Sean Michael Crane's Unstoppable Mindset
Sean Michael Crane's Unstoppable Mindset
Special Guest Adam - Unstoppable Mindset Podcast
Imagine turning financial struggle into entrepreneurial success. In a poignant moment, Adam recounts how a former Navy SEAL friend's offer was the catalyst for his personal and professional transformation. From renting a modest cabin to owning a CrossFit gym and helping a medical cannabis company go public, Adam's journey is a testament to the transformative power of mentorship and taking control of one's destiny. He also sheds light on the teachings of the Wake Up Warrior program and the importance of surrounding oneself with like-minded, driven individuals for true growth and success.
We also confront the complex issues veterans face when transitioning to civilian life, exploring the interconnectedness of finance, fitness, family relationships, and faith. Adam provides valuable insights into groundbreaking therapies that show promise in alleviating trauma symptoms, emphasizing the importance of a holistic approach to healing. Moreover, we tackle the perception of masculinity in modern society and the need for strong, responsible men to embrace their roles. As we wrap up, the episode leaves you with a heartfelt message of gratitude, camaraderie, and a shared mission to ignite passion and positive change among our listeners. Don't miss this powerful narrative of dedication, purpose, and future collaboration.
All right, welcome back to another episode of the Unstoppable Mindset Podcast. I'm your host, shawn Michael Crane, and today I got a really special guest with me. You guys, I'm super fired up to introduce you to Adam Smith. So, man, I'm trying to figure out when I met Adam. It was either an event held by Jesse Bounds or I think it was Victor Rancor's event in Austin, texas, last year. And, dude, I mean, you can't miss this guy. You see him in the lobby. He's this big guy. He's a little loud, right, he seems a little rough. You're like, oh, I don't know about this guy, but what you'll find out is he's one of the nicest human beings. He's super genuine, authentic and he's like me. He's got a heart to serve and make an impact on people's lives and he's doing that. So, adam, thank you for joining me. Man, I want to share with my audience really like who you are and what you've been through in your life experience and kind of what you're doing now to make an impact on the world and help people.
Speaker 2:Dude, thank you for having me. Man, I really appreciate it and, like I told you before we started this thing, it's just. It's just it's awesome to be invited to come and be a part of the podcast and just have a conversation and have an opportunity to potentially share a story, and I just, I'm just very grateful, man.
Speaker 1:Dude, absolutely. That's what it's all about. You know, iron sharpens. Iron and I'm on a mission to change the world, brother. But guess what? I cannot do that alone. I need other people by my side who are willing to fight with me and, you know, do good in the world to enact that change. So I want to know about Adam Smith when did you grow up? What was childhood like? What were you doing as a youngster man?
Speaker 2:Dude, I'm getting, I'm, I'm, I'm so I'm going to answer your question, but I'm also. I just sat down. I'm getting attacked by mosquitoes where I'm sitting. We'll see. Guys, I might be moving around while we do the podcast because I'm coming to you from my cell phone at a house showing in St Petersburg, florida, which is awesome, dude.
Speaker 2:You know, my childhood was phenomenal. I grew up my mom and dad stayed together all the way until I was out of the house. My mom and dad are divorced now. They didn't get divorced until after my daughter got out of the house, and my mom and dad are divorced now. They didn't get divorced until after my daughter got out of the house. I mean my daughter, my sister, got out of the house. I'm the middle child of three kids. I had a phenomenal childhood. My dad took me camping all the time. I learned camping and outdoor skills and survival skills from my dad. I really, really earned the love of the outdoors and learned it from him.
Speaker 2:But at a young age I knew I wanted to be a part of the military and I think that was probably one of the biggest driving factors of my life was this opportunity to be a part of something greater and be of service. You know, like the idea of chivalry was a piece that I grew up with. My grandfather on my dad's side he was in the Army. My grandfather on my mom's side he was in the Army. My grandfather on my mom's side he was in the Marine Corps. And so I had this sort of this military legacy already kind of bred into me from the very get-go. And so at a young age I was like dude, I'm going to be in the military. It started I was going to be in the Air Force and then I was like I'm going to be in the Air Force, I'm going to be a Marine, and then I was like I don't want to eat crayons, so I'll be a Marine.
Speaker 1:I think we lost Adam.
Speaker 2:One second here. There we go, you're back.
Speaker 1:You're back, yep, so continue.
