Gurus & Game Changers: Real Solutions for Life's Biggest Challenges

Conquering Fear of Failure | Ep 032

Stacey Grant

➡️ About the Guest: Tony Schmalz
Join us for a truly transformative conversation with personal development guru Tony Schmaltz, author of "Wake the Bleep Up." Tony brings his seasoned expertise to the table, sharing his no-nonsense approach to self-improvement and the power of breaking through personal barriers. Listen in as we tackle topics like conquering imposter syndrome, cultivating a resilient mindset, and achieving the life of your dreams with Tony's actionable coaching. His personal journey and genuine connection as a coach are not to be missed for anyone on the path to elevating their life.

Get ready to be inspired as we share insights on the critical role of authenticity in personal growth and the importance of commitment over the word "try." Tony challenges us to rethink our programmed beliefs and negativity, highlighting the transformative power of positive thinking and the impact of keeping our promises. This episode promises to guide you through the transformative journey of rewriting your own life's book to align with who you truly aspire to be.

Wrap up your week with powerful productivity tips from Tony's own life, including a morning routine that primes success and an evening reflection that maintains balance and discipline. Discover the pivotal role vision plays in leadership and the courage required to step away from being a people pleaser. Tony's empowering conversation will leave you with a lasting impression and tools for fostering a positive mindset. Share your thoughts on how Tony's positive messages have resonated with you, and join us next week for more enlightening conversations with the change-makers in the field.

➡️ Chapters
(00:02) - Personal Development Expert Tony Schmaltz
(03:32) - Break Through Walls, Achieve Growth
(11:46) - Morning Routine and Productivity Tips
(21:01) - Overcoming Challenges in Coaching
(30:11) - Empowering Conversation With Positive Messages

➡️ Highlights
(00:06 - 00:49) Personal Development Book Wake-Up Call
(07:52 - 08:41) Commitment and Accountability in Appointments
(16:19 - 17:58) Benefits of Daily Routine and Reflection
(20:13 - 21:00) Overcoming Challenges
(24:09 - 25:24) Realization of Event Failure Timing
(28:18 - 29:06) Overcoming Imposter Syndrome Through Verbalization

➡️ More about the guest: 
Website: https://www.tonyschmaltz.com/
Facebook: 

Connect with our Hosts:
Stacey: https://www.instagram.com/staceymgrant/
Mark: https://www.instagram.com/mark_lubragge_onair/

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➡️ Thanks for watching - Ep 32 Live Your Best Life | Tony Schmaltz  | Breaking Down Walls

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00:02 - Stacey (Host)
We were just schmaltzied. 

00:03 - Mark  (Host)
We were schmaltzied by Tony Schmaltz. 

00:06 - Stacey (Host)
Yeah, tony Schmaltz. He wrote a book called Wake the Bleep Up, break down the walls blocking your possibilities. 

00:14 - Mark  (Host)
Yeah, look, if you want access to someone who has dedicated a good portion of their lives to the world of personal development, has paid a significant amount of money himself to get steeped in that world with world-class coaches. He shared the stage with world-class coaches and he came on here to share all of his knowledge, all of his experience, with you guys and with us Super authentic. Super nice. Yeah, it's really Like genuine Genuine yeah. 

00:40 - Stacey (Host)
Yeah, and I feel like you're going to listen to him. 

00:45 - Mark  (Host)
I'd like to have him as my coach because he's just like a genuine open guy. He's talked about the struggles that he had before he, I guess, became who he's become and who he's, as he said, like there is no end right. 

00:56 - Stacey (Host)
I'm always growing, he's always learning so much there. 

01:00 - Mark  (Host)
I love that there's a lot here personal mindset and strength and imposter syndrome and all the stuff that a lot of us feel that nobody wants to talk about. 

01:08 - Stacey (Host)
Yeah, it's a chance to be the real you and find the life of your dreams. 

01:14 - Mark  (Host)
No small promise right there, but I feel like Tony can help you do it yeah. 

01:19 - Tony Schmaltz (Guest)
Yeah. 

01:20 - Mark  (Host)
So enjoy, mr Tony Schmaltz. 

01:25 - Stacey (Host)
Hi, I'm Stacey. 

01:26 - Mark  (Host)
And I am Mark, and this is the Gurus at Game Changers podcast. Welcome everybody into Gurus at Game Changers. So when Stacey and I first started talking about this podcast, we knew we wanted to bring people on who, through their experiences, would help you with your life overcoming obstacles, motivation, discipline, all those things. And while we've we've pretty much touched on that with everybody that we've talked to, we never had the opportunity to encapsulate all of that into one guest, into one expert in that field, and today we have that person. 

