Episode 84 – Chris Harris

00:00:00:02 - 00:00:20:07
Chris Harris
I would say the majority of my contracts were in the Middle East. When you go over to a contract where you're gonna train the elite- for a military in one of our allied countries, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, um, Saudi Arabia you know, Bahrain, the guy that's been teaching our elite special forces for the last couple years, his contract's coming to an end, and we gotta make sure we still have the very best.

00:00:20:07 - 00:00:38:18
Chris Harris
What they cared about is, we're gonna put you on the mat, and we're gonna see how good you really are. I would always become homeless, um, but by choice whenever the weather was cooperating. Like, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna run away from a foster home or from the boys home, you know, in December.

00:00:38:20 - 00:00:56:10
Chris Harris
But, you know, once the weather broke, I most certainly would. And I would, I would rather live on the streets and sleep under bridges and eat out of dumpsters than to live in a home to where I was at risk for some type of abuse or feeling like I wasn't wanted. I know my demons by name. I know them all.

00:00:56:12 - 00:01:16:21
Chris Harris
But they work for me. I don't work for them. I'm the CEO. If you're out there doing something that's really cool, but you're doing it for the wrong reasons, don't stop doing what's cool, just change your motives. The real key to going out and crushing it in life is to whatever you're gonna do, I don't care if it's sales or leadership or, you know, start your own company, I don't care, but you're gonna have to put whatever it takes to achieve relative superiority.

00:01:17:02 - 00:01:30:24
Chris Harris
The moment another company finds out they're competing against you, they're almost ready to just, like, withdraw their, their, their quote.

00:01:31:00 - 00:01:52:07
Brandon Adams
You come across early as telling a story of damaged goods. But man, you're, you are the definition of perseverance.

00:01:52:09 - 00:02:12:17
Brandon Adams
Hey, everybody, welcome back to The Blueprint. Today we have Chris Harris, The Warrior Maker, with us. He is an author and a keynote speaker. Uh, so sounds like I'm gonna get made into a warrior today. I don't know, st- stay tuned and see what happens. Maybe I'll get some face paint, who knows? Uh, also, if you guys could do me a favor and, uh, hit that subscribe button on the bottom, it's gonna help us get more of these stories out and, and to get some of these people out in front of you.

00:02:12:17 - 00:02:18:21
Brandon Adams
And so, uh, really appreciate that. Let's keep going. Hey, Chris, thank you for coming on the show today. I really appreciate you being here.

00:02:19:01 - 00:02:22:22
Chris Harris
Thanks for inviting me, Brandon. I'm looking forward to a meaningful conversation.

00:02:22:23 - 00:02:41:03
Brandon Adams
Yeah, man. Um, so, you know, the really cool thing is, is that I don't really know you from anybody. Like, the, the cool Most of the times it's somebody referring somebody or doing these things like this, but we just kinda got put together, and, and you told me about your story, and it's a really interesting one, so, um, I wanted to kinda get this, get you on the show, man. It, uh, like, we clicked.

00:02:41:05 - 00:02:49:16
Brandon Adams
We talked for, I don't know, 15, 20 minutes when we were talking on the phone, man, and it seemed like, like we had known each other for a long time. So, uh, excited about this one, so.

00:02:49:16 - 00:02:53:01
Chris Harris
You're my tribe. I, I know my tribe from a mile away.

00:02:53:02 - 00:03:09:06
Brandon Adams
Awesome, man. Well, if you don't mind, I'd like to start at the very beginning. Um, as an author and keynote speaker and the things that you've done, I wanna rewind all the way to the beginning to where you were born, where you're from, what family life was like.

00:03:09:08 - 00:03:35:22
Chris Harris
Yeah, I was, uh, born and raised in Dayton, Ohio. Uh, and it was pretty rough upbringing, um, but a lot of really good things came from it. But my mother was a heroin addict and a, and a heroin, um, dealer. So I was 10 when she got thrown into prison. And, uh, still remember the day they came and busted her, and it was kind of a scheduled bust, so there was a lot of cars.

00:03:35:22 - 00:03:57:12
Chris Harris
But, um, I had 2 sisters that they're both deceased now, but one was 11, one was 12, and Child Protective Services took them in one vehicle, took me in another vehicle. They went to the girls home. I went to the boys home. And, um, we always lived in the same city, uh, Dayton, but we never lived under the same roof again.

00:03:57:14 - 00:04:24:12
Chris Harris
But that was really the first time that I learned about the power of perspective. So both of my sisters followed in my mother's footsteps with the, the drugs and the men and the crime and, and, uh But if you would've asked either one of my sisters while they were still living, um, and not in prison, but if you said, "How did your lives just turn out like this?"

00:04:24:18 - 00:04:45:19
Chris Harris
Which is horrible. Brandon, they would've squared you in the eyes, and with all the conviction they could muster, they'd say, "Well, it's easy. My mother was a drug addict." If that same person would look at me and ask me the exact same question, "Chris, your life turned out, looks like pretty good." "How did your life turn out so well?"

00:04:45:19 - 00:05:12:18
Chris Harris
I'd say, "That's easy. My mother was a drug addict." You know, we were raised in the same environment at the same point in time by the same woman in the same city, so our circumstances were exactly the same. And, you know, my mom didn't play any favorites. You know, she didn't treat them differently than me. Uh, you know, all 3 of us took turns, you know, shooting her up with heroin when she couldn't.

00:05:12:20 - 00:05:41:01
Chris Harris
And so we all, we all lived through the same shit, but they chose a perspective of debt, like someone owed them something. And, uh, and blame and excuse. I chose a perspective of, well, hell, this is just gonna make me stronger. And, um, now, look, the milliondollar question's this, Brandon, and I don't know the answer to this question, but all right, you were 10, they were 11 and 12.

00:05:41:02 - 00:06:00:22
Chris Harris
What made you choose a perspective of gratitude and they chose one of blame? You know, I don't know the answer to that. But I will tell you, though, but that was the difference between me having what I consider to be a, a life filled with fulfillment. You know, I've been married to my wife for 30 years.

00:06:00:22 - 00:06:22:02
Chris Harris
We got 2 great kids. Had a, a little bit of success in my career. So as far as I'm concerned, I've, I've had a really good life. You know, and if you take a look at their lives, I think the biggest contributing difference, uh, or factor between their lives and mine was the perspective they chose over those circumstances that we both endured.

00:06:22:03 - 00:06:46:02
Brandon Adams
You know, it's funny, um, I love to hear that, you know, not the whole part of that, but how you've kinda rose from the ashes, you know? It's a, it's a, it's a hard place to come from, where I'd say even forged, right? Um, you know, I started this website a long time ago called Dropping Stones, and it's no longer around or whatever, but it was like, I started calling it Dropping Stones. It was, we all carry this baggage.

00:06:46:02 - 00:07:01:02
Brandon Adams
We carry these stones around, you know, that of things that people have done to us. You know, we put them in our backpack and we wear them, and it's heavy. You know, we get mad about it and we're whatever, and it just becomes a heavy load for us. Well, the person that did that to you is, they don't care.

00:07:01:04 - 00:07:16:23
Brandon Adams
They did it because they had no care for you or whatever because of the things that they chose to do, and then you carry the baggage for the rest of your life. But until you learn to take that off and set those stones down, you know, and walk away from it, then it becomes light. And it's a hard thing to do, but just biblically even when everyone wanted to stone the woman and God or Jesus said, "Ye without blame, drop your, uh, cast the first stone."

00:07:16:23 - 00:07:36:13
Brandon Adams
'Cause they all wanted to throw it, right? But we're all bla- we're all full of blame, you know, when we go through this. Like, we all carry these things. So if, once you start looking at everybody of everybody is kinda broken, you know?

00:07:36:19 - 00:07:39:04
Brandon Adams
We just n- we need to figure that part out.

00:07:39:05 - 00:08:00:06
Chris Harris
I love that scripture, and I, I heard a pastor once talked about that scripture specifically, you know, whoever's without blame throw the first stone. But, um, y- you know, he- Jesus took a stick and he, he drew the sign of the fish, the ichthus, he drew it in the sand. Um, and what this pastor had said was what he was, what he really drew, and I don't know if this is true or not 00:08:00:06 - 00:08:20:01
Chris Harris
I just found it to be a fascinating story to where I'm repeating it to you 30 years later whatever. But he said what he really drew was to each man as they read that drawing in the sand or interpreted it, it was their sins. He drew their sins. And each of them one by one departed.

00:08:20:03 - 00:08:25:23
Brandon Adams
Yeah, I always think about that all the time of like, what was written in there? What did he say? Or, 'cause it's not really elaborated upon whatever it was, but- It was your biggest sin.

00:08:25:23 - 00:08:26:23
Chris Harris
It was, it was your biggest.

00:08:26:23 - 00:08:27:23
Brandon Adams
Sin and your biggest.

00:08:27:24 - 00:08:29:12
Chris Harris
And yours, yep Your biggest sin. And then one by one they're like, "I'm out."

00:08:29:16 - 00:08:56:11
Brandon Adams
Drop, drop, drop, drop, drop. You know, that's, that's an amazing thing that you talked about. I'm gonna back this up just a little bit further. You were 10 or younger, and you said, "We all took turns shooting mom up." You know, um, how do you get to that point? Because I know there's a strong feeling of love because this is my mother, right?

00:08:56:13 - 00:09:05:06
Brandon Adams
Was there a side of mom that was also caring and loving and everything else, or was it all just tragedy and destruction and

00:09:05:06 - 00:09:10:18
Chris Harris
There was a loving, caring side of her when she wanted or needed something.

00:09:10:24 - 00:09:11:15
Brandon Adams
Okay.

00:09:11:16 - 00:09:39:10
Chris Harris
okay. So it was very self-serving. But when she turned it on, I mean, she was, she was good. Uh, she was really good at it. And, um, so it was very, you know, manipulation driven. But, you know, the biggest reason it was because it was our mom and, you know, y- when, when she needed, you know, her hair, when she needed a shot or a fix or whatever they call it, I mean, she was in bad shape.

00:09:39:12 - 00:10:00:08
Chris Harris
You know, she, she needed it. And nobody wants to watch a, a loved one, you know, especially if, you know, right there on that nightstand I can, you know, get the stuff I need and put it in a spoon and light it up and, and w- we're good. We can fix this. And so I think most of it was because, you know, we loved her and, and she was always to the point of suffering if she couldn't do it herself.

00:10:00:08 - 00:10:10:07
Chris Harris
She was suffering. And then, um, but also because she just knew how to, you know, pour on the honey.

00:10:10:09 - 00:10:27:12
Brandon Adams
Yeah, so as a young kid learning to do this, was this all throughout the house? Was this, did she keep you guys, you know, insulated from all of these things happening? Or were people coming in your house all the time and transactions were happening and different people and- Yeah, the second.

00:10:27:13 - 00:11:01:10
Chris Harris
Yeah, so when she got, um, when she got sent to prison, sh- it was for dis- distributing heroin in large quantities across state lines. So we were neighboring to Indiana, and there was a large motorcycle gang, uh, in Indiana and I don't remember the name of them. I, I think they were the Outlaws or something like that. But I mean, I can remember the, you know, the, the colors they wore and the, the vests and all those things and the Uh, but they were frequent, you know frequently coming in and out and, you know, and buying and partying and things like that.

00:11:01:11 - 00:11:05:21
Chris Harris
So, um, yeah, it was just the environment.

00:11:05:23 - 00:11:18:00
Brandon Adams
And so when you started and you were 10 and you saw this bust happen, and people went different directions was there a sense of, what?

00:11:18:02 - 00:11:25:07
Brandon Adams
What goes through your mind at that point when you're 10? Were you thinking like you're thinking now? Or were you thinking like, "Wow, I'm lucky to get out of there," or?

00:11:25:13 - 00:11:39:07
Chris Harris
I was so relieved. Oh, okay. I hated seeing my mom, you know, put in handcuffs and put in the back of a cop car. I hated that. Um, but I was so relieved. You know, like finally someone is coming to save me.

00:11:39:13 - 00:11:49:18
Brandon Adams
And so when you went to this next place and you finally put your stuff down with that relief in the boys home, how was that transition? Did you get along there?

