps us move. I'm like all right, here we go to taste and smell which favorite thing to grill? He goes well, I have a grill and a smoker. I said, all right, what are you going to smoke? He goes ooh, chicken, wings and ribs. I said, all right, what flavor of wood chip are you going to use? And he goes why? Like mosquito hickory? I said, okay, good, and as he got into it, we were on camera doing this. I just watched his face. I go dude, are you drooling? He goes, yeah, a little. So I'm like here's the goal, it's not just the house, it's the experiences in the house. And you know, in touching every sense and just making it more real, that's for me that's the strategy that really gets at what you truly want.
Chris:And bringing in those other senses. How did you come to that understanding?
Steve:Trial and error. I screwed up more ways than you can imagine.
Chris:But that's how we learn, isn't it? That's how we learn.
Steve:Exactly. I never bought anybody else's program and now I refuse to listen to anybody else's program. I mean, 20 years ago my life was a mess. I quit my radio career, went through a divorce, was tens of thousands of dollars in debt and had to move back in with family. And I mean I started in the ashes.
Steve:And I saw this DVD called the Secret that a life coach had recommended to me, and for three minutes out of 98 minutes there was this guy named John Asaraff talking about vision boards and visualization. He didn't teach how to do it, he just kind of explained what they were. And I was so fascinated by that that I built two vision boards and three weeks later I looked at them. I said these are garbage because I had put a bunch of material stuff on there.
Steve:So I just through trial and error, I just started tapping into well, all right, steve, you're starting at ground zero, or actually a little below. What do you really want? Do you want the same life you had or do you want to do something different and make a better version of you? And that's where it started to unlock for me, and since then I've just gotten better at it and as people started to see me stacking up even the small wins. They asked me to teach them how to do it. So a door opens and now I get to be a teacher of people, ta-da, just like I wanted to be when I was a little boy.
Chris:I was about to say this is what you asked for, right. But you made a request made known at a young age. You put out there this is what you wanted. That secret had already. What you had learned as an adult was letting you know you had already done it, without knowing what you had done when you were young.
Steve:Oh yeah, the seeds were planted.
Chris:Yes, they were already in the ground. So I love that. That's the spiritual design, that's that layout, that blueprint that we sometimes don't see until late, and we connect those dots. It's like, oh, I've been on this path the whole time, so that's awesome. Yes, we've been hearing the word vision board. I know what it is, but can you explain to everyone what is a vision board?
Steve:The way I described it to somebody one time. They said, steve, in one line, tell me what a vision board is? I said, all right, it's a wall mounted GPS for the next best version of your life, wow. And you acknowledge where you are now and then you think where would I like to go next? And again people fall right into the material thing.
Steve:So the way I teach it and I said, look, it's in eight major areas of life and that, if that overwhelms you right now understand all these areas are working together 24, seven anyway. So just be aware it's your physical health, your emotional wellbeing, your relationships, the core values that guide everything you think, say and do, your faith and spirituality if that's an important part of your life, which is very similar to core values, but it comes from another direction and your connection with the world in a real way, which has taken a beating the last few years. And then what you do for a job and your money, and a lot of people go well, that's a lot, and so just remember, they're already all happening at the same time. So wouldn't it be a good idea if you actually set even just one goal for one year each in each of those areas and you watch what starts to happen in your awareness and the opportunities that are presented to you, you might just amaze yourself.
Chris:Yes, the awareness. You're right. Just, I think that is so key Just being aware of being present, being understanding what's happening, being still sometimes and just being in that quiet for sure. Nice, nice, nice. Okay. So the vision boards are you working with people with the vision boards? How can companies and individuals well benefit from building the vision board? You talked about the individuals? Tell us about how the companies can benefit from building a vision board, and is this something that the whole company does together or is this an individual thing within the company? How does that work?
Steve:What I've done over the years if it's a smaller company, maybe a couple of dozen people, 30 or less, or sometimes it's a team or division within a company is I'll speak with the leadership and I'll say look, do you have goals for your team? And I'll say, yeah, I said, all right, how important is it that they grow personally and professionally? I said what do you mean? I said is it important to you, are you just trying to break in the box, or that you are developing the best version of every single human being that's a part of your team, that they understand why they're there, beyond the goals you've set for them, for the company. Do you want the best version of them walking in every day? Do you want them to understand why they're there, beyond dialing for dollars or making a certain amount of deals or whatever? Because when you get the most complete, connected versions of every single person that's a part of your team, they're gonna perform at a better level. They're gonna develop interpersonal relationships inside the company, cheering each other on, supporting each other when they know each other's goals.
Steve:I've literally watched this happen in the same room People that have been working together for years when I started to dig deep and ask about certain goals in some of the eight areas, somebody saying something and then someone else saying oh my gosh, I never knew that about you. I've done that. I can connect you with the resource so that you can do it too. And I watched the leaders and I speak with them two, three weeks later and I've had them literally say one of my testimonials the energy in this building right now would blow the roof off. Everyone sees everyone so differently than they did three weeks ago. This is now a team in a family.
Chris:Wow, now you know, that's huge, that's huge. Oh, I love hearing that. Because that is so cool.
Steve:I always say I share those testimonials with my mom and I get what's called the MMC rating made mom cry. Now my mom's in her mid-70s and I'm still her kid. Look, I hear you. Go back to the companies and I go. Y'all made my mom cry. They're like, we're sorry I got. Oh, no, no, that's the highest praise. Mama's tears is the highest praise.