01:59
Today's guest, tony schmaltz, has spent much of his life in the personal development space for sure he's coached, he's trained, he's counseled countless people on, essentially, how to just live their best life and what that means for them. And what I love about him is he's not the type of coach who just throws out motivational platitudes, like you see, on social media ad nauseum. He is a no-nonsense get off your butt, take responsibility and take some action kind of coach. That's what we love. He even wrote a book. Where's the book? 

02:32
yeah, it's called wake the bleep up we'll call it that wake the bleep up, break down the walls blocking your possibilities, and it not only captures his style, but it also captures his magic, because he's very unassuming, very polite, very soft, but for your own good, damn it. He's going to tell you. He's going to tell you what has to change and what you know, what um how it is for you, okay. So if you are not 100 happy with your life, with your health with your relationships, with your job or just your day-to-day. 

03:03
You feel like you're coming up short, you're not doing what you should or you're not doing what you say you would. This is the guy that can help you improve you so you can thrive in all those different situations, happy to have him in studio. Thank you for coming to studio, traveling to be in studio absolutely, tony. Welcome to the show thanks for having me. 

03:19 - Tony Schmaltz (Guest)
It's my pleasure. I love flying up here for this show. This is great, great, all the way from Florida, right right, yeah, great to meet you in person. 

03:26 - Mark  (Host)
It's been great. 

03:26 - Stacey (Host)
Yeah, Okay, so I'm going to get right to it. Oh, please do Tell me about the impetus to write your new book. Wake the Bleep Up. This is your chance to be the real you and find the life of your dreams. 

03:37 - Tony Schmaltz (Guest)
Right, okay, so that the book actually started almost three years ago. I wrote a complete transcript about three years ago, although at that time I was still working full time for somebody else, and so when I, when I went full time as a coach, I reread the book and I said this is not who I am anymore. Not who I am. So I pretty much trashed that, with the exception of a couple of chapters. I kept and rewrote the whole thing, and I did that from a place of, like you said, experiences from people. I've helped the experiences. They've had the results. They've seen the results. I've seen my family and I have seen and I went this is who I am now and this is how I'm going to best help people. 

04:16
And, as you were pointing out, mark, it's pretty in your face. I am, uh, I spend a lot, a lot. A lot of coaches spend a lot of time on the squishy side. Although I do play in that, that realm, I spend less time on the squishy side than most other coaches. So I'm more direct, I'm more. Yeah, this is what you need to change. 

04:35 - Mark  (Host)
I always felt like that's. What's been missing is is the accountability. Like there's a lot of coaches out there, but there aren't enough accountability coaches out there, right? That don't just take. You know you need to work on this. No, get up and do it. 

04:48 - Tony Schmaltz (Guest)
Yeah, exactly no, and you're absolutely right. I you know I've personally hired multiple coaches. In fact, most people, when they hear how much I've spent on personal development over the last few years, really lose their minds a little bit. But the best results I've ever seen are from those coaches, the ones that are just like hey, stop doing that, now do this you know, and just in your face and I'm like wow, thanks, I needed it like that. 

05:11 - Mark  (Host)
Well, we had that right, we had that with our parents. Sit back from the TV, put that away and go do your homework. It was. You could not negotiate with that Right, right and it was for your own good, yeah Right. 

05:28 - Tony Schmaltz (Guest)
So how do you replace that voice in your own head and become your own parent? That's hard, it is hard, it is hard. And, from our parents standpoint, they also were programming us to a certain extent. You know, everyone around us was our teachers, our parents, our are, the people at church, our friends, friends, everyone. We were being programmed to think a certain way, think their way, not really think for ourselves, and so that's, that's the real big impact. So when you're talking about changing that, it's, it's being that direct but still allowing the person to be able to think for themselves and come up with their own answers. So there's certain things where I'm just going to say stop that right now, If there's something there they. 

06:03
we started the podcast. We'll see if they edit this in or not, but yeah, I did it a couple times already. 

06:08 - Stacey (Host)
So what are the walls? Like it says, break down the walls blocking your possibilities. So like, name some walls, like for our audience. 

06:14 - Tony Schmaltz (Guest)
Part of it is I just named the one, the programming. 