00:11:49:19 - 00:12:15:07
Chris Harris
Was it- I wasn't there long. Um, you know, the, uh, Child Protective Services, you know, uh, they, they've always got a list of families, you know, that are like, "I'll take someone. I'm looking for a boy or girl this age," whatever. So it didn't take long to get put into a, it, it, you know, to go live with a, a family. you know, most of these families are just short term, and, and some of them are just doing it because of the subsidy, you know, that they'll get.

00:12:15:08 - 00:12:35:01
Chris Harris
So some of them don't really care about having a kid, they just want the, you know, $800 a month or whatever it was back then. And, um, so I, I didn't really wanna live with any of those families. I, I felt like I was a burden. Um, and y- and then you always also have the risk of e- either emotional or physical abuse.

00:12:35:01 - 00:12:55:17
Chris Harris
I didn't want anything to do with that. So, but the winters are just so harsh in, in Ohio. In Dayton, Ohio, they're just harsh. And so I would always become homeless, um, but by choice whenever the weather was cooperating. Like, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna run away from a foster home or from the boys home, you know, in December.

00:12:55:19 - 00:13:19:03
Chris Harris
But, you know, once the weather broke, I most certainly would. And I would, I would rather live on the streets and sleep under bridges and eat out of dumpsters than to live in a home to where I was at risk for some type of abuse or feeling like I wasn't wanted. And so, um, by the time So you figure that was at 10. By the time I was in 8th grade, I'd already been to 13 public schools.

00:13:19:07 - 00:13:31:05
Chris Harris
So from the, from 10 to let's just call 13, um, years old, whatever, you know whatever 8th grade is, um, 13 public schools. So that's how many times I moved around.

00:13:31:11 - 00:13:45:02
Brandon Adams
And it's a, it's a hard thing to parse, the reality of for a 10-year-old kid it's safer on the street than it is in the homes that I've been placed in due to potential violence.

00:13:45:02 - 00:13:50:14
Chris Harris
I don't know that I was safer on the street. Um, I just know I preferred the street.

00:13:50:15 - 00:13:56:13
Brandon Adams
Was it Well, explain that just a little bit because- Have you ever been a guest in someone's home and just felt like you weren't, weren't really welcome?

00:13:56:15 - 00:14:25:00
Chris Harris
So, y- you know, it was hit or miss with these homes, these foster families. Some of them were, were just wonderful, wonderful human beings that really just truly wanted to help. And some of them just wanted the money. And a lot of times some of them just wanted someone to watch the kids, mow the grass, do the dishes. You know, they just wanted l- labor.

00:14:25:01 - 00:14:36:03
Chris Harris
You know, you're talking about getting a 10, 11, 12, 13-year-old kid you know, and their only choice is the streets. And that, that's a lot of good labor. And I had a great work ethic.

00:14:36:05 - 00:14:56:06
Brandon Adams
That's pretty amazing. Honestly, to think about, like, going through those steps and, and where you were at, and then to come out of this. Did you have somebody that you crossed paths with at some point to go, you know, "That guy taught me something," or, "That, that lady taught me something that kinda helped mold me"? Because if you're going through so many situations, why not stick somewhere with someone who's done something?

00:14:56:06 - 00:14:59:19
Brandon Adams
Why continue to venture out on your own?

00:14:59:21 - 00:15:21:22
Chris Harris
Well, some of it, some of it was my own self-image. Um, you know, I had had people that had really knew my mom well that she partied with, that knew her before she was a drug addict, that knew her after she was a drug ad- during, all that. And, you know, when you, when you get hooked up into drugs like that, you'll steal from anybody.

00:15:21:24 - 00:15:31:08
Chris Harris
I mean, you'll, you'll steal from anyone. And so, you know, in that season that she became an addict, um, she just, she ripped everybody off.

00:15:31:10 - 00:15:52:12
Chris Harris
And so I got to this point to where I was the son of the drug dealer. And, you know, and her, her deeds made it into the local newspapers and to local news, you know, uh, like evening news, you know, for, for our city. And I just became known as, you know, th- the son of the drug dealer.

00:15:52:12 - 00:16:07:19
Chris Harris
And so it really, you know, hurt my, my self-image and, um, didn't have a lot of self-acceptance because- E- especially if I was ever around anyone that knew my mom. You know, and I, I just had to make the assumption at some point in time she probably stole their TV.

00:16:07:20 - 00:16:08:05
Brandon Adams
Yeah.

00:16:08:06 - 00:16:11:23
Chris Harris
And so, you know, I carried that as well.

00:16:12:00 - 00:16:20:14
Brandon Adams
Do you, do you think as you're going through this, like, some of that is what you put on yourself, or did you feel like others were actually putting that on you?

00:16:20:19 - 00:16:53:05
Chris Harris
It was, it was both. It was both. Yeah, that's a- I, I, I have to own my part. But, you know, I was a kid who was embarrassed. Uh, you know, the-- I was ashamed. You know, um, what- they say the difference between regret and shame uh, I, I think this is a quote by Brené Brown, and, uh, but, you know, she, she says that, you know, um, in, in her book that regret is when you, you kinda realize that you were part of the problem. She said, but shame is when you believe you are the problem.

00:16:53:06 - 00:17:10:08
Chris Harris
And, you know, en- enough of the people that knew my mom started looking at me the way they looked at me, and I started feeling like maybe I was the problem. Now I grew out of all that. You know, it's the mind of a kid, but I grew up.

00:17:10:12 - 00:17:18:14
Brandon Adams
What age did you start to transition outside of that self-bullying, uh, stage?

00:17:18:16 - 00:17:49:18
Chris Harris
Probably my early 20s. Um, I mean, I put on a good game face. You know? But probably, probably in my, my early 20s. So I was, you know, my, my whole career was martial arts, close quarters combat, and I, I, I was doing a podcast interview a couple months ago and, and, and the woman that was interviewing me, she, she's like Olympic level athlete and was an NCAA division one coach.

00:17:49:19 - 00:18:11:20
Chris Harris
She's trained Olympics, you know, in Colorado, uh, Olympic athletes. So she, she really knows what it takes to get to, like, an exceptional level of athleticism in a certain sport. Like, she's dialed in. That's what her whole podcast is really about, but toward her sport. And she said, "I, I gotta ask, I mean, someone who's, you know, kinda went through what you went through as a child," she goes, "how did you, you know, in spite of all that, kinda get to where you're, you know, training special forces?"

00:18:11:20 - 00:18:28:22
Chris Harris
That's gotta be a pretty high barrier to entry for anyone in martial arts you know, to train, you know, these Green Berets, and Rangers, and Delta, and SEALs. She goes, "How did you get to that, to the level of being that good despite your circumstances?"

00:18:28:23 - 00:18:57:14
Chris Harris
And I said, because of my circumstances, I became very insecure." And, you know, Carl Jung, famous psychologist, you know, he, he, he calls them our shadows, right, our shadow work, you know? Uh, Christians would probably call them your demons. You know? I call them my inner rivals. You know, everybody's got a different name for it, but it's, it's the shit we deal with inside, right?

00:18:57:15 - 00:19:19:14
Chris Harris
It's, it's that inner war. And, and I told her, I said, "Look, I've, I've learned a long time ago, like, I know, I know my demons by name." "I know them all. But they work for me." "I don't work for them." "I'm the CEO." And I said, "And I just got to a point in life to where I was, I was done yielding to them or being controlled by them."

00:19:19:17 - 00:19:42:04
Chris Harris
And, you know, they live in your subconscious mind. And Carl Jung said, until you can make your subconscious mind or the unconscious, until you can make that conscious, in other words, until you become really highly aware of what's going on down in that operating system, he said your subconscious mind, it will control your life, and you'll just keep blaming it on fate.

00:19:42:05 - 00:20:02:21
Chris Harris
And that, I just remember b- reading and hearing that for the first time and being moved by it, and I'm like, all right, so these, these demons, or rivals, or shadows, as he called them, he called it doing shadow work, like confronting that shit, and, uh, and I, and I, I went deep, and I confronted it, and I, and I'm like, all right, I know my demons, and one of them's insecurity.

00:20:02:24 - 00:20:25:20
Chris Harris
But my deal is when I say put it to work, I mean throw a saddle on it and put the reins in one hand, put the whip in the other, and you ride that thing like Seabiscuit. So when she was asking me, how did you go from, you know, here to, you know, training tier one spec ops?

00:20:25:22 - 00:20:53:06
Chris Harris
I said, "Well, I, I put my insecurity to work." Because I learned as a boy when I started training in martial arts, I learned that when men fear you, when they think you're dangerous, and when you are dangerous, they'll respect you. Well, that's what I wanted more than anything. I wanted the respect of other men. At the, at the time, of other children, boys, teenagers.

00:20:53:08 - 00:21:26:24
Chris Harris
Um, I wanted them to respect me. I wanted You know, I, I gr- I was raised in a, born in adversity, I should say, and, but then I was raised in rejection. And so all I really wanted was, like, affirmation and approval and acceptance, and, you know, I just wanted those 3 As. And, but when I I had a gift for martial arts, and the better I got, the more these kids quit bullying me or quit chasing me or quit throwing me to the ground and stomping me, and all of a sudden started liking me 00:21:26:24 - 00:21:50:06
Chris Harris
and respecting me. But they didn't respect me, they respected the fact that I could- The authority kick their ass. And when I learned that, you fuel that knowledge and then that gift with the fact that I, what I was really looking for was acceptance, right and approval. Man, that motivated me to become so good. Um, and I just trained hours and hours and hours. Uh, when everybody else was turning off the lights, man, I'm like, "Yeah 00:21:50:06 - 00:22:09:13
Chris Harris
I'm good for another 2 hours." I trained hurt, I trained injured, I trained sick. But not because I wanted to be the best in the world, and I ne- by the way, I never became the best in the world, but it w- wasn't that I was driven to be the best in the world. I was driven by the praise of man and I knew that I could get it.

00:22:09:15 - 00:22:36:18
Chris Harris
The more of a badass I became, the more I'd be respected when I walked in the room. And so that insecurity, I put it to work, and it drove me to get to the point to where now for 25 years, I'm, you know, training these, these elite. And now the real turning point, though, was in my 20s, early 20s, I guess, and I realized that my motives were jacked.

00:22:36:20 - 00:22:52:06
Chris Harris
So I would tell you, if you're out there doing something that's really cool, but you're doing it for the wrong reasons, don't stop doing what's cool. Just change your motives. Don't stop. Well, what, what'd you quit doing that for? Well, I just realized I wasn't doing it for the right re- change your reasons.

00:22:52:07 - 00:22:52:12
Brandon Adams
Yeah.

00:22:52:13 - 00:22:53:14
Chris Harris
That's within your control.

00:22:53:15 - 00:22:53:19
Brandon Adams
Yeah.

00:22:53:19 - 00:23:08:21
Chris Harris
And so I changed my motive, and I said, "You know what? I've known since I was a kid what I was put on earth, this earth for, and that was to protect the innocent and safeguard the helpless." That's what I b- that's what I was put on this earth for. So I'm just gonna switch my motive, and instead of wanting the praise of men, uh, I'm just gonna use my gift to protect the innocent and safeguard the helpless.

00:23:08:21 - 00:23:15:00
Chris Harris
And instead of wanting the praise of men, I'm just going to use my gift to protect the innocent. Safeguard to help us.

00:23:15:03 - 00:23:39:20
Brandon Adams
That's awesome. Now, and I, and I f- I can see the, the transition and the middle mindset of growth that comes with each one of those stages, but you have to have a spark to get into something, right? And it sounds like, I'm, I'm gonna draw some conclusions here, and I'm gonna let you elaborate. Sounds to me like you had a harsh upbringing, some things that forced you to grow up pretty early.

00:23:39:22 - 00:24:03:22
Brandon Adams
You, from 10 to 13, spent more time on the streets and had to dodge and risk violence all over. Potential violence. by the time you got into high school, you talked about being stomped and everything else, you know? So sounds to me like violence has kind of followed you around, and you found ways to kinda shield yourself from this or beef yourself up for protection.