Speaker 2:So you put all that together and that was a really big piece for me. And the biggest piece of all of it was I wanted to be a part of something bigger than myself. I wanted to be a part of something that created impact. It was, it could ultimately change the world. And, like you said, you're on a mission to change the world, dude, Like I'm on a mission to build an army of like-minded individuals that want to change their life and then, changing their life, change the world. And that's a really big piece of why I do what I do. And joining the military and being part of that that legacy being a green beret I thought I thought that would be a huge piece of it. I thought that would be a really big piece of changing the world and I realized that in some ways, we did and in other ways, it wasn't how I wanted to do it.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So I want to ask you about that man. I'm super infatuated. You know you have all these branches of the military. Obviously, people hear about the Navy SEALs all the time. They hear about the Marine. What is a Green Beret and how is it different than these other areas of the military?
Speaker 2:Green Berets are force multipliers. Our sole purpose in life is to be, like subject matter experts across a broad spectrum of combat modalities, and so not only do we have to be good at fighting and shooting, not only do we have to be good at communications and be subject matter experts in that. But the team is broken down into a bunch of different SMEs, and each SME has a specialty, and that specialty brings a significant amount of value to the overall ability for the team to function, and function at a high level. But our principal task, above and beyond anything else, is to be a force multiplier. We are, for all intents and purposes, professional instructors.
Speaker 2:Our job is to teach other people how to shoot and fight.
Speaker 2:Our job is to build rapport with host nation forces or local nationals, understand their culture, speak their language and, in the process of doing all those things, help them liberate themselves.
Speaker 2:I mean, the motto of the Green Berets is de oppresso liber to liberate the oppressed, and we do that by empowering individuals to take up arms in order for them to learn how to fight, defend and protect themselves and take the fight back against the actions of tyrants and tyrannical governments. And so we're not just kick, we can kick indoors with the best of them. We can do hostage rescue with the best of them. We can do, you know um, waterborne operations not as good as the seals, but we're pretty daggone good at it. But so, out of all the the skill sets that we have, the biggest skill set of all is how do you lead, train and mentor others, help them become empowered to take action for, for actions, for their own personal success? Um, and in the military, especially as a Green Beret, our biggest mission is how do we help these individuals become empowered to take action and their success aligns with the desired outcomes that we have in that same space, as far as you know, geopolitical outcomes.
Speaker 1:Yeah, dude. So it's interesting, right, because you hear about different. You know factions of the military and it sounds like they kind of all do the same thing. They're just a part of a different organization within the military. Right, you have the Army Rangers, you have the Green Beret, you have the Navy SEALs, but it sounds like you're saying, no, we're different because we do a multitude of things and we really invest in training people. Is that when you first started actually training people at a high level? I can imagine the mindset, the skillset, all the stuff that you had to help develop within yourself and then other people over time. That must've been an amazing experience for you, man.
Speaker 2:Oh, it was a great experience. The politics and the bureaucracy and you know, we in general, the bullshit that you deal with on a regular basis, it takes away from the experience. But the camaraderie that you have with the men that you work with and the guys to your left and right, the camaraderie that you build in general, this tribe that you belong Identity, purpose and mission are three huge things that we hold on to. Your identity becomes completely connected and tied to the job that you do or the hat that you wear I was a Green Beret. That was my identity. Job that you do. Or the hat that you wear, like my.
Speaker 2:I was a green beret. That was my identity. Like you know, what do you do? Who are you? I'm Adam Smith. I'm a green beret. What's your purpose? To be better at being a green beret and your mission is whatever higher command authority passes down to you. The battle for a lot of us is that when we transition out of the military and it doesn't matter whether you're in special operations or you've been in the Army for 17 or 20 years or you only served in the military in general for four years when you leave, you lose the purpose that you have found. You lose the tribe that you're part of In a lot of ways. You lose your own personal identity, and then it turns into an entirely new experience. Transitioning to the civilian market is probably one of the hardest things to do for most military personnel and veterans.
Speaker 1:Yeah, dude, I want to talk about that. You see a lot of ex-military and vets struggle whether they have some form of PTSD but whether it was experience they had while they were in the military. But I think what you just said is a big aspect of it that's not talked about a lot. It's identity and purpose when you're in the military. I can understand what you're saying. Like, when you have a purpose and something you're focusing on and objective, you feel so alive. You don't question things, you're on a mission, and that's how I feel in my life right now. But I know what it was like before I found that purpose. You kind of just feel lost. You don't have that feeling inside of you that you're doing what you're intended to be doing, and so that's crazy, like for guys that are in the military and then, whether they're discharged or they retire or whatever the case may be, and they come back home as civilians, what do you think would help them to continue to feel that purpose in their life after the military?