06:16
That's actually, literally the first chapter in the book is forget the programming and that, um, and that's not just our parents, not just our teachers, but the, the mainstream media, I mean people who watch the news. You're shut off the news. There's ways of being informed without really getting that programming. So that's that's one of the one of the main walls. The other one is one of the other ones is is negativity. We just were funneled. I mean, people are dumping dump trucks, piles of garbage all over us each and every day and most people absorb that. They absorb that negativity, they speak negative into their world and so we attract what we speak and we speak negatively. You're, you're creating that negativity in your own life. Um, I like how you've you mentioned earlier, you're like, hey, I'm Mr Positive, that's awesome. 

07:00 - Stacey (Host)
Cause. 

07:00 - Tony Schmaltz (Guest)
When you speak positive, then you tend to be more positive and attract more positivity in your life. So there's just a couple. The other one is this is one that I actively eliminate and actively help others eliminate the word try and I'm going to bring Yoda into it but do or do not, there is no try. 

07:18
There is no try. This was first in the coaching world made famous by Werner Erhardt, where he was at one of his forums talking about. He asked a participant who was standing and said hey, try to sit down. And they sat down. He said no, you sat down, you didn't try to you sat down. There is no try. You can't try to sit down, because then you're sitting down. Wow, there's really no try. You're doing something, you're always doing or not doing something. 

07:42
There is no try. That is actually the key to success and happiness is practice and commitment, and you have to live that commitment. This is one thing that I went through about a year ago and I help my clients go through, is I used to reschedule appointments, I used to miss appointments, things like that. Oh, I can't make it today, unless you're an actual hospital emergency. You should always be committed to being there. My friend Devin, the one who actually just reached out to me on the way here and he is so committed that man will not miss anything. Literally, he would have to be in the hospital for him to miss an appointment and he said to me if I ever find somebody as committed as myself, I'll work with them for free. 

08:24 - Stacey (Host)
I said ooh, I said, well I believe in paying for value. 

08:26 - Tony Schmaltz (Guest)
but, challenge accepted, I'm like here we go. 

08:28 - Stacey (Host)
All right, Did you get it? Did you win? I haven't actually offered it up. It's just something in my mind I'm going to be that committed. 

08:37 - Tony Schmaltz (Guest)
And since then, I have not missed a single appointment or rescheduled or anything. Wow, I'm much more careful about commitments. I'm not a yes man in any way, shape or form. Speaking of which, don't be a yes person. Or it's okay to say yes, just not as often as you probably are, and so it's. It's much more selective. So, yes, it's something that I know. I'm not going to make a commitment just because somebody's asking me to say yes. 

09:01 - Stacey (Host)
I'm going to think it through and then. 

09:02 - Tony Schmaltz (Guest)
So okay, yes, you know what I can commit to, that there's three parts to this book. The first part is all getting over the mindset piece of it, Like telling good stories. Telling good stories is huge. Most people that don't tell good stories. You've got somebody else standing there going, oh, when's this person going to be done? I've heard this a million times. You know when you get, when you learn to speak directly and get to the point quicker. But people, but, however, keep people engaged. Storytelling becomes that much easier and if you're going to be any kind of leader in the world, you need to be able to tell good stories, need to be able to tell good stories. This is just a collection of so many things that I've learned throughout thousands of hours of personal development, coaching, workshops. All the above. You almost seem like a work on yourself junkie. I kind of am so why why? 

09:54
because I guess I've never really felt like I'm there, like who I really want to be. You know, I am being way, way better than I was yesterday and I plan on being way better tomorrow than I am today. However, I just don't. I haven't felt like I'm there and I don't ever plan on being there. I always plan on improving each and every day. I always plan on doing something better today than I did yesterday and better tomorrow than I did today. 

10:19
It's like a growth mentality you must have a vision of where there is though I have a vision of where next is Got it, because so this is one thing I talk talk to people about when we talk about goal setting, because I do. I do run through goal setting exercises with people and I say you should never, ever hit your five or ten year goals, because as you start to get closer, your goals should change. 

10:39
They should develop. As I've progressed through these goals, I've been making achievements, getting results, and now I'm like, oh well, I'm here now. Now, this five year goal is the new five year goal is out here, so it's going to. Your goalposts should always be moving as far as your goals go. So for right now, I have visions of where I want my family and I to be. Yes, I will say in five years, although a year from now that may change. So my visions are revolving around some material things, some relationships and yeah and I practice that regularly at least once a day visualizing those. 