00:24:04:00 - 00:24:29:00
Brandon Adams
And then in lieu of that, found out you had this superpower and turned it into, how can I use this? So out of the toolbox that was life, that caused you to be forged a certain way, you took that tool that could've been used for danger or violence or criminal acts or these other things, and probably been pretty good at that for a while, and instead you took it and went and did something else completely with it.

00:24:29:00 - 00:24:32:04
Brandon Adams
Same tool. Am I correct on that?

00:24:32:06 - 00:24:59:16
Chris Harris
I, I became a man who found the balance between being capable of great violence, but never being a violent man. And, um, but there, you know, there were 3 sparks that I can think of that are very memorable to my childhood. The first spark was when I was still living with my mom. Um, 10, this was just before she got busted and incarcerated, but, uh, we were living in government housing, the projects, okay? They look like apartments, but government subsidized.

00:24:59:16 - 00:25:25:23
Chris Harris
And, um, I, I, I just, for some reason I remember that our rent was $35 a month. Right? And, a- and, uh, so, but just before she got busted, and I don't know if it was 6 months before or 9 months before, I don't know, but, um, there was a, a, within walking distance of our, you know, community, there was a church. And a pastor, and I don't know if he was the associate pastor or youth pastor, I don't know what he was, but he was a martial arts black belt.

00:25:25:23 - 00:25:48:09
Chris Harris
And he knew that, you know, he knew that all the boys that lived in the projects, um, he knew that we didn't have any father figures or role models. So what he did was he worked a deal out with the, uh, the complex to where he could come and use the rec center on Saturdays and teach martial arts to all these boys.

00:25:48:11 - 00:25:54:08
Chris Harris
And that was my first martial arts lesson. And I'm, you know, I didn't even own a pair of socks.

00:25:54:09 - 00:25:54:16
Brandon Adams
How old.

00:25:54:16 - 00:26:12:00
Chris Harris
How old were you? I was 10. It was, it was, it was just months before my mom got arrested. But, um, that was my first martial arts lesson. And I'm in the room with all these kids that used to chase me- You know, I, I was, I was the only Caucasian kid in the p- well, there was me and one other Caucasian kid in these projects.

00:26:12:05 - 00:26:38:01
Chris Harris
We were the minority. And, uh, you know, they're just kids, you know, they were just doing whatever they learned at their dinner table, and so I don't fault them for it, but every time, man, I had to go, you know, walk outside that door, and I walked to school, but any time I had to go from that front door to school, man, it was I mean, you're looking left- Game on looking right, and you're running. And, um, but now all of a sudden these same kids, you know, I'm in the room with them, you know, with this instructor, and, uh, I, I had a gift.

00:26:38:01 - 00:26:57:00
Chris Harris
I had a real gift. And, um, and they'd go home and they'd practice it maybe for whatever. I'd go home and practice it every day all week, come back next Saturday, and that was when I learned, wow, they're starting to Th- they're no longer chasing me. They're starting to wanna hang out with me.

00:26:57:01 - 00:27:19:08
Chris Harris
And that was where I learned it. So that was one spark, was that, you know, that man, whatever his name was, God bless his soul coming over and doing that deed. You know, if, if, if I knew his name, I'd, you know, send him a bottle of bourbon and a ham every year at Christmas. Um, nothing but gratitude. The second spark, I was about 12, roughly, and I was homeless by choice, and I was all excited because I was digging in a dumpster and I found a bag of donuts.

00:27:19:10 - 00:27:37:01
Chris Harris
And, you know, opened the bag and they, they weren't damaged, they weren't stale, they weren't molded. You know there was no maggots in there. It was, it was a, it was a win. Now, you know, you get a bag of donuts at 12 years old and you got no parental supervision-

00:27:37:03 - 00:28:04:11
Chris Harris
you're eating the whole damn bag. Right? I was excited. And, um, man, I started eating those donuts, Brandon, and I was just like, "What the hell am I smiling about?" I mean, I had this real, like, moment and, man, I was like, I was disgusted with myself that I thought that this was something to celebrate. And I threw that bag back in the dumpster and I kind of shook my fist at the universe, you know?

00:28:04:12 - 00:28:28:16
Chris Harris
Uh, we call it, like, one of those soul-binding ties, I will never, you will never, right? And, uh- Hmm I just remember shaking my fist at the universe saying, "This is not acceptable. I'm better than this. I am breaking the chains of poverty. I am not gonna live like this, and I'll do whatever it takes." And so that was a moment. The third real big spark, and it was probably, I don't know, maybe around 12 or 13, so around the same season of my life, and I was living with a family, and, um, and they were a decent family, but through them, I met this guy who I just

00:28:28:17 - 00:28:55:19
Chris Harris
He w- man, he was fit, he was, he was well-groomed, he was well-dressed. He just handled himself, you know, that executive presence, that energy.

00:28:55:21 - 00:29:21:11
Chris Harris
Um, what do they call it? Gravitas the X factor. He just had it. And I didn't meet a lot of people like that. And I was just so impressed, like, who is this guy, you know? Does he, like, run a Fortune 500 company or something? But, you know, he had on this big-ass ring, and I, I just couldn't quit looking at the ring, looking at him, looking at the ring.

00:29:21:11 - 00:29:44:21
Chris Harris
And k- I asked him, found out that he, you know, he was in, like, the martial arts hall of fame, um, or whatever he It was, it was black belt hall of fame, karate hall of fame, I don't know. But it was a, it was He was in a hall of fame for his martial arts, um, achievements. And so somehow I tied that ring with this persona that I wanted to mimic.

00:29:45:01 - 00:30:09:01
Chris Harris
Like, I, I want that. Right? Whatever that was, that self-discipline, that self-confidence, that I could kick your ass and I don't care what you think. You know, he, he just had the all of it. And I didn't have anyone to emulate after. And so I made a decision, I'm getting one of those damn rings. And so that started the journey of now I'm not just gonna do martial arts.

00:30:09:02 - 00:30:24:14
Chris Harris
I mean, I'm, I'm taking it to the I'm gonna get on a stage and win. I don't even know who has that ring. Back then you didn't have the internet, right? You had Encyclopedia Britannicas, or you go to the library and you had microfiche. Right, yeah. So, but that was a spark just that, that guy, that ring, me making that connection.

00:30:24:16 - 00:30:26:22
Chris Harris
But I've, I've had several sparks throughout the years.

00:30:26:23 - 00:30:51:23
Brandon Adams
Yeah, it's really cool to see, like, you gleaning, like, opportunity or seeing someone else's, uh, life and how they got there, and you just put the pieces together of, like, "Hey, m- martial, if I go kick somebody's butt, you know, I can go out there and, and do what I wanna do," or, "If I just get tough enough," or, "If I m- mentally beat myself into the right position or the right mindset, if I just don't take no for an answer, then I can have whatever I want out of this.

00:30:51:23 - 00:31:07:17
Brandon Adams
I can turn this vessel into something that is, is my weapon, you know? But it's not just a weapon to, to defeat things, it's a weapon to achieve things."

00:31:07:19 - 00:31:16:10
Chris Harris
Yeah, and I didn't even have to kick their ass. Um, I just had to get to the place to where they knew I could kick their ass.

00:31:16:12 - 00:31:26:13
Brandon Adams
Yeah, that's pretty crazy. So let's, let's, let's go into high school. You've gone through a couple places, right? You've met this guy. You saw what he did. How old were you at that point?

00:31:26:15 - 00:31:30:02
Chris Harris
Oh, when I met him, I was probably 12 or 13.

00:31:30:05 - 00:31:40:03
Brandon Adams
And so you went into high school. Are you s- are you still locally anywhere close to this guy that, that taught you the first couple of lessons, or you've moved on from that?

00:31:40:04 - 00:31:47:04
Chris Harris
No, I'm in a different part. Uh, uh, I ended up moving in with a family that lived out in the country. And I actually lived with them all through high school.

00:31:47:05 - 00:31:47:17
Brandon Adams
Okay.

00:31:47:18 - 00:32:11:01
Chris Harris
So, uh, v- very grateful for that and, uh, just to be able to stay in the same high school for 4 years. Um, and when I graduated, and it was a good high school, and I, I loved being out in the country with, uh, uh, l- I'm still friends with a lot of the kids I graduated with, and small school. I think there was w- you know, 85 kids in my graduating class.

00:32:11:03 - 00:32:14:02
Chris Harris
And, um, my senior year, you know, I turned 18 years old in January, still had a few more months before I graduated high school, and my birthday gift to myself in January was I enlisted into the United States military, raised my right hand, gave the oath.

00:32:14:04 - 00:32:38:18
Chris Harris
And so now I'm finishing out my last year of high school knowing that, I mean, I've got my ship date, you know? I know when I'm going to boot camp.

00:32:38:20 - 00:32:56:08
Chris Harris
So graduated high school and went into the a- uh, Air Force. Um, went into the Air Force because of a guidance counselor. I mean, I had some p- people that I really admired that were, their dads were in the Air Force. And so there was that, and, and Dayton was kind of an Air Force town, 'cause we had Wright-Patterson Air Force Base there. Still do.

00:32:56:09 - 00:33:12:08
Chris Harris
But the main reason, though, was I had a guidance counselor, and she met with me, and, uh, s- she said, "You know, well, what do you wanna do after you get out? You know, uh, are you going to college? You going to junior college? You going to trade school? You know, what are you doing?" I said, "I'm gonna go in the military."

00:33:12:08 - 00:33:37:18
Chris Harris
I said, "I need you to help me figure out what to do," and she goes, "Well, what do you wanna do?" I said, "Whatever breaks the chains of poverty." She said, "Well, what do you mean?" I said, "I just wanna know, uh Look, I'm not gonna go to college. Uh, it's not for me." And I said, "Just" And, and my, my reasoning for saying that at that time is I had so many missed gaps from just my childhood. Like, I, I'd missed, you know, weeks of school, a month of school, so I was so far behind.

00:33:37:19 - 00:33:53:20
Chris Harris
You know, I, I'm, I'm now in high school, and they're doing algebra and all this, you know, creative writing and English, and my head's spinning, 'cause like there was just so many gaps. And so I was just very intimidated by the thought of going to college, and I just, I just, I said, "Look," whatever her name was. Her name's Carol.

00:33:53:21 - 00:34:10:00
Chris Harris
I remember her first name, but I don't remember her last name. But, um, but anyway, she's just a wonderful human being, and I said, "I want- I'm going to join the military, and I know I wanna choose the branch based on what is gonna make me the most money when I get out." And she said, "Well, that's interesting.

00:34:10:01 - 00:34:26:08
Chris Harris
Let me, let me look into it." And I mean, she's looking into, you know, microfiche in the library. She's doing the work. And I met with her again. She told me, "I've got it figured out," and she says, "You need to join the Air Force, and you need to be an aircraft mechanic, but don't do the sexy jets.

00:34:26:10 - 00:34:47:24
Chris Harris
You gotta do the big aircraft, the real heavy jet. The bigger, the be- the better." She goes, "And then while you're in, fixing those jets and learning how to, to be an auto mecha- or not auto mechanic, aviation mechanic on the big aircraft." I said, "Well, why the big aircraft?" She goes, "'Cause when you get out, you're gonna go work for the commercial airlines as an airframe and powerplant mechanic."

00:34:47:24 - 00:35:06:03
Chris Harris
"What's an airframe and powerplant mecha-" "Well, apparently it's a license you can get. 2 licenses, one for airframe, one for powerplant." So she's walking me through, like, what I need to do, and then while you're, you know, fixing these airplanes in the Air Force, you need to be working, going to night school and taking classes to get your airframe and powerplant licenses.

00:35:06:04 - 00:35:26:02
Chris Harris
Because if you get out, and you've got at least 3 years exper- she, she had all the details. 3 years experience on a heavy jet, right? And if you think, you know, it's a 4year enlistment, but by the time you actually start working at your first base, you know, and you're through all the trainings, it's about a year. She's like, "That'll give you about 3 years actually working on the planes.