Speaker 2:The problem is that when you're in, it's defined for you right. So when you're in, your purpose is defined for you, your mission is defined for you. You're never taught the concept or idea of identifying your own personal drive or your own personal purpose. And so it took. You know, look, man, I was almost one of the statistics when I got out.
Speaker 2:I went through the battle of transition, trying to figure out how to become a civilian, how to speak a civilian language, how to make it successful in the civilian marketplace. I lost all aspect of my personal identity and in the process I wrote my suicide note, put a pistol in my mouth, and the only reason why I'm still here today, right now, is because I got so drunk that I passed out with the gun in my mouth and didn't have a chance to pull the trigger. Or, through God's grace and blessing, I passed out and and he took the chance away from me to pull the trigger. And so it takes. You know, it takes a lot of, it takes a lot of like, it takes a lot of hard. Um, I think in some ways, for a lot of us, we have to find that place of hopelessness before we're willing to lean into the possibility of what hope truly looks like.
Speaker 1:Um, yeah, dude, I mean honestly, suffering can be a blessing if you find lessons in those moments. For me, it's allowed me to find more depth to my life than I ever would have if I didn't suffer and go through difficult times. I'm curious for you, man, when you wake up that next day and you realize you're about to blow your brains out because that's one of the lowest places you can be, where you're thinking about ending it. I can't imagine. I mean, that's one of the lowest places you can be, where you're thinking about ending it. I can't imagine. What did you think when you came to and you realized what you were about to do? Like what was that feeling?
Speaker 2:or what were the thoughts going through your head? I failed again. Literally. Waking up the next morning, I was like I literally was like I fucking failed again, and the the sense of hopelessness, the sense of failure was so all encompassing that you could, you could. It's impossible to see beyond it when you're in the depth of that dark place, when you're at, you are literally in the abyss. It's impossible to see the possibility of light outside of that darkness because it's all encompassing.
Speaker 2:The thing that saved me was a very good friend of mine. Talk about different special operations or special operations units. He's a former Navy SEAL. He called me the next day and I had called him on Monday and we didn't have a chance to connect and I missed him. He missed me. And then he called me the next day and he said hey, dude, look next. Are you looking for work Cause next week, like getting a beer would be cool, but next week than Ohio, and I would love for you to come and help me do this. He's like I can pay you this amount of money per day.
Speaker 2:And so the next week I showed up. We drove to Ohio. We were supposed to train like 17. We trained 43 dudes over the course of five days, he paid me twice as what we had agreed upon. And then he gave me a handful of cash and he said I know where you're at, dude. I know where you're at because I've been there.
Speaker 2:The money that I'm giving you is my investment into you. I want you to be a part of this. He said you have a talent and a skill that I don't know if I've ever seen before, and and I want you to be a part of this company. So this is my. This is not a handout. This is my investment into you. If you want to be a part of this, you show up on Monday Now. You take the money that I'm giving you and you pay your bills and you get everything caught up and you take the cash and you and your old lady, you go out this weekend and do something nice Go get a steak dinner, buy some new jeans, whatever it might be and you be here on Monday and that dude that dude didn't give me a handout man. That dude recognized where the fuck I was in my life and he recognized that I didn't want someone to rescue me. I wanted someone to give me a fucking chance.
Speaker 1:Dude, I mean that's crazy, the timing of that. Like you see people's lives and how they change and you hear about one person or one thing that happened to them and for me, man, like I look at that and I go that's an act of God, like the fact that you passed out, you didn't take your life. I look at a guy like you, man, I'm like you're here for something bigger. It wasn't your time yet. And some people go, oh, that was just coincidence, like that was good timing, that was luck, whatever, there's something far greater at work. I believe that man and I love hearing stories like that that was literally divine intervention. So what happened after that? What? Because it sounds like that was a turning point for you, going from like where you were going to end up, taking back control of your life and rebuilding your life.
Speaker 2:Dude, life, life. Life took off. We, we went from renting this small cabin and in Eastern Kentucky, just outside of Lexington, to buying. You know, this is when me and my ex were still together. We bought our first property together, about 17 acres outside of Frankfort, kentucky, and then we, we, we, we opened our first CrossFit gym. Um, that, that time it was the second CrossFit gym that I had owned. I I'd opened one and sold one in Central America when I was living and working down there for the for, and then, going from that, we moved to North Carolina and I helped the medical cannabis company through their initial public offering and that was a big learning experience. I mean basically the whole process.
