John Shegerian: This edition of the Impact podcast is brought to you by Engage. Engage as a digital booking engine revolutionizing the talent booking industry, with hundreds of athletes, entrepreneurs, speakers, and business leaders. Engage is the go-to spot for booking talent for your next event. For more information, please visit letsengage.com.

John: Welcome to another edition of the Impact podcast. I am so excited and honored today to have with us, Ryan Harris, he is a Super Bowl champion, broadcaster, speaker, and best selling author. Welcome to Impact Ryan.

Ryan Harris: John, thanks for having me, my friend.

John: Hey, listen, I got a wonderful opportunity to meet you and being your company before and you are just a fascinating, amazing young man and it is just an honor to have you on today. I just want first start the show by before, we get into your whole journey, I am sitting at my desk here in my office and about two feet behind me is a signed Notre Dame helmet from Rudy Ruettiger.

Ryan: Oh I love it. [laughter]

Ryan: Yes, I just want you to know straight up, go to my first college football team that I fell in love with was a Notre Dame and I know you are a Notre Dame alum and proud Notre Dame alum and you are still very connected to that great institution. Now, I fell in love with Notre Dame because they had one of the iconic Armenian coaches at that time. He was really one of the few celebrities in the Armenian world. Coach Ara Parseghian. That is why I fell in love with it. But then once I saw the Rudy story, and then I got to meet Rudy, there was no going back. Talk a little bit about your journey growing up, how you got to Notre Dame, and your experience at Notre Dame, and then we will go on to all the other accomplishments you did post-Notre Dame.

Ryan: Yeah, man. A quick story on Rudy when I was at Notre Dame, Charlie Weis typically, in NFL training camps the first night you watch a movie or an inspirational speech or something like that. Coach Weis put on Rudy and afterward, he goes, “You know, you do not really get the whole story from the movie. Rudy, why do not you come on down and tell these guys what it is really like.” Rudy came down bounding down the step. I mean all of us had seen the movie. You do not go to Notre Dame and not see the greatest [inaudible] movie ever made. That was one of the many times I have met Rudy, but to answer your question from St. Paul, Minnesota, God’s country and grew up and my mother is in education, my father is a mechanical engineer. I did not start playing football till I was 14, and really saw an opportunity not to do something and be rich, but to be great at something. I had a talent that I wanted to maximize and. I did that and I did it from a young age I played at the same peewee league as Joe Mauer, who I later went to high school with and Terrell Suggs had some big names in the NFL, Michael Floyd as well. Then I got recruited in my junior year. I was in JROTC, John because I thought that was how I was going to pay for college. I could go to college, get paid for it, I got a job for five years, I am in. Then my junior year I got a letter from Iowa saying we would like to offer you a full grant and aid to attend the University of Iowa and I said to my parents, “What is a grant aid?” “Well, that is a scholarship.” Iowa was my first scholarship by Kirk Ferentz who I later would end up winning the Super Bowl fifty with his son James Ferentz so just a cool little full circle moment I got to enjoy there. But then, yes, went to Notre Dame, prepared my tail off the summer before, was also on the show MTV True Life which I did not think anybody would see it. Then I got the campus and the guys were like, “Hey, where is that MTV brat?” I had a couple of weeks to pay off.

John: [laughter] [crosstalk] More people were watching than you thought, huh?