00:35:26:02 - 00:35:42:02
Chris Harris
You go to night school. You get these licenses." She goes, "You can go work for the airlines." And she said, "And a airframe and powerplant licensed mechanic for a commercial aircraft carrier in the United States," and she told me how much they could make, and I was like, I mean, I thought I was gonna be a millionaire.

00:35:42:03 - 00:35:47:02
Chris Harris
I, I couldn't believe she did all that research, and I did exactly what she told me.

00:35:47:03 - 00:35:47:14
Brandon Adams
Yeah.

00:35:47:14 - 00:36:07:03
Chris Harris
And, and I, I, I got out. I had my airframe and powerplant license, and I ended up working for the airlines and before I switched to full c- you know, close quarters combat um, you know, traveling the world as a contractor- right up before I did that, I was actually an A&P mechanic for, um, American Airlines.

00:36:07:04 - 00:36:20:14
Brandon Adams
Did you get in, while you were doing that and learning all that, straight through the Air Force, were you enrolled in any, um, martial arts classes? Were you doing anything to keep that thing going? Or you sh- Oh, yeah.

00:36:20:15 - 00:36:46:22
Chris Harris
I never stopped training. Uh, I was, I was teaching on base, and I was, uh, learning off, I was learning on base. Uh, we had some great, phenomenal martial arts, um, experts that were on the base that would teach, you know, in, in, in the gym or whatever. I was going off base and paying out of my own pocket to take classes at some of the local schools.

00:36:46:24 - 00:37:19:00
Chris Harris
Um, I, I never stopped that. And, and in fact, even living with the foster families, I never stopped training. Once I got that bug, you know, at 10 years old, it was actually a really, a tremendous, a real tremendous advantage I had because, you know, I always l- kind of lived in, in, in an area to where there was always a marsh- even when I lived out in the country, you know, through high school, like, literally directly across, across the street from my high school, which was the elementary, middle school, and high school all, you know, one big-ass property, right?

00:37:19:01 - 00:37:51:04
Chris Harris
But directly across the street was a guy that had a, a farmhouse who, um And he, he turned, like, the garage or the shed, it was a freestanding building, but he turned it into, uh, a martial arts studio a dojo. And he was an Okinawan Shorin-Ryu grand master. And, um, and so I would, when I lived in those different homes, I would just go to whatever school I could either ride a bike to or walk to, and I'd tell them my story, "Hey, I don't know how long I'm gonna live here.

00:37:51:04 - 00:38:14:01
Chris Harris
I'm just living with this foster family up the street. But is there any way I could work off, you know, training here with you? Can I work off a monthly membership, and I'll, I'll clean the mirrors, scrub the hardwoods, paint, pick up dog crap from your backyard? You know, whatever you want, just let me train here." And, and every, every of those, uh, one of those homes I lived with, I would always find someone that I could walk or ride a bike to that would say yes.

00:38:14:03 - 00:38:37:18
Chris Harris
And then of course, you know, in high school, right across the street from us was, you know, Sensei Frank Grant who, like, worked at a factory during the day, and then would come home, and his passion was in the evenings and on Saturdays teaching out of his little freestanding building. And so, s- now fast-forward, now I'm in the military, and I've trained in 6 different styles.

00:38:37:20 - 00:39:01:21
Chris Harris
Tremendous advantage. I mean, I've trained with, you know, the Japanese culture, the Chinese culture, the kung fu, the Muay Thai. Um, you know, the aikido. I mean, I, I had 6 different systems at a young age with that kind of passion. And so when I ended up, you know, really developing as a martial artist, um, I was really teaching a hybrid system that was a combination of these 6 Mm-hmm

00:39:01:22 - 00:39:10:17
Chris Harris
based on my I didn't learn them from books. I learned them when that's the only system I have access to. Now that's the only system I have access to. And I was hungry.

00:39:10:19 - 00:39:24:20
Brandon Adams
That's crazy that you, that you built your own piece and took it to the military and then afterwards after that, right? And so you went in, you, you graduated, you, you now started working on airplanes. On the outside, are you now creating your own

00:39:24:22 - 00:39:28:08
Chris Harris
So I, I created my own system called Roku Jutsu.

00:39:28:09 - 00:39:29:24
Brandon Adams
Okay.

00:39:30:01 - 00:39:52:01
Chris Harris
And, um, so this is kind of where I move into the private contracting. 'Cause some people that are in martial arts are like, "How in the world did you get to where you, like, working with military Special Forces?" Right, right, right. 'Cause anyone who teaches, anyone that I know who's, like, an expert in martial arts, like, that's one of their dreams, to train the military and/or Special Forces.

00:39:52:02 - 00:40:08:04
Chris Harris
And, but it's such a high barrier to entry to get past. Because they, you know, they, like, "We got our own people." "We're gonna use someone who's already, you know, you know, serving." "Why would we go outside? What do you think you could teach us that we don't already know? We're the United States military." Mm-hmm, yeah. "We're the Department of Defense, you know, for crying out loud."

00:40:08:05 - 00:40:31:03
Chris Harris
So it's a very hard barrier to get past because you gotta get past the silos and the egos and all that. But how I got into it was, so I was working for American Airlines in Tulsa. I got transferred to Alliance Fort Worth Airport uh, right when they opened it. That's what got me to, to Dallas Fort Worth.

00:40:31:09 - 00:40:52:24
Chris Harris
And so I'm, I'm turning wrenches by day but by night I was, several nights a week, not every night, but it was like 3 nights a week plus Saturdays I was driving after work over to Dallas, downtown Dallas, in fact and it was the National Bodyguard Academy. And the National Bo- and I was teaching close quarters combat for them. They were paying me to teach that portion.

00:40:53:00 - 00:41:11:03
Chris Harris
Now, they, they taught a lot of different things in that, you know, 6week course. You know, they taught, you know, uh, y- you know, shotguns and, and, and pistols and evasive driving and hostage rescue. I mean, they just taught a lot of different things. And I j- but I just taught the, in that 6week course, I was the close quarters combat guy.

00:41:11:05 - 00:41:30:23
Chris Harris
Well, this is back when, like, the, you know, the Blackwaters were starting to emerge. And i-t, the Blackwaters I, uh, like Blackwater I think maybe came out, like, s- '96. But there were other companies just like that that were doing the same thing. And what they were doing, so, so the military, I say the military, the CIA actually is who it was, but they really wanted operatives who are getting out of the military but were Special Forces.

00:41:30:23 - 00:41:57:16
Chris Harris
They wanted to grab up those Special Forces guys. Right? So you just got out of the military by your choice and, but you were a Green Beret or a Ranger or a Seal, whatever you were, and now you're coming into the public sector well, we're just gonna grab those guys because we got contracts and you're already trained.

00:41:57:18 - 00:42:25:16
Chris Harris
So what would happen, though, is th- they kinda needed, these guys kinda needed some polish. You know, like, how's it done in corporate America? And so some of these, uh, private contracting firms were sending these guys that they got that just came out of the military f- you know, former tier one or tier 2 Special Forces, and they were sending them through courses like the one that I was, you know, they sending them through, like, executive protection programs and things like that.

00:42:25:18 - 00:42:48:19
Chris Harris
And so now I've got guys that are straight out of the military, used to be Special Forces, and now they're working for, you know, these private security firms I'm doing air quotes, "private security firms." And they're sending them, you know, to kinda go through this polish, right? And what was happening is they were going back and, and saying, "Y- you need to get that close quarters combat guy."

00:42:48:24 - 00:43:06:20
Chris Harris
"The course was okay, the course was decent, I learned a lot." "Thank you. But get that guy." And what I was teaching was my own system that I had created, which was a combination of those 6 systems. And so that was what really led me into full-time private consultant working for, you know, whoever, so.

00:43:06:21 - 00:43:10:23
Brandon Adams
So the Green Berets or whoever these guys are going back to their, they're going to their new bosses or their- They're, they're not Green Berets anymore.

00:43:11:00 - 00:43:12:07
Chris Harris
They're not Green Berets anymore.

00:43:12:08 - 00:43:37:04
Brandon Adams
Yeah, they're ex. Are going to their new bosses, or they're telling the people they used to work for- Both that f- Okay. Both. So just word of mouth is what kinda got into it. You're like, "This guy's doing something that nobody else is really doing. It's come up." And the way that you've kinda cultivated your life and stepped through all these different, you know, worlds has kinda shaped what you've made, which nobody else really had that same type of forge, you know, so you made something special out of that, brought that in, and it ended up working really well.

00:43:37:04 - 00:43:42:19
Brandon Adams
You trained a lot of other people on it, and word of mouth spread is what got your name out there, is what you're saying.

00:43:42:21 - 00:44:04:03
Chris Harris
You know, and those guys would come into, you know, the 6week course, and they didn't wanna be there, didn't think they needed to be there. You know, like, "What the hell is this commercial course, you know, 3 nights a week- Mm-hmm, yeah on Saturday's gonna teach me? I," you know, "I've ran ops," you know? But then again, you know, I'm about to make 100 grand a year for the first time in my life. I'm gonna shut my mouth and go through the course.

00:44:04:04 - 00:44:19:12
Chris Harris
And so they'd come in and, you know, kind of a chip on their shoulder, like didn't really wanna be there. "W- why do I need to be here? You think I don't know how to handle a," you know, "handgun?" But they would get to the close quarters combat piece, and they'd be like, "Okay, w- this, this is worth it."

00:44:19:13 - 00:44:39:23
Brandon Adams
What is it like when you talk to somebody who is, I don't wanna say egocentric, but they are very proud of the position they've been in and where they've gotten to, and to have someone who doesn't have the skins on the wall like they do, how do you go about breaking somebody like that down to start to listen, to start to understand your position?

00:44:39:24 - 00:45:06:18
Chris Harris
Well, if it was my job to break them down, I'd kick their ass. And because that's, I, I was paid to do it. I mean, literally. Um, if, if it wasn't my job, if it wasn't tied to a contract that benefited me right, then I'd just let you have at it. Like, I don't care. You know, if you're stuck over in that loop tape thinking that you're the best and nobody can teach you anything and you're above any kind of lessons in life, then fine, I don't care.

00:45:06:19 - 00:45:24:23
Chris Harris
It makes no diff- I got nothing to prove to you. But normally what it would happen, 'cause a lot of my work was in the Middle East. Um, I would say the majority of my contracts were in the Middle East. And, you know, so you could be hired by, you know, a, a military, you could be hired by, like, you have to have

00:45:24:24 - 00:45:44:07
Chris Harris
So when you, when you go over to, to, to, like, teach a, like, a, a, a contract where you're gonna train the elite- for a military in one of our allied countries, and, you know, I'll just give you an example, you know, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, um, Saudi Arabia you know, Bahrain, um, you know, Jordan. These were countries that I had done work in.

00:45:44:08 - 00:46:05:21
Chris Harris
And so what would happen is they'd put out, like, a request for quote, and we, we call it an RFQ, but, you know, over there they call it a tender. So they'd put out a tender, "Hey, you know, the guy that's been teaching our elite special forces for the last couple years, his contract's coming to an end, and we gotta make sure we still have the very best." 'Cause that, you gotta refresh with the best.

00:46:05:22 - 00:46:29:08
Chris Harris
And they didn't, they didn't believe our, our, our websites, our testimonials. Well, not even really websites back then, but they didn't care about, um, they just didn't care about your, you know, your press releases your marketing, you know, your written letters of recommendation on, you know, letterhead. They didn't care about any of that- because they knew all that could be bullshitted. What they cared about is, "We're gonna put you on the mat and we're gonna see how good you really are."

00:46:29:09 - 00:46:53:24
Chris Harris
Because think about, you know, the, these elite warriors, I mean, there's an, just in such a small supply, even in the US to this day. I mean, there's just a small supply of people that can, 1, want to go through that kind of hell. 2, go through that kind of hell for such a low pay. Three, and put your life on the line, and 4, knowing that you got, like, a 3% chance of making it through the whole program.

00:46:54:00 - 00:47:21:23
Chris Harris
So there's just such a small group, and then once they make it the whole way through, then all this money is invested into them. So they're very particular about who they give access to their elite. And so the tender would usually be that I, you know, I could go and I could fight. could fight. Um, y- you gotta fight whoever our existing guy is, and we're gonna, we're gonna invite, like, 3 different people, um, that, you know? And you, you go and, and w- each of you are gonna fight, and whoever kicks his ass the best, if any of you kick his ass, then you're gonna get the contract.