11:13
A lot of people talk about goal setting without vision and really my question is how can you have one without the other? You know, how can you set a goal without having a vision? What are you shooting for if you can't see what it looks like to be at that result? Let's say, hey, I want to make a million dollars in the next three years. Great, can you picture having a million dollars in your bank account? 

11:30
No, well then, what are you shooting for? What are you actually trying to achieve? Do you know what it looks like? Do you know anyone that has a million dollars? Do you know what it looks like to live that lifestyle. No, then how do you know that's what you want to shoot for? So you really need to experience or know what that is. And I have the same. I talk about the same thing when it comes to leaders in companies. I ask what's your vision for your business, what's your vision for your company? And and then they fumble and I'm like, okay, do you consider yourself a good leader? Well, yeah, I said. Well, then, how can you, how can you lead without a vision? Where are you leading people to? 

12:03
right if you don't have a vision, and so then we go through the whole vision exercise and helping them get to a vision. 

12:08 - Stacey (Host)
Gps helps too, because if you explain it to people and you're like, would you just go somewhere without knowing where you're going in the car, you put the GPS on. You know where you're going in the car Ooh. I like that how do you stop being a people pleaser? 

12:20 - Tony Schmaltz (Guest)
Because I feel like for those of us who are it starts with a choice, starts by choosing that you're not going to be that anymore. Now then it takes practice and commitment, however, you have to start everything starts with a choice. 

12:34 - Mark  (Host)
You know, if the day comes that you want to stop being a people, pleaser, you will choose to stop being a people pleaser, what is a guy like you who lives in a where you're steeped in personal development for yourself, for your clients, like your career, your life, everything about it. You probably, your kids, are probably steeped in it, because I know, I try to steep my son in it all the time. What's your first win of every day? 

12:54 - Tony Schmaltz (Guest)
I say my declarations. Before using the bathroom, before doing any of that, I make my bed, make the bed or make my half of the bed, and then I speak my declarations. 

13:02 - Mark  (Host)
Wait, what time do you get up? 

13:03 - Tony Schmaltz (Guest)
Wait Four o'clock every morning oh. 

13:05 - Mark  (Host)
Oh, so. So what are you? How many declarations do you have and what are they? Are you willing to share those? 

13:15 - Tony Schmaltz (Guest)
So I have two full pages of declarations and they start with things like I am incredibly patient with every person I encounter in in person, in virtue, in in person, visual or verbal communications. I only know. I know that people are doing the best they can with the thinking they have. I say I am the most loving and caring father to Stephanie, tiffany, melinda Marcus and the greatest grandfather in the world to Sophia and Raphael. I am otherworldly supportive to my amazing, gorgeous and huge hearted wife, anika, and the list goes on. I've got two pages of these and they all start with I am, I am summer visions for the future. 

13:44
Some are what I deliver for my family, for the clients, for friends, for family a little bit of everything. 

13:49 - Mark  (Host)
Got it, and then where do you go from there? 

13:50 - Tony Schmaltz (Guest)
Then I meditate for 10 to 30 minutes, depending on what my schedule looks like for the day. No less than 10 and no more than 30. 

13:58 - Stacey (Host)
Every day. 

13:59 - Tony Schmaltz (Guest)
Every single day. And then I read for at least 25 minutes. And there's a reason for the 25 minutes. Lots of studies have been shown that if you read more than 28 minutes at a given setting that you start to forget what you read the first, at the beginning. So in order to maintain that memory of what you read, I cut it off at 25 minutes. 

14:16 - Mark  (Host)
Okay. 

14:17 - Tony Schmaltz (Guest)
And then I exercise and nothing fancy. It could be walking around the block a few times doing some jumping jacks just to get the blood flowing. And then I get cleaned up and start my day. That's it. That's your morning routine. I get cleaned up and start my day. 

14:25 - Mark  (Host)
That's it, that's your morning routine, that's my morning routine and that sets you up for success every day. 

14:28 - Tony Schmaltz (Guest)
Every day. 

14:29 - Mark  (Host)
Do you have a to-do list? 

14:32 - Tony Schmaltz (Guest)
Yes, yes, I do, and I typically only attack number one priority for a day. Now when I'm saying I don't only do one thing, although that is the first thing. So part of my evening routine is I have what's called a four square journal. This is a journal of my own design, using pieces from other people I've learned, and I open up my journal, I draw a line down the middle, vertically and horizontally. Top left is writing down everything I've accomplished for the day. And that could be as simple as going grocery shopping, making my bed, speaking with this client for an hour. 