Ray: [crosstalk] Yes, that taught me at an early age, that sometimes people recognize you before you recognize them. Be very, very careful. I had a successful career in Notre Dame, I was the third offensive lineman to start and as a freshman in the history of Notre Dame and got drafted by the Broncos 2007. Played there until 2011, where I got released just probably the worst moment in my professional career, a moment I am so grateful for. Then I went on to play for the Houston Texas for two years, the Kansas City Chiefs. Then after that year, my eighth year in the NFL can see chief said, “Ryan, we do not think you have any football left.” I have had four surgeries by now, three on my back. I said, “You know what, you are wrong.” Got picked up again by the Denver Broncos because coach Kubiak was with me in Houston said, “Hey, I need you. I need you to come to help us win a championship.” We came back once to bowl 50 Payton’s last game. Then I went to play for the Pittsburgh Steelers and I will tell you, John, to finish my career with the Pittsburgh Steelers, what a franchise what a lesson in leadership, what a lesson in the team and I went from a huddle. I played with, Tim Tebow, Peyton Manning, Jay Cutler, but I went from Peyton Manning to Ben Roethlisberger. I ended my career back to back Hall of Famers and just had a blast learning about life, traveling, playing and I played in London, you are the kid from St. Paul playing in London with the Broncos and, got knocked down a lot but got up one more time and I am so grateful I did and learn so many lessons from it.

John: You have a Super Bowl ring which very very few people ever get to wear.

Ryan: The best diamonds are the ones you get for free, my friend.

John: [laughter] Oh my gosh. What happened after you retired, a lot of young athletes have problems with retirement. It is a weird world coming out of being a professional athlete and one that has had so much winning in their career and a Super Bowl champion, how did you find that transition? Where do others go wrong? Where did you go right? What lessons learned can you share with our listeners who have to go from whether it is being the high school star to just a regular person in college or the college star and never making the pros? Or from the pros and moving on in life to a regular career? How did you make that transition? What tips can you give to our listeners out there that have to make that transition?

Ryan: Yeah, man. It is a phenomenal question. After my third back surgery, I was out of the NFL for about three months and got picked back up by the Broncos and then got released by them. That time was really formative for me and after making one point two million dollars, my first two years in the NFL, I was thirty thousand dollars in debt to start each season. 78% of NFL players are bankrupt or divorced and chemically dependent or all three just two years after they were done playing. I immediately knew I got a double major at Notre Dame, political science, and economics, and policy but I knew I had to prepare. One of the things I started doing was just paying attention to what wealthy people were doing. I am such a proponent for college. I learned a lot about wealth at the University of Notre Dame, right? The wealth that I had never seen. Wealth does not look as rich as you and I know John, right? Wealth looks well-rested. [crosstalk] My dad was like, “Why do not you five hundred bucks in a Scottrade account and start investing.” I read some stuff by this guy named Warren Buffet. He said own what you buy. I literally bought McDonald’s stock, Chipotle stock, Google, and Apple and this is in 2008. Just started financially preparing. How many cars can you drive at the same time? One, so that is how many I bought. How many houses can you live at the same time? One, and until Bill Gates is wearing some diamond-studded chains, I am not doing that. The less you see the more I have. John, unfortunately, I got a lot of calls, two from guys who want me to buy back a used Louis Vuitton backpack, buy back a Mercedes Benz.

Ryan: I tell this story all the time. I had a young rookie, I was in Pittsburgh, and I was so adamant about guys just financially preparing, just make sure you think about retirement. Study says 90% of people have not even thought about retirement. Of those who have, only 5% have the savings to actually do so. This young man I said, one of my big things, delay your purchases three months to three years. This young man, five hundred thousand dollars he was making that year and I said, “Do not go buy a new car, do not go buy a new car, do not go buy a new car.” He buys a brand new Porsche Panamera. Now, three months later, John, he is released from the Steelers, never plays in the NFL again, no house, no 401k, no assets, with a Porsche with no winter tires heading back to Philadelphia. That is a tough story that repeats itself over and over. I just told myself I had to financially prepare. But my biggest tip to those who are going to transition to retirement, the piece that I did not want to admit that matters is ego. One of my mentors has told me, he said, “Ryan, you are still going to want to have your ego tickle.” I said, “No, man, I want to be obscure. I do not want to be noticed at all.” He says, “Ryan, a fish does not know you are on the water.” Sure enough, especially as a football player, I did not know how to work a copy machine.