00:47:21:23 - 00:47:43:15
Chris Harris
And so that's how I would get a contract. I would have to f- fly over there on my own dime, and then I would have to fight whoever this And he's, he's already in the seat. So I'm, you know A- a- and, and think about it, like, you know, like, I remember one story.

00:47:43:15 - 00:48:08:04
Chris Harris
The guy was from Turkey. And he, you know, but he lived there on that base. And so with his paycheck, he was, he's supporting his household back in Turkey, and it was his grandparents, his parents, and his spouse and their kids in that same house. So he was fighting for his life. I was fighting for dinner. But I'd have to fight him.

00:48:08:06 - 00:48:36:21
Chris Harris
Um, and, and if you didn't win, then, you know, y- that means you got your ass kicked, 'cause there's no, like, there's no tapping out. The only way you win, 'cause you're gonna fight in, in, in the room. There's gonna be, could be a general, it could be an ambassador, uh, could be a member of the royal family. You know, uh, definitely gonna be someone from the military, from the spec ops gu- you know, that, that's evaluating. But they're determined who's the next guy gonna be that's gonna train these elite warriors.

00:48:36:23 - 00:48:58:10
Chris Harris
Now, you had to do all this on your own dime. And the only way they would reimburse you for your expenses is if you won the contract. So if you sucked, you're probably gonna decline the tender. You're not even gonna respond. If you were injured, if you knew who you'd be fighting and you just knew you couldn't beat that cat, because you risked flying 8,000 miles home, busted up with a $5,000 American Express bill.

00:48:58:10 - 00:49:24:02
Chris Harris
So the way I won my contracts, I mean, it, it was And the only way that fight was over is if either y- y- you basically had to knock the person out, or you had to, uh, you had to take their air, right? And just, and knock them out or make them pass out.

00:49:24:03 - 00:49:44:07
Chris Harris
Right? Th- there's no way anybody's tapping 'cause if you tap, you'll never be invited to any of these things again. Right? Because now you don't even have the mindset. And, you know, you know, the, we're giving you access to the men that we're teaching, that you will either find a way or you will make a way. You either win or you win.

00:49:44:08 - 00:50:04:13
Chris Harris
So if you tap, you're, you're done in those circles. So the, the, so you either had to knock them out, you had to take their air, starve them of their oxygen, right? You know, uh, lateral neck, vascular neck restraint, things like that, rear naked chokes, whatever. Or the third option, which was my favorite- um, was if someone at that table- So they've had enough

00:50:04:17 - 00:50:05:03
Brandon Adams
So they've had.

00:50:05:03 - 00:50:24:23
Chris Harris
said, "Enough. We've seen enough," and they stopped it. And so it just had to be so overwhelmingly. Well, um, that's how I got the name The Warrior Maker. I was doing that in a Middle Eastern country, and a very high-ranking individual at the, at the, at the table, the judges' table, stood up and said, "Stop, I've seen enough."

00:50:24:23 - 00:50:36:09
Chris Harris
And he said, "Moving forward, any time you in, are in our country, you will be known as The Warrior Maker, because you are the maker of warriors." "And you will be making our warriors better." And that's where I got that name.

00:50:36:10 - 00:50:39:20
Brandon Adams
That's, that's pretty crazy. How many of those fights did you ever lose?

00:50:39:22 - 00:50:40:11
Chris Harris
None.

00:50:40:15 - 00:50:42:10
Brandon Adams
Zero. No.

00:50:42:12 - 00:51:06:05
Chris Harris
I, I was coming home from Saudi. I actually got the contract, and then, and so now I'm over in Saudi. This was a pretty long contract. Normally they weren't months, usually they were, you know, weeks. And, um, but this contract was several months, and it was, it was time to come home. And, um, so they, they wanted me They said, "All right, you just go home.

00:51:06:07 - 00:51:25:24
Chris Harris
Ha- have a week or 2 with your family." It was over Christmas break. And they said, "But then come back and w- we're gonna extend your contract." And but I was on that flight home, and so this wasn't the actual fight. I'd already won the fight, and I had the contract. But I was flying home for break. And I hadn't signed my renewal contract, but on that flight home, I knew, man, the next time I have to go toe-to-toe with one of those, you know, 28-year-olds at 7% body fat or whatever the hell they were 00:51:25:24 - 00:51:46:09
Chris Harris
you know, 'cause I'm getting older. They're not. Right? They're just keep bringing in the same age group, same you know, 5'11", 7, 8% body fat.

00:51:46:11 - 00:52:09:10
Chris Harris
You can see their abs through their shirt. You know, but I, what I was losing was my heal rate, and I was losing Uh, now think about it, I'm in my 40s now. All right? I'd been doing this a long time, and I just knew f- from that, from that, um, contract and just coming home, I just was like, "Man, I gotta find something else to do." Because I, I wasn't healing fast enough so I couldn't recover in time.

00:52:09:12 - 00:52:34:00
Chris Harris
Uh, I was losing my response, you know, my reaction times- Mm-hmm, mm-hmm which you're talking about a world that lives in, um, uh, fractions of a second. Okay? Not, not seconds, not minutes. Fractions of a second. And then I just knew, and it was a very depressing time for me because, uh, I just couldn't imagine doing anything else. And so, you know, I did what most men do. Uh, you know, probably had a couple too many beers and, you know, uh, tried to get positive reinforcement from the wrong guys.

00:52:34:02 - 00:52:51:13
Chris Harris
You know not giving good advice, not really caring about what was important, you know, like me not getting injured for life. And just, you know, whatever. Yeah, stay with it, stay with it. Telling you, these guys are gonna hurt me, man.

00:52:51:14 - 00:53:15:24
Chris Harris
I've- Yeah. I've just, I've lost the edge. And, um, I knew if I had to, you know, if I had to do that to win a contract again, I was probably gonna lose. And, and you could really get hurt. Losing. You know, there, there, there's no ref, there's no rounds, there's no rules. You could get hurt. You know? And I respect the hell out of these guys that, you know, get into the ring, and they fight, you know, for, for trophies and for, for money and for belts, and I think the world of those guys.

00:53:15:24 - 00:53:36:18
Chris Harris
you know, over there doing what I did, I mean, there was no ref to call it off. There was no tapping, and that means they let go. So, you know, there was no 2inch Durafoam mat that you're getting slammed on. I mean, it was Sometimes we did this shit in the, parking lot or on a runway.

00:53:36:20 - 00:53:52:11
Brandon Adams
You know, I, I'm sitting here thinking about all the diff- I, I'm, I'm, first time in my life I'm a, a touch speechless on some of these, some of these questions here. But, you know, I'm sitting here thinking about all the different directions all of these things could have gone for you to have made it to this point right now.

00:53:52:12 - 00:54:20:15
Brandon Adams
I mean, there is, like, a million and one different tracks you could have taken through any of this stuff. But here you are persevering all the way through this thing, to the fact that even into your 40s, you're still having to fight to stay on top, you know? And you're Everyone's coming at you all the time. From every angle, everyone's coming at you. Still winning, still winning, from a, from a background and a history that was loss.

00:54:20:17 - 00:54:41:09
Brandon Adams
What a way to flip the coin, you know? It's a, it's a really cool story to hear about and, and to hear somebody go like, "I did something." But not only just did something, you just completely did the opposite of everything else that you were doing, right? Um, but to see all that, and to, and to wonder, like, what does that mentality and how does that mentality not go into the ring?

00:54:41:10 - 00:54:50:18
Brandon Adams
How does that mentality not go into fighting for belts or fighting for money? Like, what kept you from doing that? Was it your other job?

00:54:50:20 - 00:55:18:03
Chris Harris
You know, there's, there's mindset. Mindset's important. Um, but I, I learned something from the Special Forces guys that goes beyond mindset. It transcends mindset, and most people have never even heard of this term. Uh, maybe you have, but most people haven't. So you think about, w- w- we'll start, like, the l- the lowest level would be attitude. Man, he's got a good attitude, you know?

00:55:18:04 - 00:55:39:24
Chris Harris
Imagine that I was getting ready to fight a UFC fight on Saturday night in an octagon, and it's gonna be televised, and there's a lot on the line, lot of hype. Well, attitude, if I was that fighter kind of prepping for that Saturday fight, attitude is, "Oh, I'm gonna kick his ass." That would be attitude.

00:55:40:00 - 00:56:00:10
Chris Harris
Mindset goes one step further, and mindset is when, "There's no way in hell he's beating me." "There's no way. There's nobody that's gonna beat me. I don't care if it's him, him," And that would be like a M- Muhammad Ali. Like, you put that fool in the ring. What are you wasting my time putting that fool in? Like, nobody can beat me.

00:56:00:12 - 00:56:18:02
Chris Harris
That, that'd be kind of mindset, and I'm just kind of giving an example of attitude- Mindset, and then this third thing that I learned from the Special Forces, which they call relative superiority. It's their superpower. And relative superiority, it's when I'm walking into that cage on Saturday night, getting ready to fight my opponent, I've achieved relative superiority, not from attitude, believing I can win, not from mindset, knowing there's no way in hell I could lose.

00:56:18:04 - 00:56:38:07
Chris Harris
Relative superiority is achieved when that opponent goes, "Shit, there's no way I can beat him."

00:56:38:09 - 00:57:04:03
Chris Harris
When the enemy knows that SEAL Team 6 is on the way, a lot of the times they start fleeing. he's just not gonna win. You're not gonna win. Their reputation precedes them. And so I, I had learned that their superpower was relative superiority, and they got that from just winning over and over and over and over.

00:57:04:04 - 00:57:27:14
Chris Harris
I mean, it was through history. It wasn't confidence. It was confidence that was earned through deliberate, intentional repetition over and over and over again. And so I learned that the real key to going out and crushing it in life, as to whatever you're gonna do, I don't care if it's sales or leadership or, you know, start your own company, I don't care, but you're gonna have to put whatever it takes to achieve relative superiority.

00:57:27:16 - 00:57:38:00
Chris Harris
The moment another company finds out they're competing against you, they're almost ready to just, like, withdraw their, their, their quote. Like, "I'm not winning."

00:57:38:01 - 00:58:05:17
Brandon Adams
That's funny that, that you, you think through the process of what you just said. I'm playing a role of someone who is trying to look tough or, uh, what I think other people think I should be doing to, to win. Then it steps into, I believe I'm going to win, and then it goes to, you believe I'm gonna win.

00:58:05:19 - 00:58:07:11
Chris Harris
You know you can't beat me.

00:58:07:12 - 00:58:07:21
Brandon Adams
Yeah.

00:58:07:22 - 00:58:08:17
Chris Harris
Like you know.

00:58:08:18 - 00:58:28:03
Brandon Adams
Like, you know. What a, what a transition right there from like, I've never seen I've never heard people break it down that way, but I understand where you're coming from, like the, the point of it's one thing to play a role and to say things and what you've heard other people say and how you step into it, and, and another thing to truly believe you're, you're gonna win yourself.

00:58:28:03 - 00:58:36:01
Brandon Adams
But then when you walk into that other side and someone's facing you and they look across and they're like, "What am I doing here?" Like, that- I, I remember I was at a, a school, uh, a, I was at a martial arts school that, um, had inside the school they put an octagon.

00:58:36:02 - 00:58:58:15
Chris Harris
They, they were, they wanted, as part of what they were training, they wanted to teach people who wanted to really train to be an MMA fighter. So they invested in putting a full size octagon, the cage, right, inside their school.

00:58:58:15 - 00:59:17:03
Chris Harris
It was badass. And I was a member of this school, and I remember, man, you know, that there it was, and you just felt like you were somewhere special, you know? It was very intimidating at, at first. And it was when UFC was just starting to really become a big thing. Right back with Hoice Gracie- Hoice Gracie, yeah

00:59:17:03 - 00:59:17:15
Brandon Adams
And all that.