15:09
We take for granted some of the things that we do day in and day out, like doing laundry, doing the dishes. Those are accomplishments, and most people just let them fly by, like I don't know what I did today. Well, you did a lot. You went to work, you did, you know. All these things are accomplishments. Next one is what did I learn today? And it can be simple as something I learned from a friend or a class I was doing, or or a book I was reading. Number three is what am I grateful for? And and make a list. It can be the same thing as yesterday or it can be brand new things. And then number four is what is my number one priority for tomorrow? And so when you talk about the to do, to do list, I do have a longer list, but I always make sure that the night before I write down my number one priority for tomorrow. 

15:46 - Stacey (Host)
This is a lot. 

15:48 - Tony Schmaltz (Guest)
Mm-hmm. 

15:48 - Stacey (Host)
How do you like? That's a lot, so that's why you have to wake up at four. 

15:52 - Tony Schmaltz (Guest)
I choose to wake up at four because there's how do you? 

15:55 - Stacey (Host)
fit in Like it feels like that's going to take. How long does that take? That first part? 

15:58 - Tony Schmaltz (Guest)
Hour and a half. 

15:59 - Stacey (Host)
Okay, and then the last part is. 

16:03 - Tony Schmaltz (Guest)
The evening time one. Yeah, half an hour. Okay, that's not bad, and that's my wind down time before bed, if you miss it. 

16:08 - Mark  (Host)
It's what happens hey guys, thanks for listening. If you like what you're hearing, please leave us a review, give us a follow, subscribe, subscribe all those things, all those things. We love it because we read each and every comment and it helps shape the show, so we would appreciate it please, and back to the show I was just asked this question the other day, actually by my coach, and he said what happens when you don't do your morning creation? 

16:33 - Tony Schmaltz (Guest)
My day does feel off. I can't say it feels bad, but it just feels off you beat yourself up A little bit, a little bit, a little bit. I tend to have gone beyond that. For the most part, that's good Beating myself up, however up, however it does feel you're just like, ah, something's not right today. Oh man, I didn't do my morning creation or my evening, but wind down or something you know just doesn't feel right you and I are very much aligned. 

16:54 - Mark  (Host)
It's like you guys are like brothers from another mother, like this is really weird like yeah, tell him your routine oh, I don't know about whole routine. Well, it's just very similar I get up early. 

17:04 - Stacey (Host)
Three thirty three, thirty three, forty one, three forty, which is very purposeful time. 

17:08 - Tony Schmaltz (Guest)
I like that. 

17:08 - Mark  (Host)
But what's interesting is that not a lot of people know that I do that. I will share is I have a to-do list. We all have a to-do list or you should have a to-do list. 

17:15 - Stacey (Host)
Yes, a hundred percent. Yes, I don't have a to-do list. 

17:22 - Mark  (Host)
But I also keep a to-done list, which is exactly what you're saying. You look back and say that was a significant amount of work, time, effort, labor, the labor that you would have forgotten about completely, and that was an entire saturday of my life. So I want to remember that I did that. I don't keep it at, you know, at infinitum I, but certainly every week, every two weeks, I'm keeping a running total of what I accomplished, because I also want to know where my time goes, because it flies by, right? But I'm right there with you Get up the whole thing, the exercise first thing in the morning, and if I don't follow my morning routine, it's not just off. I am wildly unproductive, I am not focused. You know, by 9, 10 am, I already know my day is going to be going like this instead of skyrocketing and, you know, being productive and attacking whatever's on my to-do list right for the day. 

18:12
So I get it, I get it it's funny my I always say my first win in a day is setting my alarm the night before yeah because when you're getting up at 341, there's always that conversation do I do I turn this on? 

18:24 - Stacey (Host)
oh my god, what time do you go to sleep? 

18:26 - Mark  (Host)
10, 10, 30, yeah, somewhere in there. I I like I go to sleep when I sit down. Yeah, that's what happens. I sit down. 

18:34 - Stacey (Host)
I just don't want people to feel like they have to do these types of routines no. In order to be a productive part of society. Because, as I'm sitting here, I'm like oh, I feel inadequate, I don't do those things. I don't do those things I don't do, those things Like. I think you got to pick and choose what's going to make your day work, right, right, right. So maybe someone does one or two things of that. Maybe they do it every other day, maybe they do it every day. 