Ryan: If I went to your office to work for you, John, as much as I was successful in football, if I am in your office, you do not care about that. You care about me making copies and making sure I email the file and put a Google Docs link that is available to everyone. I did not know how to do those things. Turns out you do not have to do that when you are playing with Peyton Manning and your fingers are on the dirt. I had to realize that I still wanted to be recognized for what I had have accomplished, overcoming failures, fighting through surgeries, keeping my body in peak physical condition, conditioning my mind to have a mindset that overcomes failure and that say, “Hey, you are wrong if you do not think I can do this.” I do. That is why I want it and listen, winning the Super Bowl really helps. I got to say nothin when I wear that ring into a room. But I did make sure my doctorate in applied football mechanics and theory would be recognized by people I was around every day because I do have a lot of talent. I may not be able to put it on an Excel spreadsheet, but I can teach you tips on how to build strong teams, I can give you tips on how to achieve your goals and speak to yourself positively. That can lead to those Excel spreadsheets that change the world.

John: Hey, for our listeners out there who are just joining us, we have got Ryan Harris, he is a Super Bowl champion. He is a broadcaster, speaker, and best selling author. You could find Ryan at www.Ryan Harris68.com. I am holding in my hand right here, this wonderful book: Mindset for Mastery; an NFL champions guide to reaching your greatness. Ryan, you wrote this best selling book, it is on Amazon and other great platforms for people to download or buy. Talk about why you wrote this book and give our listeners two or three of the best tips out of this book as a little preview that they can expect if they buy or download this book today.

Ryan: Yes. well, thank you, John. When you win the Super Bowl, everything you believe about yourself comes true for other people. I want people to have that moment in their life in business, right? In their relationships. The difference between winning and losing a championship in the NFL is your mindset. Choosing everything, no matter who you are, where you are from, we all share these experiences of failure, pain, loss, gain, circumstance. So what? We are in Coronavirus lockdown right now and you and I have talked, well, you have lived beyond all those moments. Since you are going to live beyond, would not you rather choose how that is going to be after that failure, disappointment, or circumstance? That is the power of your mindset. People say mindset all the time. But one of the things I pride myself on is actually giving people tangible tools. Well, mindset is I built my mindset through nine different surgeries in 10 years, failures, coaches telling me I was not going to be successful, by using the three phrases “I am, I can, I will.” I use it as a parent job, I use it in broadcasting. Anytime I faced self-doubt, I talked to myself in a positive way. “I am as the identity.” The night before the Super Bowl, I said to myself, “I am terrified. My greatest achievement is going to be my greatest failure if we lose this game.”

But what else am I? I am prepared. I am excited. I am ready, at some point you and I have experienced it. It is a choice you got right there. You and I have experienced it at some different point. At some point, your goal is not good enough. That is okay. What do you do then? Do not look behind you. Do not ask our favorite question like, “Whose fault is it? Could it possibly be ours” But what can you do? Okay, I gave up a sec, I can make sure I am going to use my technique. I can think about the next play. I am terrified the night before the Super Bowl. I am going to be successful. I am a champion. I can go out and prove it tomorrow. When you speak the words “I can”, you start to see opportunities in front of you instead of that past behind you. It is how you choose to add something. My ninth year in NFL I had to add breathing, John because Peyton Manning runs so many plays, I had to breathe again. I went to an MMA coach, I can not breathe. I am out of breath all the time. Okay, I can go to an MMA gym and learn how those fighters control their breath to perform at a high level. I did. Breathe in for five, hold your breath, swallow it, breathe out for eight. Boom, let us go, next play.

John: You put your ego aside, you put all your, you were champion at Notre Dame, well decorated, got drafted to the NFL, already had a longer career than most will ever have in the NFL and you put all that aside to now take your game to the next level, to be able to win the Super Bowl with Peyton Manning. You learn how to breathe again.

Ryan: Had to.

John: Unbelievable.