00:59:17:21 - 00:59:39:01
Chris Harris
and all that. the owner of that school put a sign above the door of that octagon, and it sh- I mean, it stood with me. It will stand with me for the rest of my life. And it said, "Once you walk into this cage, you can no longer hide what you do not know." And it's like, y- it make- it gives you pause.

00:59:39:02 - 00:59:47:02
Chris Harris
Like, okay, nobody's reading your press releases in that cage, man. Nobody cares about your trophies.

00:59:47:04 - 01:00:11:11
Brandon Adams
It's like when those guys stand up on the, on the weigh-ins, and each one of them is kind of barking, you know, back and forth or whatever. Once you step in there, there's no, there's no barking, there's no showmanship, there's no trying to convince somebody I'm this or I'm that or whatever. It's just rubber meets the road and, and find out at that point, you know? What a, what a really cool level set for, uh, I don't know, I wish, I wish keyboard warriors of the world had to, had to face this type of, uh, self-evaluation.

01:00:11:13 - 01:00:34:14
Brandon Adams
You know what I mean? It's, it's, uh, it's really boiling it all down to, like, what's real in life is at the end of the day if all rules and everything fell, you're left with defense of yourself and your family. That's what you're left with.

01:00:34:14 - 01:00:54:05
Brandon Adams
And when you find out that everybody goes haywire and you still have to fall on those laurels, all these people that are shifting towards, "It needs to be this way, or it needs to be that way," or whatever, they'll fall in line really quickly to find out, "I need to find those guys. Those guys are the ones that are going to keep me breathing today.

01:00:54:05 - 01:00:56:10
Brandon Adams
They're gonna keep me on my feet," you know?

01:00:56:13 - 01:01:16:02
Chris Harris
I always get a kick out of the, occasionally, you know, you run across a buddy or an acquaintance, you know, and they wanna tell you about how many guns they have and how many rounds of ammo they have, and all the shit that they have in their house, and you're just And I'm just sitting there smiling going, "Can I get your address?"

01:01:16:04 - 01:01:31:06
Chris Harris
Because if shit hits the fan thank you for telling me where another stockpile is, because you're gonna have to defend everything you're bragging about right now. I hope you can use it, because if you're telling me, you're telling everybody. Please be quiet.

01:01:31:07 - 01:01:38:08
Brandon Adams
Yeah, you're telling the, you're telling the, sometimes the story of attack versus defense, you know?

01:01:38:09 - 01:01:46:16
Chris Harris
You think you're telling all your buddies how well-prepared you are. What you're really saying is, "Come and get it." Wow, that

01:01:46:18 - 01:01:59:03
Brandon Adams
You know, it's a funny perspective when you go into some things like that. You know, I, I didn't really know what to, what to think when I was coming into this, this podcast. I mean, you and I had a conversation. I thought you were a cool guy, but, you know, you come across early as telling a story of damaged goods.

01:01:59:05 - 01:02:23:23
Brandon Adams
But man, you're, you are the definition of perseverance. Like, you are somebody that- is really- Thank you an honor to meet, man. Like, that is, it is really cool to hear somebody tell a story of, "F it all," like, "I will not be stopped. I am the definition of a train on a track," you know? And it's really cool to hear that, and you don't come across as bravado.

01:02:23:23 - 01:02:36:12
Brandon Adams
You don't come across as, like, egotist- egotistic at all. I mean, it's, like, really cool to kinda hear this, this perspective, and that's very refreshing.

01:02:36:17 - 01:02:39:02
Chris Harris
Well, that's one of the best compliments you, you could give a guy.

01:02:39:02 - 01:02:40:16
Brandon Adams
Guy, man.

01:02:40:18 - 01:03:04:07
Chris Harris
You know? And, and, and look, I've dealt with my ego. Um, me and my ego have went to war for many years. You, you don't go through life being as insecure as I was. You know? Look, there was a time I was the baddest man in the room, but yet inside I was a scared little boy. And I had to find a way to where I was no longer the scared little boy, but at the same time I no longer needed to be the baddest man in the room.

01:03:04:09 - 01:03:25:17
Chris Harris
And that's been my search, my journey, and I think I finally found it. Actually, I have finally found it. And, you know, on, on one hand I don't give a shit what anybody thinks, and on the other hand I hope you find me compassionate.

01:03:25:18 - 01:03:46:14
Chris Harris
You know? So, you know, um, when, when you get to the place in your life where you're, you're capable of great violence, but you know it's best that you never be violent, and you have to learn to, to live in the middle, you have to say, "Well, then, then what am I really after? So I used to be after this, and now that's no longer important.

01:03:46:14 - 01:04:07:06
Chris Harris
I'm not even It's not that I'm not after it anymore. It's not even important to me anymore." So the things that I used to be fueled and motivated, empowered by, they're not even on my radar anymore. But at the same time, I can never forget them, because they're so crucial to the makeup and the DNA of who I've become.

01:04:07:08 - 01:04:17:06
Chris Harris
I will never forget you. Thank you. And I hope we never meet again.

01:04:17:08 - 01:04:27:22
Brandon Adams
Well, you've made the transition outside of that. You got into your 40s. You said, "I need to do this." People were trying to convince you to stay in. You said, "I've gotta find something else to do."

01:04:27:24 - 01:04:38:00
Chris Harris
The, the problem was, yeah, now I'm in my 40s, and I've, I've gotta figure something else to do after doing that for 25 years.

01:04:38:02 - 01:05:08:22
Chris Harris
The problem is I tasted the good stuff. You know, Maslow, uh, Abraham Maslow, back in the '40s I believe, you know, he, he wrote a paper that really changed the, the world of psychology, but what he did was he, he defined what, w- what he calls, you know, the hierarchy of needs, and, like, what motivates humans, what drives us to climb, to achieve, to get outta bed, to be number one.

01:05:08:24 - 01:05:33:13
Chris Harris
And he wrote this paper, Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, and it's still to this day accepted in some of the biggest psychological circles. But what made this study was so unique was it was one of the first times someone said, "I'm not studying the sick and the weak and the broken and the infirm. I'm going to study the super successful."

01:05:33:19 - 01:06:06:15
Chris Harris
That's what made it so unique. And so, but he determined this, that we all, you know, i- imagine a, a triangle, a pyramid, and so at the bottom, that's the, the big, big-ass base. That's what we all, that's where we're the most motivated, and that's things like food, water, air, shelter, right? That's survival. But once we have that met, then we go up into, um, security.

01:06:06:17 - 01:06:27:05
Chris Harris
I'd like to have a decent job that maybe offers Blue Cross Blue Shield and on the 1st and the 15th of each month I, I get a paycheck. And so th- once we get to survival, now we look for security so we don't have to go back to survival. Once we get that, he said, "Well, now we want relationships and belonging."

01:06:27:07 - 01:06:46:21
Chris Harris
You know? Maybe a, maybe a family, maybe some kids, maybe just a good old group of buddies that we can get together with on Friday night and have a beer. And then once we get that, then we want Now we're almost to the top, but not quite, we want recognition. You know? people, you know, you ask your boss for a, "Been here a long time, think you give me a promotion."

01:06:46:23 - 01:07:07:00
Chris Harris
"Well, I'll give you more responsibility, but I'm not changing your title, because titles don't really matter." Well, according to Maslow, they matter a lot. They're almost at the very top. Recognizing me for my hard-ass work apparently matters a lot. So don't tell me it doesn't matter. If it doesn't matter, give me your title.

01:07:07:02 - 01:07:27:14
Chris Harris
All right, now we're at the final step, and this is, like, 1% of people achieve. And I, I'm making that number up. I don't know what the percentage is. Um, but it was very rare that anyone made it to the top, and it's called self-actualization. And self-actualization is when, man, you just, you just got something figured out, at least in that area of your life.

01:07:27:16 - 01:07:51:08
Chris Harris
And I'll give you an example, like what self-actualization would mean, like, in your professional career, okay? Now, 'cause it, 'cause it means something different in your spiritual life, it means something different with relationships, it means something else with your physical, you know, health and fitness. But as far as your professional career, you have achieved self-actualization when 3 things overlap, okay?

01:07:51:10 - 01:08:13:23
Chris Harris
1, you're really good at what you do. Number 2, you love what you do. And number 3, you are compensated fairly for what you do. Now, that doesn't have to be money. I mean, if you're running a nonprofit and you get to see, you know, homeless, you know, get shelter and, and, and get jobs if that's your compen- compensation, it's fulfillment.

01:08:14:01 - 01:08:32:13
Chris Harris
But you need to be compensated fairly for what you do. You need to love what you do, and you need to be really good at what you do. And when you hit all 3 of those, then professionally speaking, you have achieved what Maslow said very few people ever achieve. So the problem is, I can't do what I did for 25 years, and I loved it, and I'm gonna miss it.

01:08:32:14 - 01:08:55:01
Chris Harris
Woe is me, and I'm over crying in my Coors Light. The problem was, I had achieved self-actualization. And when you've tasted that candy I wanted it again. I want it again, and I don't know where I'm gonna get it. I mean, who in the hell's gonna hire a, a guy who used to be really good at karate or whatever. However they're reading that resume, right?

01:08:55:01 - 01:09:18:19
Chris Harris
And I'm like, "I gotta get it again." But the problem is, I had a lot of autonomy, I had a lot of freedom and independence and I, and I made really good money. And so now I gotta find something to reinvent myself with to where I can achieve that again, to where I still have my independence, and freedom, and autonomy, and I can still ha- have a pathway to just unlimited earnings.

01:09:18:21 - 01:09:23:04
Chris Harris
And I'm like, "What the hell's that gonna be?"

01:09:23:06 - 01:09:42:15
Chris Harris
I don't know. So I, I made the decision I was gonna shift into sales. B2B, high tech, like, high ticket, you know, like, shit that cost a million dollars kinda stuff, right? And I was gonna shift into sales. Well, in the beginning it didn't cost a million, but the better I got, the bigger the tickets got.

01:09:42:16 - 01:10:08:13
Chris Harris
Eventually, I got to a place to where the stuff I was selling sold for millions of dollars per unit. And so, you know, um, I chose to switch to tech sales, B2B sales, and I realized that the only way that I was going to come to a place of self-actualization is if I was teaching again. Because that was really my fulfillment. My joy was teaching.

01:10:08:13 - 01:10:32:22
Chris Harris
I love to transfer that knowledge. I was all about throwing down the rope and helping those guys be as good as, if, hopefully better than me. And so when I throw down the rope, I'm not gonna pull that damn rope. 'Cause if I pull that rope, I am going to deprive you of one of the greatest gifts we've ever been given, which is the struggle. Because the struggle is what leads to all the good stuff.

01:10:32:24 - 01:10:49:18
Chris Harris
If you don't have the good stuff, somebody might have short-cutted you from the struggle. I don't know. It is why we gotta be real careful when we're raising our kids not to do too much, because if we do, we're depriving them of the good stuff, right? And so I'll hold that rope and I will encourage you as you go hand over hand, but I'm not pulling that rope.

01:10:49:20 - 01:11:04:12
Chris Harris
So I'm throwing down the rope, I'll tie it around my waist and I'll encourage you every step of the way, but I'm not doing the damn work for you. 'Cause if I do- if I do, I've cheated you. So I knew I had to get back to teaching 'cause that was my real joy.

01:11:04:14 - 01:11:24:23
Chris Harris
The only way anyone was gonna want to learn from me in sales i- is if I became number one in the world. It's the only way. Nobody wants to, "Hey, that guy was number 12 in the world, let's go to his seminar." And so I knew, so I decided I was gonna become number one in the world selling the technology that I was selling, because I wanted self-actualization again.

01:11:25:00 - 01:11:43:18
Chris Harris
He loves it, he makes good money, or is compensated fairly, right? And he's really good at it. So what I did was, I'm a, I'm a real visual, like I, when I set goals, man, I put my teeth in them, right? And so I got this right here, and I bought it on Amazon, and it probably was a, I don't know, less than 10 bucks, uh, maybe 5.

01:11:43:18 - 01:12:05:04
Chris Harris
And it's just a cheap ass, you know, whatever. It says, "Number one." It's a medal. And I hung it in, in my master bedroom, I hope. Hung, hung it over the upper right corner of the mirror on the big dresser, right? To where I, I, every morning I, first thing I saw when I got out of bed and, you know, last thing I saw before I went to bed and couldn't go in the bedroom without seeing that.