Speaker 2:We started from this place of being in the abyss, and every year and every step was another step forward, not only in personal growth and development, but from learning. And the big thing for me was I recognized that there was a point when I was tired of budgeting for orange juice Like it didn't want to budget for orange juice anymore, dude, and I was tired of it. And I was standing at this intersection outside of about a about a mile away from the house was, or two miles away from the house was it's on this ruck route that I would do every night, and so I would r out two miles and then I'd rock back two miles and that was my. That was every night. With like 65 pounds. I would go out and I would come back and I'm standing at this intersection and I and I'm standing at the center, I'm like dude, I'm at a crossroads man and literally like physical crossroads standing at a physical crossroads, and I've got a couple options and I don't want to fucking budget for orange juice anymore. So what has to change in my life for that to not be the thing? And I recognize that for me, the only option was taking the reins into my own hands and stepping out on my own, building my own business, building my own company and driving growth in a way that I've not experienced before. I had to roll the dice on me, and if I didn't roll the dice on me then I would never know. And so I found a personal. I found a personal development company called wake up warrior guy that ran. It was a dude named Garrett J white still owns the company called wake up warrior. He had a program called warrior week. He did this 30 day challenge called the King's kit challenge.
Speaker 2:So I leaned into doing a 30 day challenge and I found, through being around, other men that were like-minded entrepreneurs, guys that were hungry and driven, just like being in the military. It, it built a new tribe right. It built this new mentality and this new perspective and the you, you, you will have the ability to absorb traits or or um, or act on traits that you identify in others who are successful, that you want to emulate. And so when you surround yourself with people more successful from you and you shut your mouth and you fucking open your ears and you listen to what they have to say and you emulate the traits that they portray as successful individuals and I'm talking about good traits, dude.
Speaker 2:I'm not talking about a lack of integrity. I'm not talking about a lack of integrity. I'm not talking about lying, cheating and stealing. I'm not talking about doing dirty deeds or bad deals. I'm talking about guys that live a wholesome, powerful, successful life. They have integrity. They understand what it is to communicate their emotions and feelings. They understand what it is to set targets and go after something bigger. They understand what it is to set targets and go after something bigger. They understand what the idea of living in discomfort truly looks like, because comfort and complacency equals death.
Speaker 2:When you surround yourself with dudes like that, your fucking life changes, man, and it changes in a way that is so hard to identify and it's unrecognizable. My life was unrecognizable. Like dude. I have a motorcycle parked it's a $50,000 motorcycle parked in Wyoming right now, because that's my definition of success. I have a daily driver motorcycle here in Florida. I've got one parked in North Carolina, so when I'm there I have a bike to ride. When I'm there. Like some dudes want a Ferrari, a lot Ferrari, I don't, I want motorcycles. Like that's, that's the thing for me. Like I never thought a million years my life would look the way it looks right now.
Speaker 1:I also love that. I want to, I want to do cause that's the turning point, that's huge.
Speaker 2:You got me fired up, dude, I'm sorry.
Speaker 1:I could tell. I could tell, well, I mean the emotions evident in you because, look at, you've been through some crazy shit. I'm sure you've seen some crazy stuff. I haven't even asked you any questions about your time in the military. But the thing I'm so infatuated that you just said is like you got around a group or a tribe of other men who are going to hold you to a higher standard and push you, and there's something so powerful If anyone's listening to this and you're a guy who feels lost you got to get around some strong men, some men who can pick you up, some men that can show you the way. That's why all these different masterminds and coaching groups that are out there are so invaluable.
Speaker 1:Because you know back in the day you couldn't really just go and join a mastermind. You know you might have your buddies that you went and drank with at night or maybe you were doing like a softball league or something like. As men get older they lose that connection to their tribe. You know, when you're younger you have sports teams, you're a part of friends, you have the military stuff like that. So when you joined Garrett J White's program and it had that effect on you I want to talk about how you ended up working with him, because you did right and this is kind of how you got into the coaching space and really making an impact on other men's lives. How did that happen?
Speaker 2:The cliff notes version is during the 30 day challenge, the, the, the content that I was creating and and and delivering. So I I, this 30 day challenge. You were supposed to go live after every assignment that they had put out, and so I would. I would go live and I would. I would give a less, I would deliver my takeaway from the. What did I learn in doing this particular, this particular assignment? And the head coach, sam Sam Falsafi, had seen a couple of my videos and he called me out and he wanted to bring me on and do a heart hot seat with me. And so he hot seated me.