18:57 - Tony Schmaltz (Guest)
You know what I mean, you guys are just sort of the you know at one end of the spectrum there's always outliers. Yeah, yeah, sure is one thing I talk about with my clients I talk about not just clients with anybody is everybody needs to find their own way right. This routine is a collection of five years of trials and errors and what worked, what didn't work. You know, I've I've tried so many different things over the years and this is just what came together and worked that's what I always tell. 

19:23 - Mark  (Host)
people are asking me like you know, how do you get so much done? I get up so early, why can't do that? Well, try getting up, meaning do get up 20 minutes earlier Right. 

19:33 - Stacey (Host)
And just see what happens. 

19:34 - Mark  (Host)
Yeah, and guess what? If what happens is you sit around and look on your phone, then you know okay, I'm going to do something else the next time I do that. 

19:41 - Stacey (Host)
And for somebody they might need a nine, 10 hour sleep night. They might need that, or they need more time to get started. 

19:47 - Mark  (Host)
Once they wake up Like I am awake, let's go. 

19:50 - Tony Schmaltz (Guest)
I love what you said about your to-done list, and this is also the accomplishments that I talk about, because it's a motivator Most people don't know. When you look and go, wow, I actually got that much done. Now I want to do more tomorrow. But when you don't track those things that you've done, then you're sitting here thinking to yourself what did I get done? 

20:05 - Stacey (Host)
today you're not thinking about this day. Go, yeah, exactly. No, I love that. It's 2 30 like what happened. That's really good, yeah so that's. 

20:11 - Tony Schmaltz (Guest)
That's. That was the main reason behind the accomplishments. There's a there's one of my, one of my mentors. His name steve chandler in fact, I was just listening to one of his audios on the way here. That's where I got that from was writing down the accomplishments every day. From him. He's like he had. He wrote a book called 100 ways to motivate yourself and one of those ways was write down everything you've accomplished for the day, Because when you do that you're like wow holy moly, I did a lot. 

20:31 - Stacey (Host)
Yeah, I'm going to do more tomorrow. That's really cool, yeah, um, we've talked so much about like how awesome things are for you. Now I know that you've gone through stuff and I think it's it's so good for our audience to see that someone like you has also had to dig himself out of a trench. So tell me about like a time or a few times when you were in that trench and how you got out. 

20:52 - Tony Schmaltz (Guest)
Okay, all right, I'll give you two specific examples, one of which you guys know about it's in here. It's actually under a chapter called it's not all peaches and cream. 

21:01
Uh so the first was when I went full-time coaching in 2021, I was actually laid off from the company I was working for and in my entire career, I had started at the bottom of work my way up. Throughout my entire career I've been trained as a leader, never even had a sticky note in my file throughout any company I've ever worked at, and then, all of a sudden, I'm getting called into HR and saying, hey, we don't think, we don't, we don't feel you're a good part of the team anymore. I was like what and I had my, my anymore. I was like what and I had my, my, my team and I had just been recognized, like literally a week before, by the, the VP of the corporation, of being the model department in the entire corporation of 120 something divisions. 

21:39
They were like you need to look at Tony Schmaltz's department down there in Lynn Haven. They are who you need to model after. And then a week later they're like they're walking me out. I was like what in the wide world of sports is happening? So it's funny. So first person I called was my wife, and she actually was surprisingly supportive and not as worried. And then the second person I called was my coach. Who at the time was this man here, steve Krivda. I gave him my spiel here's how it went down and he paused for a. He said you weren't you there, you were miserable. And you've been telling me for two years that if you could coach full time you could make it work. Here's your chance. I went, sat there in my truck for what seemed like hours, but probably was only like five or ten minutes, and I said, yep, he's right. Never looked back. So that was the first real big during my personal development years. 

22:33 - Stacey (Host)
Anyway, so then what? You just pull your bootstraps up and then you just start, Absolutely yeah. 

22:39 - Tony Schmaltz (Guest)
Practiced and I committed over and over and over and that was during that time where I where I came up with the schmaltzy and where I came up the schmaltzy tasks and I started building courses and I did some, did some webinars and just like just went after it all. But the second big challenge, like you were talking about, was just about just over a year ago um, 18 months ago actually where I was trying to run a big motivational speaker event. I mean big, I mean I had thousand seats all lined up, I had invested all the money into the venue, into the production company, into the venue. Uh, paying speakers, I mean I had less Brown that was going to come, kevin Sorbo, tom Ziegler I mean I had just names I had. It was should have been the event of the year. 