01:12:05:04 - 01:12:20:14
Chris Harris
But I made the decision I was gonna become number one in the world selling the technology that I sold, and it was a highly competitive landscape. But I did it, I made that goal because I wanted self-actualization again.

01:12:20:14 - 01:12:39:24
Chris Harris
That was what I was really after. But nobody was going to read my books or go to my seminars and let me teach, right? Unless I was the guy, and I could prove it. And so I'd look at that thing constantly. So I, I created that as a, just a visual, you know? I didn't see that cheap ass medal.

01:12:39:24 - 01:13:01:02
Chris Harris
What I saw was self-actualization again. Because that's what I was really depressed of that, that I was walking away. I, I had it and now I'm voluntarily leaving it, because if I don't leave it, somebody's gonna tear me to pieces. I'm gonna get hurt or worse. And so, you know, that was kinda my, um, you know, just my little thing on the dresser there.

01:13:01:02 - 01:13:16:11
Chris Harris
And so I would encourage you, if you've got some big ass impossible goal, get you a token. Something. Something that, I don't care if it's a little plaque, I don't care if it's a picture on the wall, I don't care if it's a coin you carry in your pocket. I don't care what it is, but get something to where it makes you

01:13:16:11 - 01:13:21:17
Chris Harris
So this is, have you ever heard of metacognition?

01:13:21:18 - 01:13:22:13
Brandon Adams
No, I have not.

01:13:22:14 - 01:14:06:12
Chris Harris
No, I have not. So in the world of mindset, it's probably one of the most important words there is. So in this book here, the Book of Mindset, there's a whole chapter on metacognition. It's probably the most important chapter in the book. Neuroscientists believe that the, the most valuable tool that we have as human beings to actually changing our stars, like re- you really wanna change your life, like break old shitty habits create new productive habits then the most valuable tool you have in your posss- possession is w- uh, something called metacognition. And it is the ability, at any point in time, to stop the automation that's running us 01:14:06:14 - 01:14:19:20
Chris Harris
and think about what you're thinking. That's what metacognition means. It means thinking about what you're thinking. Look, 95% of who you are as a person is automated.

01:14:19:22 - 01:14:47:06
Chris Harris
Only 5% is in the conscious mind, the analytical mind. The other 95%, it's all automated. You think about, like we're sitting here and you're, there's random thoughts going through your head, you know? "Oh, man, I wonder what I gotta have for dinner." You know, we got random thoughts that are running loose. You're holding your bladder, you're breathing, you're blinking, right? You're instinctively shifting your body when you get uncomfortable without having to have permission.

01:14:47:08 - 01:15:10:03
Chris Harris
That 95% is happening in the subconscious mind. All right? That's the operating system of that computer. It's not the screen or monitor, it's not the keyboard, it's not the mouse, it's not the speakers, it's not the camera, it's the hard drive. That's what runs us. So when people talk about what kind of guy you are, your virtues, your values, your character, your self-discipline, you know, y- how you react to stress, you know, do you have a temper, don't you have a temper?

01:15:10:04 - 01:15:28:01
Chris Harris
What they're really talking about is the automated you because that's 95% of you. Well, the only way you're ever gonna change you, really change you in a way that's lasting, not this bullshit where I join the gym on January 1st and I've already quit going by Valentine's Day.

01:15:28:03 - 01:15:44:03
Chris Harris
I mean real change. Well, you have to make that real change in the subconscious mind, and the only way you're gonna do is if you keep disrupting it. Well, how do you disrupt it? You have to think about what you're thinking. "Oh, shit, what am I thinking?" That's how you disrupt it. And then you implant, "Why am I thinking that?

01:15:44:04 - 01:16:07:22
Chris Harris
Hell no, I'm winning." "Back to work I go." So the reason I put that medal on the mirror, upper right-hand corner of the mirror, was because every time I saw it, it's a cue. And that cue makes me stop for just a moment, microseconds, and it makes me think about what I'm thinking. It makes me disrupt my self-doubt.

01:16:07:23 - 01:16:30:02
Chris Harris
Damn, I'm tired. Oh, man, not one more. Wait a minute, I'm on a journey to be number one so I can get back to self-actualization. And it's a, it's a 3second conversation with myself, but what I did was I stuck a big-ass stick in the spoke of, of my automation. And that is how we change our lives.

01:16:30:03 - 01:16:54:09
Brandon Adams
That's, that's, uh, you know, disrupting is, a, the, a pattern is, is, um It's always, I think, healthy for you when you're trying to learn or grow or do any of these other things. Like I, for myself specifically, I don't, um, I don't put a token up or I don't do something like that, but I always go to complete silence. There's a lot of things out there in the world that are distracting you, things that are noise, right?

01:16:54:10 - 01:17:12:13
Brandon Adams
And so a lot of them can be work, or they can be the things that you need to get done or blah, blah, blah. But I try to, if I'm ever trying to go from, from point A to point B and have growth, I'll find myself for weeks in the car with nothing but silence on as I drive, so I can think about, where are we going or what are we doing?

01:17:12:13 - 01:17:19:13
Brandon Adams
What's happening? You know, trying to get this, this plot or this plan laid out, right?

01:17:19:15 - 01:17:26:10
Chris Harris
As oppo- So you're, you're liking silence. Having an aversion to silence is me putting up that metal.

01:17:26:11 - 01:17:36:06
Brandon Adams
Correct. And that's kinda what I was getting at was like, you know, it can be an object or it can be nothing, but it's really like changing your focus for a minute. It's like turning the switch off for a minute.

01:17:36:06 - 01:17:53:06
Chris Harris
Well, silence can be a cue. I call it meta cues, and I What I say is, "Hey, just figure out what it is you wanna be thinking because of some, some goal that you have or something you're trying to change or improve or break, a habit you're trying to break. So think of whatever it is. Like, here's where you are, here's where you wanna be, so think about where you wanna be, all right?

01:17:53:06 - 01:18:09:13
Chris Harris
And kinda create a, like a mental image of where I wanna be, what that looks like. All right? What does winning look like? And then create a cue. And your cue could be, um, every time I look at that metal. Your cue could be every time I look at my phone.

01:18:09:15 - 01:18:37:10
Chris Harris
Now, I only looked at that metal a couple times a day. If I would've said my cue is gonna be every time I look at that phone, well, the average person looks at their phone, looks at their phone about 100 times a day. So that would've given me a lot faster progress toward You know, you could say every time I sit, that's my cue. Every time I stand, every time I open or close something. Um, every time I take a drink of a beverage. No matter what it is. You make the cue, align it with what you think that frequency of that cue is to how many ti- how serious are you about this?

01:18:37:10 - 01:18:37:21
Chris Harris
this?

01:18:37:22 - 01:18:57:09
Brandon Adams
You know, it's funny, I heard somebody the other day ask me, "Brandon, what's winning to you? Where do you want to be? What is your goal for winning? Where, what checkpoint in here makes you feel like I've done it?" And I, I couldn't answer that question because I don't, I don't think there's a thing out there that makes me feel like I've done it.

01:18:57:09 - 01:19:18:02
Brandon Adams
I think the thing that makes me feel the way that I feel is trajectory. If I feel I am growing and I feel I am getting better all the time, that makes me feel fulfilled. Now, whatever goal someone sets or whatever, I'm gonna blow past that next week, and I'm not gonna feel the same about it next week as I did the week before, and I'm gonna go and it's gone.

01:19:18:02 - 01:19:44:10
Brandon Adams
But if I continue on a trajectory and a path of where I feel like I'm becoming a better human or, or better at my job or better at things, tackling and checking off, and I did that, and I did that, and I did that, because I became a- addicted to, um, achievements for a long time, and they became pale in the past for when I walked past them.

01:19:44:10 - 01:20:13:01
Brandon Adams
They just weren't there for me anymore. And so I, I, I became disenfranchised by setting goals that were smaller or setting things that were, uh, I felt like I could attack or, or tackle or whatever. And so I love what you said earlier, the struggle is what I really, really love the most now. And that traject- that trajectory of saying, "I am going to the moon, not to X, Y, Z," I am pulling myself there, and that pull myself there is what makes me feel alive.

01:20:13:02 - 01:20:19:01
Brandon Adams
I'm pulling myself there and that pull myself there is what makes me feel alive.

01:20:19:02 - 01:20:42:05
Chris Harris
Well, then you've just described what winning looks like to you. You've, you've just described winning to you. It's perseverance, it's resilience, it's the refusal to quit, it's the refusal to be beaten or to give up. It's the indomitable spirit. That's what winning looks like to you. No matter how many circumstances come my way, no matter how much adversity, how many obstacles I have to cross, how many times I get my ass kicked, I'm gonna swing until the whistle blows.

01:20:42:06 - 01:20:50:06
Chris Harris
That's what winning looks like to you. It's not achieving the goal, it's never stop moving toward the goal.

01:20:50:07 - 01:21:09:17
Brandon Adams
Yeah, I agree that. That's, it's a great way to put it, you know, and, and, uh, you know, sometimes these, these podcasts and things that I'm sitting down and I'm talking to people, normally I'm saying something to them that makes them reflect on kinda their ha- in their, their past and their history of what makes them. But you, you kinda flipped the script on me today, and I, I appreciate that.

01:21:09:17 - 01:21:13:04
Brandon Adams
That insight's, uh, uh, pretty liberating.

01:21:13:07 - 01:21:16:24
Chris Harris
Well, I'm, I'm glad, because I'm getting a lot of out of this too, so it's mutual.

01:21:17:00 - 01:21:20:15
Brandon Adams
Well, tell me how you got into books.

01:21:20:17 - 01:21:43:11
Chris Harris
You know, it, it, that's, that's my 14th book, uh, that I've written over 25 years. But how I really got into it was, um, I got contacted by one of the largest publishers in the world. Well, to this day they're still one of the largest, I think one of the top 3 largest publishers in the world. But they, uh, they asked me if I'd be interested in writing the Complete Idiot's Guide to Self Defense, and this was in 1999, so long time ago.

01:21:43:11 - 01:22:01:20
Chris Harris
And at the time, you know, you had the, the For Dummies and you had the Complete Idiot's Guide. They were kinda competing brands. One was yellow, one was orange. And I'm like, "Well, how'd you get my number?" And they're like, "Well, we- we're, we're, we're looking for the best and your name keeps coming up, and, um, but if y- if you're interested, then we need you to overnight us, FedEx us, overnight us what you believe a table of contents would look like."

01:22:01:20 - 01:22:26:01
Chris Harris
And, uh, like, overnight you? Like, like, you need it that quick? You know, I don't even think my printer works, you know? Like, you know. Uh, yeah, they, it wasn't email us. It was like, "You draft the shit and overnight us."

01:22:26:06 - 01:22:50:24
Chris Harris
I mean, they were And, uh, so anyway, I, I put it together, got it to them, and th- they came back to me and, and, uh, they're like, "All right, you're gonna write this book, but y- just know you're our first choice. But we always have 2 alternates, because the first choice rarely ever gets it done. And so you've got your second and third choice for writing the Complete Idiot's Guide to Self Defense."

01:22:51:01 - 01:23:14:20
Chris Harris
And they said, "Yes." So they said, "Well, we're gonna give you, um, um," what do they call it? Uh, an advance. Okay? And your advance is gonna be this big. But we're breaking it out into pieces. So if you give us 25% of the manuscript, chapters one through whatever, you're gonna get this much money. And then the next 25% you'll get another check.

01:23:14:20 - 01:23:41:21
Chris Harris
Next 25% another check. Next 25% the final check. If you're one day late on that, the, a milestone, you forfeit the money for that milestone. You forfeit it. If you miss 2 milestones, you're out, we scrap your project, and we go to our number 2 choice. I didn't know how to write a book. And they're telling us, "And we want you to write this with the Chicago style of"

01:23:41:23 - 01:24:10:16
Chris Harris
I'm like, "What is that?" "What's Chicago got to do with" I mean, I didn't understand. But anyway, it was a tight deadline. It was, like, almost a 400-word book, which, you know, we call that a novel in the United States. And, uh, it was ridiculous and it was a massive project, and I, I was overwhelmed and, you know, I just, there was, you know I just had a stack of books that I went out and bought at Barnes & Noble, whatever it was, you know, on everything to do with martial arts, self-defense, kara- you know, and I'm just And of course you have to cite your sources and all this stuff, and I didn't know how to do that.