Chris:Yes, I know that's right. Yes, mama, yeah, I love it. Oh, that's great, wow, so powerful. I mean, I would have never thought about the individual, yes, but the companies how great is that? And you're right. People start working on one accord. We have we're on the same flow in the office, like everybody's achieving working towards that same, because there's a lot of individuality happening in a group office or even on a team, or a few people work well together and the third person doesn't work well with the other two. There's always this discord, which I hear, but this is great, wow. Do you find that the companies are able to maintain this?
Steve:From my observation.
Steve:Yes, because there's an energy shift and, like you said, there's always those people out there who just don't mesh with that energy and that's okay.
Steve:You know the lone wolf, you know, I guess, wiring and that's okay, because I'm not looking to create this big kumbaya hippie asylum where people, where everybody just hugs and does that all day, but even the little shift of those people who want to be on board with that, I mean you can't be around that, in my opinion, and have it not impact you in some way, and even the hardest of facades can look around and see that. You know this motivational speaker guy isn't coming in just preaching hippie-dippy hugs and happiness, that there's a real possession, real science, to everything I teach I just don't teach it in a scientific way Nice, and they feel it and they see it and overall, over time, as long as people stay committed to creating that energy and that environment yeah, I forgot people that even. Well, this December is gonna be my 16th year in a row with my longest running company, family. Wow, they invite me back year after year.
Steve:And I say well, you got the video from every year and the CEO, Mother Goddess Jen, says there is nothing like having Steve Gamblin in the room. We're gonna just keep bringing you back every year because we've got new people and we've got veterans who need, you know, a little reminder once a year. So they just keep bringing me back.
Chris:I love that. I know that. Well hey, why get rid of something when you know it's working? You wanna feel like we want you to stay because you're learning still, you're bringing in new information and things are still growing, you know. So, oh, that's awesome. That's awesome, you sound busy.
Steve:It is busy. We're still rebuilding after the pandemic. In addition to being a speaker and a coach in the Vision Board Mastery program, I also owned a DJ business for about 28 and a half years and when the pandemic hit, it pretty much demolished both businesses. So, after honoring all of the DJ events, I closed that business down and I've just been focusing on rebuilding, getting back on stages, getting my message back out there and delivering virtually now and creating a new webinar series and a brand new coaching group platform. And so we're you know we're putting it all back together. Still, you don't just snap your fingers and say, hey, here it is. You know I'm still learning and I'm surrounding myself. Unfortunately, I lost one of my coaches and mentors during the pandemic. Oh, I'm sorry, and so I've now thank you. I've now invested in different programs and different coaches and mentors and a better business mindset of my own to put it all back together. So I'm real excited about the trajectory that we're on right now.
Chris:And that's awesome. You know, when things are broken down, we are able to build them up even stronger than they were before. You know. So, therefore, this is definitely. It sounds like things are on their way and moving in a great direction, so we look forward to hearing more about that definitely.
Steve:And the future. One of my earliest stage stories was called Some Days your Phoenix rides a Pogo stick, because every time I came back from the challenge. I'm like I can't even look at my Phoenix.
Chris:He said he came fly today. He's not flying again.
Steve:No, I know right, like you're the mighty Phoenix. And I said no, hollywood has ruined it. Hollywood movies, you know, the hero stumbles and he falls down in the ashes, but then he rises up, in the clouds part and the music swells and the angels go. Oh, yes.
Steve:And all of a sudden the hero's fine. And I just looked at somebody one day when they said that I go, dude, my Phoenix rides a Pogo stick. I just I've fallen back into the ashes and burned my tail feathers so many times. But every time I come out and I fly up and I rise my tail feathers grow back. The colors are more beautiful, they're stronger and I can fly higher. But don't ever think it's one and done, man. Life is gonna come back from another angle and kick you hard.
Chris:Yeah, and you know, these are the learning lessons. You were right. Sometimes we don't hear that tap, Sometimes we gotta get that push or shove because we didn't catch the signs beforehand. But you know, you're right, life that's not, it's not a one time deal, you know. But this is how we grow, this is how we step out of our comfort zone, you know, and sometimes life pushes us there and the events push us there faster than we're expecting.
Steve:But yeah, you're definitely right about that for sure, and that which doesn't kill me gives me a great story to share on stage. So you know, people sometimes ask they go, steve, how do you make up those stories? You say on stage, and I just stare at them and I tilt my head like a puppy and I go really, have you not been paying attention? Because that which doesn't kill me gives me a great story to share on stage. And somebody asked me one time what do you love most about speaking? I said I now get paid to tell stories about the things I did in my life that people used to call me an idiot for doing. You know, the dumbest things I ever did are now what people pay to hear me talk about and how I recover from them.
Chris:So I'm grateful for all those decisions, but look, you wouldn't be able to talk about it if you hadn't gone through it, right? So ideally you were able to share, and you know a lot of people are going to the same thing and you know we need somebody who has understood and feel like I'm still here. It hasn't killed me, you know. It's made me stronger and it's made me who I am today and you can make it through as well. So it's just putting it back forward and we need that. We need people to reassure us sometimes that we can do it when it feels like the world is on our shoulders for sure, Exactly.
Steve:Authenticity, for me, is the keyword, it's the buzzword, it's the ultimate superpower. Oh, that's yes.