23:24 - Mark  (Host)
Yeah. 

23:25 - Tony Schmaltz (Guest)
And just wasn't getting the ticket sales, and part of it was probably location Panama City Beach is a challenge to get to In Florida, yeah, yeah. If it was like in Tampa or Orlando, where there's a lot more direct flights and they're less expensive, a lot more people said they would have made it and also it was really too close to the pandemic. Most people were still afraid to travel. I was like we're coming out of the pandemic. Now Everyone's going to want to get back into person and it probably was a little too soon, anyway, so that one there lost a ton of money. 

23:54
I'm not going to give the exact dollar amount because lots of people are going to watch this and know me. 

23:59 - Stacey (Host)
You don't have to do that yeah. 

24:01 - Tony Schmaltz (Guest)
Anyway, it was enough to where? To where my wife and I sold our house and and that's where we moved down to our current location, Palm Harbor. 

24:08 - Stacey (Host)
Wow. So you had invested a lot of money in that event, yes, and then so like did you? Just? Was there a certain point where you said, oh, cause I can see you're so optimistic Like, oh, don't worry about it. Like we're going to get more sales, we're going to get missiles, Like what was the moment when you're like this is not going to work? 

24:25 - Tony Schmaltz (Guest)
So that's, that's a great question, and there was actually a really big aha moment. Um, my wife and I went on a marketer's cruise and well, on that cruise I met several people who actually run events and so at the time I was just like I didn't think much of it, and then one of them sent me and this was the crushing blow. One of them volunteered to send me their checklist for running an event and I'm like, and they emailed it to me while I was on the ship and I received this and I was like it's like eight pages long, and I'm like I've only done like a page and a half of this, and so it was literally at that point where I started to lose a hold of the vision, you know as long as I held on to the vision, things were progressing, but it was at that point where I started to lose it. 

25:05 - Stacey (Host)
So you lost self-confidence, lost the confidence. 

25:08 - Tony Schmaltz (Guest)
Lost the vision? How? 

25:09 - Stacey (Host)
close was this to the event? About four months, three months, okay, so it was close Getting close yeah getting close, and so it was about 45 days beforehand where I just pulled the plug. Do you think like if you had pushed, it might have still worked? 

25:23 - Tony Schmaltz (Guest)
Maybe. So everyone who runs events said there's a hockey stick where you get like a slow amount of sales and then at the end they ramp up. What I looked at was I was like, okay, I'm either, if this doesn't come off, if I, if I go through with it and I don't get at least x number of ticket sales, then I'm gonna lose this much more yeah x month so I can cut it off here, cut my losses, or I can potentially lose this much more. And so I made that decision. 

25:47 - Stacey (Host)
It was not an easy decision, but I love your enthusiasm about it, though, like you know, like know, like you're like optimistic, you're like. I'm going to go do this. 

25:55 - Tony Schmaltz (Guest)
Oh, and I'm going to do it again. I was telling you guys earlier I don't hold on, I don't regret anything ever, and I am glad that this happened this way, even though, yeah, it was a crushing blow. I learned so much from that and I will. I will the future, and now I'll know what. 

26:11 - Stacey (Host)
I didn't know that, yeah, they get the checklist yeah, when you realized you had to pull the plug and you said your wife or whatever, like this is gonna happen, we're gonna sell the house that's a big blow it's a huge blow, like how did? You so I guess what our audience should know is like when that happened to you. How did you then build yourself back up again? 

26:31 - Tony Schmaltz (Guest)
well, having the supportive wife that I have was part of it. Right, she was there every step of the way. She knew it was coming before. She was there on the ship with me when we got that checklist and I was like, um, you know showing her. So she's been there through all of my I've had. She sounds awesome, she is amazing. She is amazing. I'm very lucky. So building back up has is not. It's never a challenge, cause I always have a new vision. 

26:53 - Stacey (Host)
I always have a new vision, so I don't. 

26:56 - Tony Schmaltz (Guest)
The crushing blows don't last very long with me. You know it's maybe a weekend and I'm like, yeah, all right, I'll sulk for a weekend and get it over, get it over with and then move on. Yeah, I did it, you just did it, and it's and it's like we talked about. It's that morning routine. Part of it is sticking with that morning routine of that is the motivator, that is the vision creator, that is the way to start your day and if you continue on with that, then there's nothing you can't accomplish. 