Speaker 2:And Sam said something so fucking powerful to me, man, that I'll never forget it. We were talking about I went to time. I was training law enforcement officers and special operations soldiers full time in this training company that I was a part of and I was a training director of. And I said Sam said, why do you do what you do? And I said because I love to provide and motivate someone to change perspectives so they can make it home to their family at night. And he said, adam, do you live by at least 95 to 96% of the words that you say to these men and I said that's a great question.
Speaker 2:I don't know, I have to really consider that he said, because I want to ask you are you a motivator or are you a manipulator? Because manipulation, even with good intent, is still manipulation. And I was like, oh shit, man, I really got to think about this and that was the hook it set me. So I went to Warrior Con in that year and Sam pulled me to the side and he said hey, you're going to come be a coach for me at Warrior Week, and so literally, this was like October, november of 2019, by 2020, early, early 2020, I was working as a coach at Warrior Week and I started as this thing called the Chaos Coach, and so I'm really, really good at being at warrior week, and I started as this thing called the chaos coach, and so I'm really really good at being a professional asshole.
Speaker 2:And so and so that's what they had me doing. They had me doing the breakdown phase of of of these guys experience at the front end of warrior week and, and you know, like basic training, we have to create a level of chaos and a level of lack of control so that we can break dude's ability to have this, this stoic response, so we can give them permission and opportunity to get truly in touch with their emotions and start diving into the place of vulnerability. Men have a really hard time being vulnerable man. Uh, they, they see it as a sign of weakness and a lot of times it's taken advantage of, and more more often than not it's taken advantage of by the women in our life. You know, it's not, it's not even really taken advantage of by the men in our life. It's more usually taken advantage of by the women of our life. We they want us to be vulnerable.
Speaker 1:Yeah, can you explain that?
Speaker 2:So there's this demand and desire for men to be vulnerable, and especially from the women in our life, and then, when we become vulnerable, it's taken advantage of, because it's twisted and turned back around and made about the woman. And so how you're feeling this is a conversation how you're feeling makes me feel rather than I want to understand and be empathetic to your feelings and emotions and I want to talk through them with you so we can better understand where they're derived from. A lot of times, what men experience is men experience this 180 degree flip. I want you to be emotionally open and vulnerable with me, but when you are, I'm going to make your emotions, I'm going to make it about me and how they affect my emotions, and so there's a battle there.
Speaker 1:That's powerful. Do you think women do that unconsciously or do you think it's part of their like? Why would a woman do that? Do you think she's doing that because she's not aware, or do you think she's doing that because she's trying to get some leverage or control in the relationship?
Speaker 2:I think narcissists and controlling assholes do it intentionally, but I think for the most part it's an unintentional subconscious response based on a lifetime of conditioning. The most part it's an unintentional subconscious response based on a lifetime of conditioning. You know, there's there's this, there's this, I think I. I describe women sort of as a flag. Right, men tend to be the flagpole, women tend to be the flag, and it's not a negative or derogatory thing. When we talk about the concept of masculine and feminine energy, masculine energy tends to be the energy of logic, ration and reason. We like to use metrics to consider decision-making and reason and logic.
Speaker 2:Women oftentimes, or the feminine energy oftentimes, is this it's emotionally driven, it's a feelings-based or feelings-driven decision-making process. And so when that flag flies, right, if the flag is flying over here, this is what it is. If the flag is flying over here, this is what it is. So if everything in the world is right as rain and perfect and everything is absolutely spectacular and that's where the flag's flying, everything is that way.
Speaker 2:If, for whatever reason, we're dealing with a bunch of horse shit or like there's a bunch of drama or something happening in life and the flags fly in the opposite direction, everything is the sky is falling and it's been the men's role, responsibility and job to be that flagpole in the middle which is to give that feminine energy base. And so I just think it's through. I just think it really comes down through an unintentional, non-conscious, conditioned response of, well, I feel, and because the I feel like, or I feel this, or when you do I feel this, or when you do it makes me feel, that conditioned response comes out. Well, as a man feels. Well, that man feels makes me feel. Does this make sense?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean it's, it's profound, you know it does, though Um, do you do any relationship coaching?
Speaker 2:I do some, uh, a lot of the, a lot of the personal development work that I do with people oftentimes will tie into relationship. I like to do work around I want to know Go ahead go ahead?
Speaker 1:Yeah, continue. You want to work around four? What?