Chris:I love it. Yeah, so let me ask you when using that word, please explain to everyone what authenticity is, what the definition is.
Steve:Here's how I describe it. I am exactly the same person, onstage, offstage, backstage, standing on the street corner, walking down the Captain Crunch aisle at the grocery store. Yes, inside and outside I am the same person. My wiring is the same. I don't put on a different shade of color or emotion. I'm just me everywhere, and what that is is the most freeing decision I've ever made in my life, and it's in the core values that I live by, it's in the way I think, I speak, I act. Anywhere.
Steve:You could see me in a week in a grocery store and I would be the same exact person that I am right now. Yes, and that's on purpose, that's intentional, because so many people are out there and we see it on social media. They're building up this fake wall, this facade, this image that they want you to believe about them, and I just do my best to be open and honest about myself. Now also, I'm very, very, very cautious these days with myself. Talk. I always speak to myself and about myself, because my self-talk was brutally self-deprecating for years, which is proud.
Chris:Oh, wow was it.
Steve:Decades. Oh, I was horrible to myself, but here's the greatest lie about it I could get laughs doing it, so I thought it was okay.
Chris:Oh wait, so you mean that you were perform? Is this in performing in comedy?
Steve:Oh, just in general. Okay, so you would put yourself down and people would laugh about it. Yeah, they thought it was funny.
Chris:Okay, so you were doing this in public on purpose for people to. Were you doing it on purpose for people to laugh?
Steve:I was just thinking that that was really who I was. Was this pathetic excuse of a guy who just kept screwing his life up over and over, who was a mess, who had no confidence and spoke very poorly about himself, to get laughs, and even in my own mirror? I mean gosh. After I blew up my life 20 years ago radio and my marriage and any shred of financial stability if you read my journals, I referred to myself as Hurricane Knucklehead, category five. I mean I just wow.
Steve:I blew everything up and I spent another decade after it happened beating myself up over it Until a friend called me out one time after I got off stage at his event. I spoke all three days and on the third day I was running out of material and I was in a foul mood and I was just running on this self-deprecating rant and I demolished myself on stage thinking I was doing okay, getting laughs, and at the end of it he pulled me aside and essentially staged an intervention. He goes, brother, if I ever hear you talking about yourself like that again on stage or off, if I catch you doing it, we are done. We will never do anything together again and you're out of my life. I said what do you mean? And I said but they were laughing. And he goes, bro, they weren't laughing with you, they were laughing at you and how pathetic you are and how you're not even a source of authority to them. Because if you're gonna talk about yourself and say that's really who you are, why the heck should we listen? And that was another moment that changed my life forever, and that was June of 2011, I believe, and I've never forgotten that lesson.
Steve:And it took a while to get over and get through and rewire. But now my brain still comes up with those old things and I'll just say it right out loud I go, you know, 12 years ago I would have said this, which would have been very funny, but not in the inside. And I said now I would say this, but I'll still say that old one and get a little laugh. And I go, but here's the better way to say it. And now I use it as a lesson. I said look, the factory still spits out, wants to spit out those old materials, but that's not what I'm selling now.
Chris:Hmm, nice, nice, yeah. We have to reprogram ourselves and reprogram our thinking as well. Yep, oh man, yeah, mm-hmm, can I ask you why is it critical to know the why of what we want in life?
Steve:The why is. It's something I describe. It's the gas in your tank and the spark in your cylinders. It's what's gonna keep you going when life throws an obstacle in your way or when somebody tries to tell you no, no, no, that's not what you want. This is what you want. When your why is strong enough, when you have a deep emotional gut level connection, you say I want this and I'll ask why. Because this, okay, go a little deeper. Mm-hmm, okay, because this, because this.
Steve:And I had a dear friend of mine this is probably around 2005, asked me why'd you become a speaker? I said because I wanna motivate people. He said why I go? Because people need to be motivated, because you don't sound real sure. And he says okay, why did you decide to become a speaker? And 17 whys in, with tears coming down the sides of my face.
Steve:I said you know, when I was 24 years old, broken, depressed, living on my grandfather's couch, my friend Danny asked me why I never followed my dream of being on the radio and what it came down to is I didn't know what to do, how to pursue it and I didn't have any confidence in myself to do it. And something in him asking me why I went and did it. And I got, I went to school in Boston for eight week program, got an internship at a rock station that we grew up listening to. I mean not even paid an internship. And I drove to Danny's house because I hadn't seen him in a couple of months and he said where you been? I said, right of your school he goes, you get a job. I said, well, I got an internship and I told him in the station and he was so happy and he was so proud and of course I got the I told you so speech. Of course, three weeks later, yeah, and three weeks later Danny passed away.
Steve:Oh no, he had cancer twice.
Steve:Oh my gosh and he came back very quickly and he passed away and I was there with him and I worked 15 years worth of hours in 10 in my radio career and I started the DJ business on the weekend.
Steve:So I was just exhausted and falling apart and just frazzled and I walked away from my radio career. But I remembered that someone believed in me when I didn't and I wanted to be that person for other people. So I decided to become a speaker and the guy that asked me that question, with tears running down my face, says good, that's the answer I was looking for. Don't ever forget it. So, as hard as things have ever been over the past 20 years, I always remember my mission is to help somebody believe in themselves when they don't and to be to them what my friend Danny was to me, and I'll never, ever forget the why. No part of my why is being on this show right now, because somebody out there is in the shadows, where I used to be, and something you or I share together could inspire that person to believe in themselves and at least take one step to follow their dream.