Ryan: How many times in your life did you have to learn a new skill? I always remind people, John, like, we are all in relationships. If I took my wife to the same restaurant we went for our first date, we would not be as happy as we are now. Right? But we do that in our professional lives, right? We know, I am good at this job. I am good at this program. I do not want to learn anything else. Why am I not getting the results? People ask me all the time. “Ryan, what can I do to be successful?” I said, “Well, what have you done new?” Often times they will say, the most common response is “What do you mean?” “What do you mean what do I mean? You are an accountant, are you in a networking group? Are you doing leadership trainings? Are you learning about yourself as a leader? Do you want to be a leader? Is this even what you want to do?” Finding out what you can do is how you can continue to stay in motion when other people are stuck. Then you got to commit to it. John, there are over two hundred diamonds on the Super Bowl 50 ring, and none of them are just laying on the ground to be picked up. You have got to dig for diamonds and when you speak the words “I will,’ you commit yourself to it. The part of the book is built, the first chapters “I am, I can, I will.” Build your mindset. [inaduible] as a parent, as a professional, as a performer, you choose your mindset, and that is how you create your success.

John: Wow, I love it. Who taught you that? Was that something self-taught or did you have a mentor? Was that your mom or dad? I mean, obviously your parents are super bright human beings, an educator and an engineer. I mean, where did that come from? Is that from coach, or is that something you just got in your own self teachings?

Ryan: I had to create it myself because when I first got to Notre Dame, I got hit so hard. One of my cleats was gone. I was sprawled out. this senior was making a point of me. That night and I read the book, and one of my favorite books is The Book of Five Rings. It is written by the most successful Samurai swordsman in Japanese history. He said, “You must commit with utter resolve to destroying your enemy.” That night I visualized, right? I am going to kick this guy’s tail on this next drill. If he had done anything different than he did the previous seven days, I would have fallen on my face, but I smacked him with a power I did not know I had. At that moment, I realized so much of my performance is up to me. I could have been embarrassed I could have thought I would never play again after being knocked out of my shoes. By the way, you do not make a great sound when that happens, right? But I said, “No, I am here. I belong. I can focus on this play and practice. I will.” When that happened, that was it. I cemented it. Then I started seeing other things, like my favorite quote by Muhammad Ali, and check this out. He said, “I am the greatest. I called myself that before I knew I was.” Even the greatest champion in the world has self-doubt. But fear is something we talked about less than sex. I just came to a realization and acceptance that fear and doubt were going to be a part of my journey, but I would choose success over falling to those feelings.

John: I love it. That is awesome. For our listeners out there. We have got Ryan Harris with us today. He is a Super Bowl champion. He is talking to us about leadership, about mindset, about financial literacy. He has a great book, Mindset for Mastery. You can find that on Amazon and on other great book portals. You could download it or buy it today. He is also on Instagram and you can find them at WWW. Ryan Harris68.com. Ryan, let us talk a little bit about financial literacy, who was your mentor? How did you go in what is basically the opposite direction, as you said of 78% of professional athletes who are ending up in bad spots when they retire? Who was your mentor? Was it the Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway way, the Bill Gates way? What books did you read? How did you get financial literacy as part of your DNA? What do you recommend to our listeners now who need to get on the right side and stop being entitled in terms of their spending and start really saving for a better future?

Ryan: Yes. The big thing that was a difference-maker for me was just buying my first stocks. Just getting through and learning how to buy a stock, learning what the stock symbol is the stock price. The first time you buy a share yourself, you start seeing money differently, right? I can go to a hundred dollar concert or I can buy a dividend stock of Chevron or Exxon Mobil that will pay me for the rest of my life. Then I can go to a concert next time it is around. But the big key for me, John, is right after my rookie year, I had a sixty thousand dollar tax bill by the IRS. I said to my accountant, I said, “How do I make sure this never happens again?” He is like, “Well, you should probably buy a house so you can write off the mortgage.” I went to the bank, a 23-year-old millionaire who has got a contract with the Denver Broncos, and I go to my bank, and I asked the wrong question. “What kind of house can I afford?” Well, the bank is going to say, “You can do this with 5% down or 10 percent.” I was standing with the realtor in a house that I was going to buy, seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars, unmarried, no kids, one car, four-car garage, with an office. I had my conciliary, I call him, he is my lawyer. He came to visit me randomly and I was telling him about the house I wanted to buy. He says, “You sure do look happy in this two-bedroom apartment.” I kid you not. I said to him, “Do you think there is a cheaper house I could buy?” Instead of ridicule me he goes, “I think there is, maybe something in the three hundred thousand range.” That was my first awareness, banks do not have my best interests in mind. I can buy less and then I started realizing.