Speaker 2:Well, four pillars of life right. Finance is a big, important one, fitness is a big, important one, family relationships is really important, and if you look at all of those, the one piece I think that gets most often missed is faith, and so we we got to understand how all of those things tie together in order to make a well-rounded and fulfilled life.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, absolutely. Um, do you ever coach any vets or people who are ex-military?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I do. Actually I I had, um, I had some vet clients so I started a personal professional development company with a few partners back in late 2020 and early 21. And we had quite a few vets that came through that particular experience and it's really interesting because it's cathartic both directions.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean coaching is right, like for me, the clients that I coach, when I speak to them and I get to share and open up. It goes both ways. You know it still helps me to heal, to grow, to become a better version of myself when I'm pouring into other people. But I'm curious because you said earlier like it seems like a big challenge for vets specifically transitioning back into ordinary life. You know civilian life and you're passionate about it and you've done it and you can empathize with them because you've been in those dark places. Why haven't you pushed to maybe grow a bigger coaching program that really can help provide support for the veterans?
Speaker 2:I don't want to charge vets for I don't want to charge vets for work.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I don't.
Speaker 2:I have no desire for that. So so I volunteer, I do a lot of. I do a lot of work and effort with nonprofits, um, and I speak at a lot of nonprofits. I, I help, I help them raise money. But a lot of the work for veterans is more focused on nonprofit work to help the physical ailments we got to treat traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress. We have to get hormone balance and hormone replacement therapy, especially for men, in place so that we can eliminate some of the variables that are causing higher suicide rates. So that we can eliminate some of the variables that are causing higher suicide rates. Identity and purpose is a driving factor and we can't fix identity and purpose, mentality perspective if there's a horrible physical ailment and imbalance in the brain.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean. So the biggest thing that vets suffer from right is PTSD. Thing that vets suffer from right is ptsd. Um, new research is coming out that is helping people to to heal from ptsd.
Speaker 1:In the past, psychologists and researchers basically said you can never fully heal from it. But I mean, dude, there's some crazy new stuff they're doing with with mushrooms, you know, psilocybin, um with like ketamine with um with plant medicine, and I think that's the ticket to truly helping these guys heal. Because I read a study where they were using psilocybin on trauma people who suffered from trauma and they showed the brain scans and on the first scan, prior to the treatment, you had all these neural pathways lit up, you know, and then after the treatment, there was whole new portions of the brain that were lit up, complete new neural networks created and a lot of the old ones kind of were faded and the individuals were healing from trauma because you were basically were, you know, reprogramming the brain. So you know, something like that is so fascinating. Are they doing that with veterans and just people who are coming back from the military or who are currently in the military who suffer from PTSD?
Speaker 2:So they don't do any sort of that treatment for people that are actively in the military because of the federal regulations and federal laws around control what they consider controlled substances. But on the on the civilian side, on the veteran side, guys that are not in the military, that is a huge push. When I helped take the medical cannabis company through their initial public offering, I created a few brands for them and one of them was called Tactical Relief. Tactical Relief was a CBD-based non-THC compound that was designed to help reduce the effects of post-traumatic stress. But going one step beyond that, all the similar to you, all the research that I did around psilocybin, ketamine therapy and some other stuff those, those plant-based medicine therapies they are they're building new synaptic pathways. Now, if we add to that the science of traumatic brain injury therapy, where we're doing transcranial magnetic stimulation, which is basically pulsing EMP waves into your brain, that generates that also generates new synaptic pathways and helps activate different parts of your brain that may be laying dormant. Where you're doing, you know, functional fitness and functional medicine around traumatic brain injury, if we can combine both of those, that opens the door to not only recovering from trauma.
Speaker 2:Post-traumatic stress is not a permanent condition, right, it's not. It's just not a permanent condition. You can't get rid of the traumatic memory, but you don't have to have the physiological response to external stimulus based on past traumatic memories. That's the change. So really what the focus is changing the internal physiological response to the external stimulus and in the focus is changing the, the, the internal physiological response to the external stimulus. And in the pro, in the process of doing that, we help alleviate the flight, fight or freeze response, which is really that high level of anxiety and that high level of being switched on, and hypervigilance and all the other pieces that come with it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, no, and I want to go back to something you said earlier. You said because I asked you why you're not coaching vets, because a guy like you, man with such a big heart and such incredible life experience, you're needed in the world, you're needed at a really high level. Right, you just got to know that man. I see it in you and I believe that. And I get the part, though, about not wanting to charge vets, I get that.