27:23 - Stacey (Host)
So you have been called the world's best belief coach by your peers. Yeah, how and why. 

27:29 - Tony Schmaltz (Guest)
Because I always believe in myself. 

27:30 - Stacey (Host)
I always believe in other people. I I always believe in myself, I always believe in other people. 

27:32 - Tony Schmaltz (Guest)
I mean, I feel like you just kind of explained that I literally continue to have the most positive and forth thinking visions and beliefs. 

27:38 - Stacey (Host)
And believe in yourself and believe in the people who work with you. 

27:42 - Tony Schmaltz (Guest)
Everybody. 

27:42 - Stacey (Host)
Yeah. 

27:43 - Tony Schmaltz (Guest)
I believe in you guys, oh thanks, that's awfully nice, yeah, that is so nice. 

27:47 - Mark  (Host)
Where do you? 

27:48 - Tony Schmaltz (Guest)
come up short. I do still carry a little bit of imposter syndrome. I still a little bit of comparitis. I actively work on I actively work on that. But I still sometimes look at like a coach who's been around longer, more successful quote, unquote, more successful and I go, ah man, if I was more like that guy. You know, every once in a while I've eliminated eliminated that mostly in my life, but every once in a while that still pops back in. 

28:17 - Stacey (Host)
That's. That's probably the only real place I still fall short. So what do? 

28:18 - Tony Schmaltz (Guest)
you tell people when they say I have imposter syndrome how to get out of it. It's the same thing, it's a choice. So when I get those thoughts, those thoughts don't stick around. I mean I will actively say out loud stop it. Like if I get a thought like that that's a negative thought, I'll go stop it. I've had people look at me funny they're like what. 

28:31 - Stacey (Host)
They're like what did I do? 

28:32 - Mark  (Host)
I'm like no, I was talking to myself. That's amazing. 

28:37 - Tony Schmaltz (Guest)
And there's something about verbalizing it. There's a psychology behind it. When you have a negative thought like that, if you tell yourself out loud to stop, you're more likely to stop that thought. 

28:47 - Stacey (Host)
Yeah, they say your brain can't really tell. Like you know. Like if you're watching TV and there's a horror scene, like they think, your brain thinks it's really happening, like if you know. So if you're saying stop it, your brain will be like okay right right, I'll stop it. Um. Okay, so this is my last question, um, since I've been researching and stalking you for the past, like three days and you'll see like these guys are good. 

29:04 - Tony Schmaltz (Guest)
By the way, it's a really good conversation um. 

29:07 - Stacey (Host)
So as I was looking and seeing all of your stuff, I was trying to think to myself who is this guy? You have so many different facets of things that you help people with. You're a coach. You're a coach's coach. You're telling people to wake the bleep up. You're also talking about people pleasing. What would be your positioning? Who you are, who are you and how are you? How do you want to portray yourself? 

29:35 - Tony Schmaltz (Guest)
to the world. Uh well, I like to portray myself as helping people create miracles in our lives, businesses and careers. Literally, that's it Help create, help you, I can help you create miracles. 

29:48 - Stacey (Host)
So how can we help you to get that message out? 

29:51 - Tony Schmaltz (Guest)
Well, I mean, you guys can first of all go to Amazon buy the book Wake the Bleep Up, there's some resources, extra resources in there. Or find me at tonychmaltzcom. I have everything there, that, everything that I do, everything I work on. There's lots of free videos, free stuff. Go there and that's. And then, of course, follow me on social 's. That's the best way to do it. 

30:11 - Stacey (Host)
I really want to see you succeed, like this has been so awesome. 

30:14 - Mark  (Host)
I feel like we can all benefit from having a little tony schmaltz on all day long just to say hey, don't. Don't say try or hey, keep that positive mindset going or believe in yourself yeah any any of the things that you talked to us today about I can't thank you enough for coming out no, you guys are great. 

30:29 - Tony Schmaltz (Guest)
Thank you for having me. 

30:30 - Stacey (Host)
Thank you so much fantastic, learned something today, yeah for sure all right thank you so much, guys. 

30:35 - Mark  (Host)
We'll see you soon you're still here. 

30:42 - Stacey (Host)
You're still listening. Thanks for listening to the gurus and game changers podcast while you're here. If you enjoyed it, please take a minute to rate this episode and leave us a quick review. We want to know what you thought of the show and what you took from it and how it might have helped you. We read and appreciate every comment. Thanks, see you next week. 


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