John: Be happy and still be happy.

Ryan: Be completely happy, functional. Function versus flash. Then I started asking the people who are wealthy that I knew, “What do you do with money?” “Oh, I invest. Hey, I could buy a bigger house but what do I need a bigger house for?” I had room, people were always bugging to buy this house like, “Yes, my friend can stay.” I am not buying a house. No one buys a house for roommates. Do you know what I am saying? I had to unlearn what I had learned. Part of what I had learned in my family was that you never paid off the debt. I did not know you could pay off debt until I was in my second year of the NFL. My whole process between starting to purchase shares of stocks that I use every day, minimizing my expenditures. Being frugal. I mean, they are big times, guys who spent ten thousand dollars a night at a club in the NFL. But I say I did not go to the club at all my rookie year and I went to tour Europe afterward for six thousand dollars. Those kinds of experiences really show me that I can have security if I want. Then how it made me more money, John, was when I went to the Steelers afterward.

After winning the Super Bowl, they gave me a deal that was below market value. I said something to them that they later said they had never heard. They gave me an offer. It was below market value. I told him I said, “I will go home.” They looked at me like I was absolutely insane. Who would not take any kind of money to play for the Steelers? But I was financially stable. I was confident in my value. They immediately said, “Well, give us about five minutes.” They took five minutes, it came back, they offered me exactly the deal I wanted and it only happened because I had been financially secure. These things matter to my children, right? One UCLA, I know your son graduated UCLA law, they just had a receiver who is at the Jets now. His father played in the league for five years, did not watch his money, did not invest his money, ended up getting shot multiple times in a drug deal gone bad while he was a kid. These are preventable situations and I wanted to be rich when I am fifty. I want to take vacations, I want to retire. That is why financial literacy is so important to everyone.

John: I am so glad you laid it out that way. You got to play for one of the greatest coaches in NFL, coach Mike Tomlin and also one of the greatest owning families, legacy families in the NFL, the Rooney family, what an experience, what an experience.

Ryan: The Rooneys, man, talk about financial literacy. The original Mr. Rooney, his cigar box is encased in Latrobe Pennsylvania where we do a training camp. I said after a couple of practices I am going to go see what kind of cigars he had and I am going to buy a box. I go up there. John, it is a cherry wood box with Swisher Sweets in there. The owner of the greatest franchise in the NFL smoke Swisher Sweets like, what am I doing buying a twenty dollar cigar?

John: [laughter] Who needs Cuban? You got to listen to it. As you said you got to pay attention to what really wealthy people are doing. I mean, it is interesting. We have talked about mindset and your great book Mindset for Mastery. We have talked about financial literacy. Let us talk about leadership. I want to frame it this way. I just finished watching and I assume you watched as well. The Michael Jordan biography. Last Dance, 10 episodes and the most moving part for me, the most both touching and emotional but moving and impactful part for me was the end of episode 8, I believe, last couple minutes where he was sitting in this chair when they were interviewing him. He said, “Winning has a price..” He said, “Leadership has a price.” He got emotional and he actually asked for the camera to cut at that point. He basically said, “If people did not want to be part of the system that I was helping to create with Coach Jackson and the ownership of the Bulls, and the leadership of the Bulls, then if you do not find me inspiring then find someone else to follow.” But he goes, “This was my rules and this is how I was doing it.” He took it so personal and he made it so personal. Talk about what that means to you. Winning has a price and leadership has a price. What does that mean in the Ryan Harris ecosystem and the world and all the winning that you have done and the leadership that you now exude and the leadership that you teach?