Steve:Wow, you said it and I would give the same answer in the Captain Crunch Isle at the grocery store, because I've had amazing connections with people there.
Chris:Now that is cool. That is cool Really. You've been strangers.
Steve:Oh, yeah, yeah. If I see a stranger who might be looking like they're a little down or something, I'll pay them a compliment or just say something or say, hey, I hope you're having a great day. And they'll look at me funny and say, look, I'm part of a group called Beach Bump Philanthropy. It's a nonprofit. My family and I have. I said we're just trying to add plus signs to the world every day and I think that is the coolest hat I've seen all day long. I couldn't pull it off. But you, you look marvelous and I'll walk away and they think I'm the weirdest dude in the store. But they're smiling and if I see them a couple of aisles later, I'll look at them again and I'll just give a thumbs up. I don't even have to say anything. I'll give them a thumbs up and they smile again. I'm like, oh, and I look up and I just go all right, god, you know I was supposed to be here.
Steve:I get it. I get it. Okay, we're good.
Chris:I love that. Yes, yes, and you know, hello is for free. All of that is. There's no cost to just share that, to give a smile and throw a hand up and say hello, my mom, is this person my sister? I'm like do you know her? She's like no, you know.
Steve:Oh, my wife always says she goes. Can we go anywhere that you don't know somebody? I go. I didn't know that person, talk to him like you know him forever. I said, well, they just looked like they needed a smile, that's all.
Steve:Oh my gosh, it's okay, it's so easy, it's true, to just look around, wherever you're at, and ask yourself how can I leave this situation a little better than I found it, even in the simplest way? And some people say well, you know, I don't have money to be kind, I don't recall saying it took money. Next time you go to the grocery store and you see a carriage that somebody left behind, instead of getting mad, why don't you just return it to the corral or the store? Or if you see somebody taking the last grocery bag and putting it in their car and their carriage is empty or just about empty, why don't you just shout out from a safe distance excuse me, would you like me to return that for you? I'm headed there anyway. I've never had anybody say no. I've always had everyone smile and say oh my gosh, that's wonderful. Thank you, that's it.
Steve:That's it. That's all that's it. Plus, sign, plus, sign, plus, sign. And, by the way, I'll never run out because I own the factory. We can make some more. My brain and my heart and my body, man, that's the factory and the attitude and the core values I have. They just work overtime to just keep that energy going, because I never know who needs it and what it usually comes down to is I needed it that day.
Chris:Wow, I love that. Yeah, it's paying it forward, just doing it. That is so awesome. That is so awesome. Wow, I wanted to ask where did the phrase motivational firewood come from?
Steve:Yeah, another perfectly timed moment and a perfectly placed person in my life. There's an association called National Speakers Association OK, and here in New England, in the Northeast US, there's a chapter, and somebody told me about it and they said hey, steve, you're becoming a speaker. Why don't you go see what they're all about? Because they've got all these powerful speakers and educational programs. So I went down and all of the members had these beautiful lanyards with a nice name tag. I'll print it out with their letters after their name and all their achievements. And I go to the guest table and there's one of those blue things that said hello, my name is in a Sharpie. So I just wrote Steve and slapped it on me and a gentleman named Don says hey, steve, my name is Don and welcome. You know what brings you to us today? I said, well, I'm becoming a speaker. He goes. Ok, what sets you apart? What makes you different or unique? I said, well, I want to motivate people. He goes well, steve, we all want to do that. So what makes you uniquely, you? What's different about you? And he was so patient and so gracious About a three to five minute conversation of him, again like my other friend, asking why, getting to the deeper thing, I said you know, don, if somebody's coming to hear me speak, it means they've got a spark of something in their heart that they want to improve in their lives, but maybe they don't know how to do it.
Steve:And if I share a story or a lesson or a tip or a tactic or a strategy and it inspires them to go for it, I said they got the spark. But it's kind of like I handed them a piece of motivational firewood and he snapped his fingers and he goes. Do you know anything about trademarks? And I said no, and he said that's really cool and unique and I love that approach. I've never heard anything like that before he goes. But you know what I love the most? Your face just lit up when you said that he goes. Young man, I would pursue that and I shall doubt. I think about $1,250. And I've owned the trademark motivational firewood ever since and it's still the core message of my business. You know I can't change your life, but I can maybe encourage you and give you a little guidance for how you can change it and to help understand what you really, really want in your life. So that's, that's been the brand ever since.
Chris:Wow, that's awesome. I love that you own it too. That's pretty cool. Yeah, and this is true. We you know I was speaking with another guest like we need tools in our toolbox. You know we need to be able, when situations arise and things come forth, that we have the tools in our toolbox to handle them. And you know this is what you are giving people and teaching them about things that they are able to use when you're not around. You know they can't be like what would Steve do? I mean, I guess they could, but in the end, you're giving them resources for them to be able to use. And I think that is the most important that people can walk away with understanding, having a better understanding about themselves or the situations, or how to get around those situations or get through them, you know. So, yeah, that is huge. That is huge. Wow, okay, thank you for explaining that. I was like, oh, that's pretty cool.