Speaker 1:Have you ever looked into like HSA cards or insurance where you can basically be compensated? Because, look, if you want to run a business and help people, you need to make money, absolutely, even not for profits. You know their people are making money. But some I'm looking into in my company because I work with a lot of blue collar workers and we're starting to do wellness programs and you know, from business owners you'll hear well, I don't want to pay all this money if my guys aren't going to do the work and I want to make sure that they're going to follow through with the program. But we're looking into getting approved to charge insurance companies and for these employees to use their HSA cards for the Unstoppable program. So that's something that you can potentially look into.
Speaker 2:That is a great idea. I never considered doing that. My thought process was basically utilizing the same concept as the trickle-down effect. If I can find larger clients that can help secure bigger paying opportunities or bigger paying consulting opportunities, that bigger paying consulting opportunity can help fund opportunities for veterans. On the other side Also, it's the network development piece. Right Like we're force multipliers as Green Berets, so if I can meet successful business owners that have the ability to create impact and influence at a higher level with their people, I can also have the opportunity to introduce them to the network of nonprofits and see if I can't get those donations to be driven into that place. Does that make sense?
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, and starting a free group too for vets, whether it's a Facebook group they have that new school app or platform Like starting a place where you can get these guys virtually to come together, I think would be a good idea too, because, like you said earlier, they need a place where they can be vulnerable, they can open up and share, they can get motivated to go work out, get sober, reclaim control of their life and then from there, you start to build up that community and then you bring in these influential people that can potentially you know help at a higher level. So, I mean, there's a lot of cool things here, man, and you know. I want to wrap this up, though. I just want you to share with everyone watching or listening what is Savage Freedoms and like where can they find Adam Smith Cause? Dude, you need more people you know watching what you're doing, and I'm I've always pushed you need to put out more content.
Speaker 1:Last time we spoke I was like dude, you got to put out more content. I love to see content about PTSD, about how to heal trauma, about how you healed your own trauma. I'd love to see that man, because not just vets but men in general are suffering right now. They feel lost, and that's my mission is to like, raise the standards and give men the tools to meet that level, to meet that standard. So where can they find you? On social media, on Instagram, whatever platforms.
Speaker 2:I just I want to. I just what you just said I think is really, really important and I'd want to make sure we don't skip over it. You said I want to give men the tools, and I want to give them the tools and show them the opportunity to raise the standard Like that dude. Think about that for one. That's such a powerful thing to consider. Raise the standard. Society has lowered the standard of what men are supposed to be. Modern culture in the United States has lowered the standard, has demonized the concept of masculinity and this idea that you know in general, masculinity is this horribly toxic thing. The fact of the matter is is that masculinity is what is what built this country, the backs of hard men doing very dangerous jobs, and it's a really interesting thing.
Speaker 1:You know what? Anybody that says otherwise is a fucking idiot. Let's just put that on record. We're not here to suppress people and say, hey, we don't want you to succeed, we're going to protect you and we're going to build a world, a society that creates opportunities for everyone. But look at, dude, let's be honest. Who goes to war right when there's a war that breaks out? Who goes to war when a skyscraper needs to be built? Who's building the skyscraper when bridges need to be built? It's just the way things are designed, and I think people are trying to rewrite the rules. God makes the rules, man. There's already rules set in stone and we're not going to change it. It's only going to make things worse by trying to attack the. You know what works and what's natural in our world.
Speaker 2:And anybody who wants to argue this, I will simply say this If the consideration of weight, responsibility and, in general, the idea that there is a group of people that are supposed to be providers, protectors and producers, anybody wants to argue that and say, oh no, it's equal, or it's equal no, no. Let's just be really clear. Men make up 50% of the US population, but they make up 80% of all suicides. 80% of all suicides are men. The male suicide rate there's a four times greater chance of a man killing himself than a woman killing herself. And so when we look at the statistics, why is it that the male suicide rate is so high? Why is it that men are killing themselves at a rate of three, four, five times more than any other demographic, any other sex demographic in the country? And then go one step further white men make up 60% of all suicides. And so when we look at these numbers in general, when we look at the idea that men make up 80% of all suicides in this country, that speaks to a bigger problem than just this idea of quote, equity or equality. It speaks to a greater problem. It speaks to the diminishment of the value. It speaks to the diminishment of the value it speaks to the diminishment of the responsibility and role and ultimately it shifts the entire focus of what could be into what it shouldn't be ever.
Speaker 2:Because when we build value as a society, we recognize that, look, you know what? I don't care if you're a woman and you want to go to war, that's great, do it. I don't care if you're a woman and want to build skyscrapers Great, Do it. Just recognize and understand that you're the outlier and as the outlier, you are the exception, not the standard. And if we want to raise the standard, then that means that we have to raise the standard of self.