Ryan: Well, I mean, I am so glad you brought that point up, John, because, and he says that leadership has a prize, winning has a price. He says if you do not want to pay it if you got a problem with that you have never won anything.

John: That is right. He exactly said that. Great quote. You were watching the same thing I was. That is right. That is exactly what he said.

Ryan: That is a mindset, right? Why would I listen to someone who does not win? One of my chapters in my book, you have noted the song by Queen I love it. “No time for losers, because we are the champions.” I have got no time. If you do not want to work. I have no time. If you want to layout I had roommates would lay on my couch. I came back from practices like what are we doing for dinner? What are we doing? What are you doing? But this concept that everybody wants to win, it is just not true. There are sixteen hundred players in the NFL every year, only 53 become champions and it is not because not everyone is talented. People are what Mike Tomlin says comfort seekers, right? You want a job. Okay, you can do it for fifteen years. You can slide on by. I even had a neighbor come to talk to me and said “Ryan. I watched the documentary, I thought, what if I flip the switch tomorrow?” “What do you mean? He goes, “What if tomorrow I just made it about greatness.” I am thinking, “What the hell you have been doing your whole life?”

But the people around you, many do not want to be successful. Many will never risk failure to succeed. You have got to realize that if you want to do something great, you are entitled to do so. Everyone is not going to be along for the ride. I have lost friends. I have had issues with family members where we did not speak for a while. Do you know what? That is okay. Because I was on a mission to win a championship. I even change, people usually come in on Fridays for families in the NFL, but I told them to come in on Saturday right before I went to the hotel because listen, my job is not to take you out on a Friday night. I do not show up at your house on a Wednesday and say, “Hey, what are we doing for dinner?” That is not how this is going down. You want to hang out, you are staying until Monday. That was so poignant. The fact that so many people do not want to win. In ten years in the NFL, I was only on three teams that cared about winning. The rest were happy with the paycheck, free sweat pants, the status, and that was good enough for them. But when you dedicate yourself to greatness, which you are entitled to, you are going to be lonely. There are going to be periods of time where people around you do not want to work. I was in dark gyms not just literally, but also figuratively of doubt. I worked my way through it, believing I would be a champion and I was. I am so happy I did not listen to the Kansas City Chiefs when they told me I was done playing football. I had no football left because I did have football left. I had a championship football left. It just was not with them.

John. Not only you did not listen to them. Just like Jordan made things personal and he put chips on the shoulder with people, whether they were perceived or real, you put a bigger chip on your shoulder when they said you have no football left, and you went out and probably work triple as hard. That is how you became a Super Bowl champion after that.

John: Well, you do not have to listen to everybody. Everybody is not an expert on your life. For me, when I heard that by Jordan, I just talked about on my radio show, I said, “I hope everybody heard that.” Because, yes, Jordan may not be the favorite person at the time, but all his teammates said what? “We love him.” Looking back on it, he was making us great. I had been through that wormhole. I did not want to be great. I had a coach who challenged me and I hated it, not only because he was right, which pissed me off even more, but that I had a level that I had failed to see in myself that I could perform at. You have got to continue to believe in your dream but beyond belief, you better work for it. You better demand that if people are going to be around you that they are going to do it too.

John: You bring up a great point on the price. Winning has a price and leadership has a price. You brought up a word that Jordan did not bring up but it was so apparent in the documentary. You just brought it up lonely, both figuratively and literally. Just share some thoughts on how do people overcome because there is no greatness that I have ever seen in anybody whether it is athletes, entertainers, business people, politicians, that loneliness is not part of that price. How did you overcome that loneliness?