Chris:Motivational firewood Like okay, is that burning? Are we burning the wood, or what yeah?
Steve:And sometimes people go, wow, that's really cool. And then they pause in and they go, okay, so what does that even mean? And then I explained what I just explained to you and they go, oh, I said yeah because I you know, and you just said something really important, chris, talking about who they are in the process and what they bring to it, because I'm so sick and tired. There are parts of my industry that I just can't stand.
Steve:I'm so sick and tired of people getting up on stages with the lasers and the fog and the thumping bass and the music and the rah, rah, rah by my stuff, mentality, that it's all these people who just keep pimping out their super secret formulas and their programming and then, of course, escalating the investment you need to make just to get results in your life. And people can hear me for free today. People can hear me for free on social media. People can hear me for free sometimes in webinars, and I just wanna give as much value as possible and help people to understand that it comes down to them and what they want. I can't say what's best for you. I can't say what success is in your life.
Steve:Now somebody asked me Steve, what's your dream car? I'm like a 2023 Honda CR-V. And they laugh and they go really, you don't want a Lamborghini. I'm like, dude, have you seen my driveway? You come in anything more than 12 miles an hour. You're gonna bust the nose cone off a phone. No, our driveway is sloped and plus, you can only drive it like three, four, five months a year where I live anyway, cause I'm not taking a. You know Lambos don't have snow tires. Sorry, oh yeah, but see a car like that has never meant anything to me personally. I mean, they're beautiful, they're gorgeous. Hey, great, I've got friends that have I got a great friend of mine who's got a McLaren, which is a super high-end car, but it's not what I want. You know, my eight areas of success look different than yours, chris, and anybody who might be listening, but what I encourage people to do and do my best to educate people as to how to figure out what those things mean to them so they are more connected.
Chris:You're right. I think it's key knowing what we want you know, and we need to know self to be able to answer that you know, which means we need to go within and do a little work to be able to do that, you know and have the tools to be able to do the work and have a positive outcome. Definitely, nice.
Steve:I mean, what I've created is a toolbox, not a map, and I love that. You said to have the tools. That's all I create. It's like the old party game Mad Libs you know where you fill in the words.
Chris:I love that.
Steve:It guides you, I have it here with you and it tells your story. Say, you have to put in your own words. I can say you know. Say, with regard to your physical health, what your goals are. You need to come up with the adjectives yes For what you want your physical health to be. I can't tell you. You need to weigh 182 pounds, have 8% body fat and all this. You need to figure out what it is you want to look like, or how to describe your physical health, and then to know why you want that level of physical health.
Steve:I'm 55,. Two years ago, I weighed 247 very soggy pounds. I was drinking an extremely tall rum and coke every night to relax. I hadn't been to a gym in three and a half years. I was not sleeping well. I needed a CPAP machine because I would stop breathing six times an hour in my sleep. Wow, and I did not look good. I did not feel good. I did not like what I saw in the mirror and I was scaring my wife every time. I stopped breathing in the middle of the night. Wow, and on May 4th of 2021, I invested in being part of an organization, organization called Apex, which is based in Dallas, texas, and it's a whole bunch of hard charging, mostly entrepreneurs who are fiercely into creating the best versions of themselves.
Steve:I haven't had a drop of alcohol since I started exercising that day and now I weigh this morning was 222, so I'm down 25 pounds total and have maintained, and I get up at quarter past five every Monday through Friday and I exercise. I will pedal close to 3,000 miles on our Peloton cycle this year and I am feeling good and people say well, steve, why do you want that? I said look, my wife, tina and I have been together for 16 years. My dad's health started to go downhill In his late fifties. He passed away when he was 72, just over five years ago. I said look, when we're 72, I want to be holding Tina's hand walking along a beach. I don't want to be holding her hand walking into a series of doctor's appointments.
Steve:So every day when I get up I didn't hit this news button I get up, the alarm is shut off within five beeps. I count five, four, three, two, one. When I hit one, both feet are touching the floor. I lean back, kiss my Tina on the cheek. I get up, go in the bathroom mirror. Our lights are blinding.
Steve:So, out of the very tiny corner of one eye, I look in the mirror with a huge smile and high five myself, and in my head there's already an amazing classic rock song playing. I am rocking out in the span of time that most people don't even realize. The alarm clock is going off, and all of the steps I just said. I've got to give attribution here to a speaker named Mel Robbins who has two lessons the high five habit and the five second rule, and I've adapted both of those into the habits of my life so that I can see myself in our seventies and, hey, even eighties, me and my Tina walking on a beach holding hands, not having to go to the doctor all the time because we didn't take care of ourselves. Nice.
Steve:Now is Tina doing the same thing? That's how I teach. Tina is actually on I believe it's the Noom plan right now. She's lost about 17 pounds All right, Tina she looks great, her energy is really good and she's making adjustments as well.
Chris:Good, good good.
Steve:Okay, it's just, you know, we're just this adorable couple in our fifties that love to just sit next to each other and give her a foot rub every night, which is non-negotiable. That is huge, dude. That is huge. That's my rule, that it's non-negotiable.
Chris:Wow, you put a lot of men. People will look at their husband and be like, are you serious? Like wow.
Steve:I love it.
Chris:Now we're talking about like five minutes, how long we spending on the feet.