Speaker 2:And the standard of self requires self-dislightenment, self-analysis, challenge, like getting done at the end of the day and kicking your feet up on the fucking coffee table and drinking your six pack of beer and being okay. Being okay, that is not raising the fucking standard, that's lowering the standard to the lowest common denominator, and being okay that this is what society wants from me. Being silent when you see something that's taking place that's 100% not acceptable and just watching in complicit, complicit self-unawareness and complicit in the negative action that's taking place. You have a fucking job to stand up and do something about it. You have a job to step in and interact. You have a job to provide defense, protect and make certain that dumb shit doesn't happen, and if you're not doing it, you're not raising the standard. I'm grateful for saying that, dude.
Speaker 1:No, a hundred percent, you know, and, um, it's not okay and there needs to be more people speaking out about it, Cause there's so many people speaking out about all the injustice in the world, all the inequality, you know, there's a lot of people making noise and and we need people who, number one, we need to listen to everyone and give everyone um, you know, an objective opportunity to share what they feel is right and wrong. I think that's important, but I don't think that applies to what? Like, I think it applies to people who have felt, uh, diminished, but I don't think they give that same voice to everybody. Like if someone was to see what you just said and they'd put it on CNN and say toxic masculinity, when you're just a man who's passionate and fired up and you want to see society functionally and optimally and you want to see strong men looked at as a positive thing, not a negative thing. It's so fucking crazy I don't even pay attention to it. All that stuff on the news, all that stuff that people are talking about in the media, dude, it's like a fucking joke to me. I don't even take it seriously. I just keep showing up and I'm going to lead. I'm going to be that guy in society society that you're talking about who understands his responsibility, who upholds his values, who's a good role model for his children, everyone around him, and who who rises to the very top and raises the standard for everyone else to climb to. Because, look at it, actions speak louder than words. All the people out there, talking, demonstrating, doing all this stuff they come and go right. It's the actions and the people that show up every day and do the right thing. Those are the people that make a real impact on this world. So, look, brother, we're going to wrap this up. You got me fired up.
Speaker 1:I want to see more content from you online, the stuff that you just said right here. I need to see that more from you Cause, look at, like I said when we opened up this, this interview, I'm one person. I'm not going to change the world by myself, but you're putting out content. All these people are putting out content. We're starting to get awareness around, like these, these truths, these values, the sentiment that needs to be understood on a mass scale, and that's the power in social media. Right now, you and I are just speaking and other people see this clip and stuff, but when you do it consistently, you can reach thousands and millions of people and, bro you're you're a powerful force of positive energy, of love, of of everything that I admire in this world and I respect. So I just want to thank you for coming on here and spending the time with us. Let everyone know where to find you online so they can start following you.
Speaker 2:Dude you guys. Instagram Savage Freedoms, tiktok, savage Freedoms. Facebook. My personal page is Adam Bear Smith bears in brackets, but you can find me in all those places. If you want to find me online, you can go to therealadamsmithcom. You can also go to savagefreedomsdefensecom and then I think savagefreedomscom is also online where you can find me as well.
Speaker 2:And you know, the cool piece is is that we're getting ready to release a new coaching program. It's going to be a 30 day challenge. It's going to have assignments. There's going to be one, one hour of coaching each week around this. It's a very low barrier of entry. It's going to be 150 bucks. We're going to take in a limited number.
Speaker 2:This is going to get rolled out in mid June. The target's June 20th, and so that's going to get going to be put out there. We're in the process of finishing a book that's going to get released here very soon. And then our leadership and team development program, which is our bread and butter. Man, it's what we do the best, it's what I love the most of. We have the official Savage Freedoms or Savage Consulting Leadership Guidebook and there's a leadership and team development program where we come into the company, we do a three-day onsite. We go through the guidebook and then we do a 90-day follow-on each month to make certain that key leaders understand the concepts of communication, they understand the concepts of target setting, they understand the concepts of personal development and mentorship for their people.
Speaker 1:Dude, I love that so much. I'm going to make sure that we post all those links that you that I hope you provided. If not, I'll get them from you in the description below. Anything I can do to promote you, support you, brother. I'm here a hundred percent. Thanks for your time, man, and we're going to do this again. Okay, I want to get you back on, cause I got a lot. We're going to get some people fired up. We're going to come on next time with some topics about society, politics, we're going to cover it all and we're going to set some fire.
Speaker 1:So love you, brother. Thanks for being here, my man.
Speaker 2:Hey, I appreciate you, Sean. Thanks for having me, bro.
Speaker 1:All right.