Ryan: Yes, I just did not care. Do you know what I am saying? I rather wear a Super Bowl ring and be lonely for a while because guess what, I got too many friends now. Not every friend is a good friend. I have had bad friends who I stick around but you know what is funny John, we are going through, NASA is about to launch a historic space mission, you never see family members in space with astronauts. You do not see their friends in the cockpit of a spaceship. I remember talking with Mike Tomlin, we had these amazing side conversations and practices. I said, “Coach, what is one thing about being a leader?” He said, “I tell people all the time, you want to be successful get used to being lonely.” He is right. Because no one is coming to a 6 AM workout with me. The people asking for tickets are not showing up at a 6 AM workout with me. That is going to be lonely, but are you lonely because you are an asshole, are you lonely because you are tough to be around or are you lonely because you are going towards a goal while other people are going out to party? I mean, I had a 7 AM workout the day after I graduated high school. I am not sure everybody did that but I can tell you that made a difference in me being prepared to go to Notre Dame and be successful. For me, I saw success as paramount and I was willing to do whatever it took to be successful, to maximize my greatness, go beyond my potential. Some people were not coming with me, because none of them are going to step on that field with me. I needed to make sure that my success was the priority. Listen, maybe I have been wrong. Could I have been a better friend at some time? Sure. Could I have been a beterr student at some time? Sure. But I will tell you what, I was great at football, and I will never apologize for that.

John: There is no apologies needed. One last question and then we were going to let you go for today. But we were going to have you back obviously. You mentioned the issue of Tomlin saying to you people are comfort seekers, and that strikes a chord because Jesse Itzler, David Goggins, they always are preaching. “You have got to learn to be comfortable with being uncomfortable.” How did you learn to be comfortable being uncomfortable because there is no greatness that ever comes in a comfort zone, in anything in this world? Again, I love that you brought that up, I just want to ask, what tips do you have for our listeners out there, how to learn to be comfortable being uncomfortable?

Ryan: Do something new, simple. If you have not done yoga, go do a yoga class. If you have not done Tai Chi, do a Tai Chi Class. It is harder for me, John, and I am sure for you sometimes when you speak with people, and they want success but they do not really want it right. We talk about financial literacy, oftentimes I talk with corporations or people I say, “Raise your hand if you want to be a millionaire.” Every hand goes up. “Raise your hand if you have any investments and stock” About a quarter of the hands, if I am lucky, go up. People are lying to themselves. Not everybody has this. But I also realize most people have not been told they can be great. It is your right to be extraordinary. You can be great whether that is a surgeon, a doctor, an accountant, whatever that is, you can be great. Do something new. Try new things, try new foods. That is what I started with. Anthony Bourdain had his show that everyone wants. I went and tried Pho. I have never had Pho, the Vietnamese soup.

John: Yes, I love Pho. [crosstalk]

Ryan: I want people to think about what I call the math class mindset. No one ever goes into math class saying, I am going to take calculus one and I am going to know every single answer. I am going to learn somehow by doing that. But we do this in life. I do not want to talk about race because it is uncomfortable and I might say something wrong. I do not want to talk about money, because I might show that I am not very good at it. But listen, you do not enter into math class thinking you have got all the answers and you are going to learn, you learn by making mistakes. You are not going to be drawing the ire of people who say, “Hey, I want to talk about race and I have a question on this.” ” I want to talk about sexuality. I have a question about this.” If you are asking a question, you are showing an intent to learn, a willingness to be wrong. You and I both know, we want to surround ourselves with people who are reaching for new heights, because you are going to slip on the rung of a ladder when you are 10,000 feet up. Does not mean you are falling off that thing, but be willing to make that mistake and that type of effort goes recognized by every successful person in any business. Do something new. If you are an introvert, go to a networking event. If you are a bad writer, take a YouTube class on writing. Do something new to prepare yourself for your success.

John: I love it. Ryan, thank you for your time. today. We are going to have you back again for our listeners out there who want to learn more about Super Bowl champion, broadcaster, speaker, and best selling author of Mindset for Mastery, Ryan Harris. Go to www.RyanHarris68.com. You can also find them on Instagram and other social media platforms. Ryan Harris, you are making a great impact and making the world a better place. You have taught us all today how to be great. Thank you for joining us on the Impact podcast.

Ryan: John, It is an honest pleasure, my friend, and I can not wait to take you to dinner and just hang out for a couple of hours. Can not wait.

John: Can not wait myself. Thank you again.