Steve:Well, I started giving her a foot rub with my hands and I injured my hip right after I started working out, like two and a half years ago. And now I've got one of those massage guns for my hip and one night, when she wasn't looking, I took the massage gun and I hit her foot with it, you know like that, and she laughed and she goes oh wow, that feels really good. I go so do that instead of my hand. She's like what do you mean instead of? So now my hands? Giving her a foot rub is like the opening act. Oh, wow.
Chris:Oh, Tina spoiled. Tina is spoiled honey. Oh snap, Okay, it's hysterical.
Steve:I'm the one that says it's non-negotiable, because it's. My goal is to give her a foot rub every single night, because I know she appreciates it and I love it too. So sometimes, if I'm sitting on the couch, if I'm on my laptop, if I brought my you know some work downstairs to do and I'm typing away, typing away, ignoring her, a foot will come in gently into my periphery and then wiggle the toes and I start laughing so hard. She goes oh, just reminding you, I'm still here, and I start laughing so hard and it brings me back into the moment. And you know some guys would be. We think, oh, it's nagging. And some women think it's like, oh, you should do this for me. This is just the attitude. You know, our relationship is not 50-50, it's 100-100.
Chris:Yes, I love that. I say the same. Yes, we can when I have a person like the 50-50, come on now.
Steve:Yes, and I mean from the, from the early 2000s, when I blew my life up. I told myself I said, look, one of my goals is to only fall in love one more time. You know, I'm not a player. I never have been. I'm the most loyal dog on the planet. But I said, look, I got to learn a lot from my marriage that fell apart. You know, I got to be more open, be more honest, and not that there was lying, but I was a person when there was conflict, I used to just shut down and be real quiet, and that did not serve me well, because when the cracks finally showed in our marriage, it just blew up and fell apart.
Steve:So I spent three, four years creating the best version of me, using vision boards as part of it, for the moment that Tina showed up in my life in June of 2007. Wow, I had already built our relationship on my boards. I just didn't know who she was, and 10 days after I wrote in my journal I am ready to fall in love. She showed up in an email from over a thousand miles away after 21 years of zero communication, after we graduated high school together, because I'd had a crush on her for three years in school and never asked her out. 21 years later I found out she'd felt the same way and she just all of a sudden one day dropped them, looked up my name online and dropped a message Wow. So when you want to talk about awareness and opportunity and knowing your why and energy and who you are in this world, that's the deeper thing that's going on that you don't even see.
Chris:Wow, wow, that is some story.
Steve:So I still tell her. I said babe, you know, if you ever end our relationship, you're going to demolish my speaking career. She goes oh, I know.
Chris:Oh my gosh, I see like wiggles or toes.
Steve:Oh my gosh, she laughs so hard every time we have that conversation.
Chris:I love it. I love you.
Steve:And she just looks away and she goes. I know which makes me laugh even harder.
Chris:Oh, I love it. I love it. You guys sound so cute, it's great. Yes, so I had a question. We've been talking about the vision board, so I heard that you created a t-shirt that said friends, don't let friends go to vision board parties.
Steve:Yeah, Tell us about that.
Chris:Now I'm like wait a minute. He's been talking about the vision board. All of us are like what is this t-shirt about?
Steve:Yeah, well, what it is. And if you think about it in the world of goals, you know there's New Year's resolutions, which people set the beginning of the year, and they're usually not deeply rooted. A lot of times they're broad brushed, like. You know what's your resolutions? Oh, I want to look better, feel better and have more money. Okay, I mean, there's not a lot of detail there. Now, vision board parties, as compared to what I do, is kind of the same comparison. See vision board parties a lot of times. You see them online. You know, hey, we're having a vision board party, we're going to have wine, cheese, crackers, scissors, glitter glue, sticks, magazines, poster boards I've never heard of this before and people get together.
Steve:Oh, really oh no that's a big thing around the beginning of the year.
Chris:People have vision board parties. It's probably an American thing because it's not happening here in.
Steve:Japan? Oh, it could be, oh, okay, it probably is. Then and it's, you know, some people get together and they just bring a bunch of magazines and they, you know, they talk and they maybe have a glass of wine and a little bite to eat and they're cutting up magazines and they just kind of slap pictures on a board. But in my opinion, I mean it doesn't have some value. Of course it does, because it semi-engages the universe or whatever you choose to believe in, but you're not doing the introspective work, you're not evaluating where your life is in those eight categories right now. You're not really defining exactly where you want your life to look like, feel like, sound like, smell like, taste like, be like a year, even a year from now. You know, some people go oh, 20 years from now, I'm like, all right, it's okay to have long-term goals. How much progress could you make in one year? What work do you need to do to put the first bricks in the foundation of that? Because I don't want people to step away and go okay, in 20 years I'm gonna have this and not have a clue about where to start, you know. And so the way, the reason I say that about vision board parties is. It just doesn't go deep enough. There's not enough focus on not just what you want, but who you need to become in the process, how you need to become aware. The why is not there yet.
Steve:So that's why my program and the way I speak and the way I coach and the way I do things is a much more deep diving thing, and I've had some people even at the company that's hired me now this would be my 16th year some people come in every year and they, you know, they go. Oh yeah, I already gathered pictures and this and that. And then I get up on stage and I'm explaining and then almost every year I hear in the background paper crumbling and somebody going ah crap, like I didn't really want that, like I thought I wanted it and I brought it in advance and I didn't really want that. And somebody would come up to me afterwards and go I don't know if you heard me crumbling my paper and throwing it away.
Steve:I go oh yeah, you're the oh crap person. They just laugh and they get embarrassed. I go no, no, no, I said that's a good thing. I'm glad you listened and I'm glad you understand that you deserve better than what you thought you wanted. So that's why you know Vision Board parties. I make fun of them. They're not 100% useless, but I don't think they're the best investment.
Chris:It's just a general touch on it. They're not going deep into it to do the work.
Steve:but yeah, it's more of an arts and crafts project than it is. It's more of an arts and crafts than a wall mounted GPS for the best version of your life.
Chris:I love that definition of it that is so classic. So classic yes yes, so I wanted to ask where do you think the secret failed in your opinion? You spoke about it earlier. You said that it has come into change. It changed your life, so where do you think that it failed?
Steve:The biggest thing for me, and I never read the book version. All I had was the DVD version and I've watched it easily a dozen times. It did a really good job of giving a bare bones description of the law of attraction and how it works, but for me in the DVD version they had a character of a genie in a magic lamp and all it said over and over was you wish is my command, and for me that's too simplistic and too basic of a way to engage the law of attraction. And what I saw happening because of that is people. Now we've got a lottery situation right now where it's up over a billion dollars again and I see people saying I'm gonna win the billion dollars, I'm gonna win the billion dollars, I'm gonna win the billion dollars. And I said what are you doing? They go. I'm gonna win the billion dollars, I go. Did you buy a ticket? No, I go. But what are you doing? They go. I'm manifesting it. I'm going. No, you're not.
Chris:What got the?
Steve:definition to manifest. To manifest something is to make it happen, yes, To be a part of the process. You wanna manifest something. You're not just wishing and praying for it and they say, but I'm gonna help the homeless if I win, I go. Well, now you're just bribing God for lottery numbers. You can also come out of this one.
Steve:Lord, I'm gonna help the homeless. You see those people in line at the 7-Eleven to buy the tickets and there's the news reporter going what are you gonna do if you win? I'm gonna help the homeless. And of course they don't win and they probably don't help the homeless.
Steve:It says look you gotta be a part of the process here, and for me, that's where the secret really missed an opportunity. They didn't stress enough Now they did say a little they didn't stress enough the part about taking action and being aware of opportunities and seeing the steps. You know, I believe it was Martin Luther King said you only have to see the next step, you don't have to see the whole staircase. Now I may have got the words in the wrong order, but I wanna give attribution. I believe that was Dr King who said that With the secret, people just thought, oh, if I just wish for it, it'll happen. Okay, that's where I feel that they missed an opportunity to really educate people.
Chris:You should talk to them. I would just send them a message, especially if you felt so powerful, just to see what people had to say. You know, yeah.
Steve:You never know, Right, you know it's. I agree, you never know. That's actually a good idea.
Chris:I've never reached out to them, Because then you know it makes sense, now that you've explained it well, that they probably get the understanding too. I don't know. Just something to throw out there. You're doing a lot yeah. So, if you get some free time and you feel like you don't have nothing to do, then you never.
Steve:You never know. I mean, that's how I got an Oprah's radio network four times talking about me and my Tina, because one day Oprah was on my vision board. She's on. She should be on the vision board starter kit Cause if you've ever written a book I've written, for you've ever written a book you want to connect with Oprah.
Chris:Oh my gosh, she's a huge book reader. Her book club, all of it, yeah, you just, I mean anything, my gosh, yeah, yes.
Steve:So one day I looked at the board and I said, well, I'm looking right at one of my old boards now across the recording studio here and there's Oprah right there on it. And one day I looked at it and I said well, oprah, you haven't reached out to me yet, so if I want to actually manifest this, I should probably be the guy who takes action. So I went to her website and it said hey, do you know this was around 2010. Hey, do you know that Oprah has her own channel on XM satellite radio and all of her friends have their own shows? I didn't know that, so I clicked on it and one of them was a guy named Michael Lozier who wrote the book the Law of Attraction. So I clicked on his hey, we're looking for guests. So I clicked on that and said in 250 words or less, describe your greatest law of attraction success story. So I told, in 250 words or less, the story of how Tina and I met or reconnected and fell in love.
Steve:And within one business day I got a phone call from the producer of the Michael Lozier show. Her name is and she's from the UK, so I'm going to say her name, like she does. Lola Vandepoi reached out and said Michael would love to have you on his show this Thursday If that's amenable. I said, lola, I don't know what amenable means, but I'll be there and I'll laugh. And I did the show. And three other show producers reached out and said we love your story. Would you like to be one of the callers? You know Collins on this other show and I went up on the network four times telling our story.
Chris:Wow, honey, tina is famous.
Steve:The world knows, tina, we don't know what she looked like.
Chris:But we know Tina, we know her, she like look, is she going anywhere?
Steve:Supposed to be like Tina, oh, and she hears it, she gets so embarrassed and she turns bright red and rolls her eyes. And I always say we're going to be on one of Oprah's TV special someday. She goes I don't know about this. We thing I said well, you got to be there, you're famous. She goes well, I'm going to wear a paper bag. I said you can't do that.
Chris:No, she can't do that. No, tina, no, no, no. Honey, go ahead and get you that nice outfit you've been waiting for and go ahead and get gussied up. For sure, that's awesome. I love that. I love that. That's so hilarious. Nice, what a good story. I wanted to play a little game with you, if we could. Of course it's called, would you Rather? So I'm going to ask you a few questions and you just give me your opinion about what you feel. Would you rather have a pig nose or rabbit buck teeth? Rabbit buck teeth. Ok, why did you choose the rabbit buck teeth? Because it's easier to fix. Oh, my gosh, I guess, true, right, when you think about it. We wouldn't really see it until you opened your mouth. Yep, you know, compared to the nose, which is there present for sure. Exactly, mm nice, would you rather have gills and fins, or claws and paws?
Steve:Claws and paws.
Chris:Oh my gosh, why did you choose the claws and paws?
Steve:Because claws and paws are easier to snuggle with.
Chris:That's cute, that is super cute. Ok, would you rather be a legendary ninja or a time-traveling thief?
Steve:Legendary ninja.
Chris:Mm. Ok, why did we choose a legendary ninja?
Steve:Because being a thief violates all of my core values.
Chris:Oh, ok, ok.
Steve:I would not want to live in existence like that.
Chris:OK, that's understandable yeah.
Steve:The ninjas get to wear cool black pajamas, and that's kind of cool too.
Chris:Oh, wow, yeah, that's cool black pajamas. That's hilarious. They do look like their pajamas, though Would you rather be president of the world or own the moon?
Steve:I would rather be president of the world.
Chris:Oh, wow, ok, OK, that's a big responsibility. Yep, you know the moon ain't nobody on there.
Steve:The moon would be too lonely for me because I love people and, as president of the world, my world religion would be kindness, and I would just encourage people to be more kind because we only got this one beautiful blue spinning rock.
Chris:Oh, I love it. Listen to that. Steve Bless your heart. Ok, I got one more for you. Would you rather never have to do laundry again or never do dishes again?
Steve:Laugh when you say that because Tina does laundry and I do the dishes. Oh, wow, and I actually enjoy doing the dishes. I pop my phone up in the windowsill and I listen to some of my favorite classic rock and I just have my own concert nightly while doing the dishes Wow. So I love doing the dishes. And Tina doesn't let me near our washing machine. She goes. No, no, no, she goes. I'll get it, I'll get it. I'll get it, I'll get it.
Chris:Oh, oh, you must have done something crazy one time. She was like oh.
Steve:No, actually no. She just enjoys doing the laundry, oh OK, and she does such a great job and I enjoy doing the dishes.
Chris:I love that. Well, it's nice when everybody is enjoying their part of the work that needs to be done in the home, so that's great, that's great. What a great question without me knowing. That's so funny. I love that. Oh, that was perfect. That is hilarious. You have to tell Tina about it. Please let her know. Oh, definitely For sure. I like to close with this final question Is your glass half empty or half full?
Steve:Oh, mine's all the way full. Yes, yes, on purpose with purpose. It's not always easy. Has it ever been almost empty? Yeah, but I always look at it and go well, at least I got this much. I know that's right, I got something.
Chris:I like that Awesome. Thank you so much. Do you have any final thoughts for our listeners?
Steve:In the words of Super Teddy Maximus, who was a dog that Tina and her mom adopted. He was a rescue and I spent 11 years, according to my mother-in-law, pimping him out and making him famous. He wrote his own book. And tip number two from Bust Out of your Crate, super Teddy's top 20 tips for people to be as happy as dogs was this Wake up every day and wag yourself happy. Meaning, when you get up in the morning, put something in front of your eyes, in your ears, in your mouth, something healthy or something that inspires you into your soul On purpose, every day, start off by intentionally putting something positive in you and just wag yourself happy, like Super Teddy said, because too many people get up and they focus on the negative every day. So that is my advice, in the voice of a little 9 and 1 half pound Yorkie Pomeranian rescue Wake up every day and wag yourself happy.
Chris:I love that Nice Awesome. Can you tell everyone how they can reach you if they're interested to find out more about you?
Steve:Sure can. Nice and easy. Everything I've got is at stevegamblincom and that's G-A-M-L-I-N stevegamblincom.
Chris:Excellent, Excellent. Thank you so much, D for your time today. You really gave it to us my pleasure. Thank you, Chris.
Steve:This was. I could talk to you all day long.
Chris:This was amazing.
Steve:Thank you I really appreciate that Very generous gift. I appreciate it.
Chris:Well, we appreciate you giving back as well with all these great tips and points and tools to put in our toolbox that we can continue on to be able to use to live better lives and just pass that on to other people sharing this information, and I think that's awesome and key. Thank you for your testimony and your time today. We really appreciate having you as a guest here on Glass Half Full. Thank you, my pleasure.
Steve:Thank you Do you take care.
Chris:Have an awesome morning. You too, you say hi to Tina, for me too, oh, I sure will, and she'll roll her eyes and go.
Steve:What did you say? I know right.
Chris:I'm like yes, you know I talked about you. You know I talked about you. Yes, I'm a fan of Tina already. Definitely, he knows For sure. He knows Awesome. You take care, have an awesome day you too. Thank you, chris. Thank you, bye-bye, bye-bye and thank you to all our listeners listening in to another episode of Glass Half Full, a podcast and a safe platform for everyone to share their life experiences. Once again, I'm your host, chris Levens. Please subscribe, follow and rate this podcast on Apple Music, spotify and YouTube for more learning experiences Until next time. No, you are blessed, see ya.