01:24:10:16 - 01:24:27:21
Chris Harris
And it was, I was overwhelmed, but I knew that in that 100 days that I had to write that book or whatever it was, I knew that could change my stars. Because now I'm got this endorsement, you know, from this big-ass publisher. I'm the author of, and it would open doors. And it about killed me.

01:24:27:22 - 01:24:35:23
Chris Harris
I mean, I had no idea what the hell I was doing. But I got it out barely in time, on the nick of time, you know, and, um, and that was my journey into, into writing books.

01:24:36:00 - 01:24:37:20
Brandon Adams
You hit all your benchmarks?

01:24:37:22 - 01:24:38:23
Chris Harris
Yeah.

01:24:39:00 - 01:24:59:03
Brandon Adams
That's the, that's awesome. Hit every benchmark. You know, it's funny, like, you know, seeing- Barely yeah. You know, seeing the story of someone saying, like, you know, "I did this or I did that," and, or, "These are the consequences if I don't make it," I always ask, you know, "Did you, did you catch those? Did you not? How did you live with that?" You know, and so, uh, you know, not everybody is the, is the kinda guy that's gonna hit every one of them either, so.

01:24:59:03 - 01:25:04:16
Chris Harris
No, and I've got plenty of stories on the times I didn't. But on that one I did.

01:25:04:18 - 01:25:08:20
Brandon Adams
So you got into that. It went well. It, I guess, sold well?

01:25:08:22 - 01:25:44:15
Chris Harris
Oh, yeah, the book did very well. It, it did very well and, and it opened a lot of doors. That's And, and so I started getting invited. Now I wasn't just teaching self-defense or martial arts or karate or whatever, um, now I was starting to be invited into corporate America to do, like, lectures on- Okay on personal safety. Like, uh, like American Airlines, you know, their headquarters, you know, over at 360 and, you know, whatever that is, that big headquarters, like like they had me come in, come in and teach all the flight attendants, like you know, self-awareness and self-defense lectures and classes and But all that, you know, that, that's, that's a big company.

01:25:44:16 - 01:25:48:10
Chris Harris
And all that was because I wrote that book. So it opened a lot of doors.

01:25:48:11 - 01:25:51:09
Brandon Adams
So you got into keynote speaking because of the book?

01:25:51:11 - 01:25:57:12
Chris Harris
No, got into keynote speaking, um, because of Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

01:25:57:13 - 01:25:58:01
Brandon Adams
Okay.

01:25:58:02 - 01:26:22:09
Chris Harris
So I was living in North Carolina with my wife, and, um- And, uh, our, well, we, we had just had our son, but not our daughter yet. And, um, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, you know, kinda knew of my background of, you know, martial arts training military and Special Forces, and they were, they were like, "Hey, would you kinda go around and just start speaking to some of the high schools and some of the colleges?"

01:26:22:09 - 01:26:40:08
Chris Harris
Uh, I'm like, "Yeah, absolutely." They knew I was a Christian. And I just, that's where I fell in love with it. And over the course of I don't know how many years, I probably spoke, dozens and dozens of ti- I don't know how many. I don't I don't wanna say it was 100 over the course of 7 years, but it was, it was a lot.

01:26:40:10 - 01:26:47:02
Chris Harris
And, uh, but it was middle schools, it was high schools, and it was colleges, and I absolutely just, I loved it.

01:26:47:04 - 01:26:53:04
Brandon Adams
And so then, what's the next step after that? You go, you start making, you know, you're talking at events.

01:26:53:05 - 01:26:54:17
Chris Harris
Moved to Central America.

01:26:54:19 - 01:26:55:10
Brandon Adams
Okay.

01:26:55:11 - 01:27:07:06
Chris Harris
Uh, my wife and I moved with our 2 kids to, uh, to Central America, and it was, um, we, we ran an orphanage. Um, Back to the roots

01:27:07:08 - 01:27:08:04
Brandon Adams
Back to the roots.

01:27:08:05 - 01:27:29:23
Chris Harris
needed to be done, and it was a dream of my wife. You know, my wife told me when, when we were dating, she told me, "Just so you know, one day I'm gonna do some humanitarian work," and blah, blah, blah, and I was like, "Yeah, whatever." "Yeah, sure." And she meant it, you know? And, uh, so that opportunity came up, you know, through our church. They, they had a husband and wife that were the directors of that orphanage, and the husband fell, uh, ill, like, found out he had cancer and had to go through treatment immediately, so they had to move back to the States.

01:27:29:23 - 01:27:51:02
Chris Harris
And so our church said, "Anybody want this gig? You know, we've got this 500 acre, you know, orphanage," or however big it was, out in the middle of nowhere and, you know, um, and it doesn't pay anything.

01:27:51:03 - 01:28:20:19
Chris Harris
I mean, so you gotta be self-supporting. And I'm like, "Well, I could still, you know, leave and go do training stuff, and, you know, I could, I think I could pull, we could pull this off." And it was a dream of my wife's, and, and so I say we ran the orphanage. She, she really ran the orphanage and I assisted. But it was a, you know, it was a couple years, and it was a, it, it was a tremendously hard experience with a lot of struggle, which makes it one of the most beautiful experiences we you know, have.

01:28:20:21 - 01:28:40:05
Brandon Adams
When you sit in front of someone who's going through what those kids at that orphanage are going through, and you're able to look them in the eyes and go, "I feel you. I understand where you're at. It doesn't always have to be this way. This won't mark you forever," can you see in the eyes of those kids sometimes that they don't believe that?

01:28:40:05 - 01:28:47:07
Brandon Adams
Or are you able to convince kids that can always be better?

01:28:47:09 - 01:29:07:13
Chris Harris
It's a very small percentage that you can convince. Um, I, I think that I have a responsibility to tell everyone who asks. What you just said, I'll tell them. You know, "Look, it's your choice. You hold the power. What you're going through right now is either gonna be a bruise or it's gonna be a tattoo, and it's your choice, and I have a responsibility to tell you that."

01:29:07:13 - 01:29:31:10
Chris Harris
But I also know from experience that only a small percentage of the people I tell that to are gonna make the right choice. It, look, it's really hard to get past self-pity and entitlement and all that shit. It's just, you know, blame, excuses. It's just, it's, it's hard to get out of it. Because if you're in it, you probably learned it from somebody.

01:29:31:11 - 01:29:50:01
Chris Harris
You know? So, you know, it's a limiting belief, it's a bias, it's an attitude that's no longer serving us. You know, so, you know, I, I just ask people if they're, you know, if they're telling me a story they've told me once before, and they're telling me the same story, you know, about their ex, you know, or about their, you know, w- w- whatever, you know, their boss.

01:29:50:03 - 01:30:18:22
Chris Harris
If, if, if you're telling me the story for the second time, now I'm gonna dig in. Because I really wanna know why you're letting this shit live rent free. Because, look, I, I have a rule. If, if I start thinking about something that I've thought about before and this is the second time now, because, you know, 3 times, it's a pattern.

01:30:18:23 - 01:30:36:15
Chris Harris
the second time I'm thinking about what I'm thinking. second time I'm thinking about this, and it's outside of my control. The outcome is out of my control, then that means you're an irrational fear, and it's time to get the hell out of my house.

01:30:36:17 - 01:31:01:19
Chris Harris
So irrational fear. Fear's a good thing. Fear's a gift from God. I mean, fear is supposed to be our counselor, not our jailer. But if it's a fear that has a low probability of happening, that makes it irrational or if it's a fear that is not motivating me to take action to change the damn outcome 01:31:01:21 - 01:31:15:12
Chris Harris
well, then that makes it an irrational fear. So if it's not motivating you to do something to change the outcome, or if there's nothing you can do about it and there's a low probability of happening, yeah, we call that anxiety.

01:31:15:14 - 01:31:24:22
Brandon Adams
If, so if you have somebody that is I love the analogy of a bruise and a, and a tattoo. A bruise is temporary. You're gonna heal from that. A tattoo is something you mark yourself with forever.

01:31:24:23 - 01:31:25:15
Chris Harris
Intentionally.

01:31:25:15 - 01:31:33:15
Brandon Adams
Intentionally. Intentionally, right? If you start talking about the fear part of it, fear to me is like, I think this thing is going to happen to me in the future of why I am what I am, or, or a scar is things that have happened, and I haven't quite gotten over the feeling of that bump there.

01:31:33:17 - 01:31:53:17
Brandon Adams
You know, it's like, okay, or a tattoo is a, is a good way to say it.

01:31:53:17 - 01:32:14:02
Brandon Adams
You know what I mean? It's like, it's still there and it, and it won't go away. Like, how do you, how do you mentally work yourself into, because I, I, I, I have things that I have talked about to the point, and I got probably into my mid-40s, where I was like, "All right, you know what? I'm not talking about this anymore. This is a, this is something I don't want, I don't wanna talk about.

01:32:14:03 - 01:32:29:13
Brandon Adams
I don't wanna, I gotta let that go. I can't let that be a part of me anymore," because I find myself, at the time, I find myself going, "Oh, well, this, this went down, or this went down, or this is what that was." And it's like, why, you know, why does that need to be a part of the story, you know?

01:32:29:14 - 01:32:51:18
Brandon Adams
And at 1 point you wanna be, um, connective with somebody else, you know, to go, "Oh, I can feel, or I have empathy for this, or I'm, I'm that, this, that, and the other." But are you fooling yourself sometimes because you are not being empathetic, you are being, you're holding yourself hostage, you know?

01:32:51:20 - 01:33:23:17
Chris Harris
Well, let's talk about bruise and tattoo. Let's change it to, to give a better answer to your question. Let's change it from bruise and tattoo to tattoo versus scar. So here's the difference between a tattoo and a scar. Here's, here's what they have in common. They're both permanent, okay? The difference is the tattoo was intentional. The scar was not.

01:33:23:18 - 01:33:46:00
Chris Harris
Okay? I mean, unless you engage in some kind of self-harm. Uh, but the, the scar was not. Even if you were doing stupid things and trying to jump ramps on your dirt bike or buddy's bike, whatever and, you know, and you got a big old scar, it's still intentional. Okay? So if you have something that was intentional, in other words, it was a bad decision, it was a poor choice, it was a mistake, okay, whatever.

01:33:46:00 - 01:34:12:21
Chris Harris
You look at the scar, you say, "Well, it was an accident." Okay? Scars are usually accidents. Tattoos are usually poor choices or mistakes um, or accidents. Well, no, the accident's a scar. So, so what you have to do is you have to say, "All right, so what, this thing that I can't get past, was it intentional or unintentional?"

01:34:12:23 - 01:34:31:14
Chris Harris
Like, what role did I have to play in this? And then once you figure that piece out and you admit it, that's called ownership. 'Cause you're not, you're not moving off center. You're not growing, you're not changing, you're not transforming. There's no way any of that's happening if you don't take ownership. Call it what it was. Well, I was a real asshole, and that person just couldn't stand to be around me anymore, and now I kick myself in the ass every day because I can't believe I treated that great person like a piece of shit.

01:34:31:14 - 01:34:42:01
Chris Harris
And that person just couldn't stand to be around me anymore. And now I kicked myself in the ass every day because I can't believe I treated that great person like a piece of shit.

01:34:42:02 - 01:34:42:14
Brandon Adams
Yeah.

01:34:42:15 - 01:35:04:01
Chris Harris
That's called ownership, and now we can get past it. But if you're still sitting over here going, "I don't know, it wasn't my fault"- Oh, yeah, yeah you know, whatever, eh, I got no time for that shit. I don't work with, I don't work with people like that. But, um, but regardless, once you get to the ownership part and you say intentional, unintentional, accident, mistake, uh, maybe, maybe I was victimized.

01:35:04:01 - 01:35:30:15
Chris Harris
Maybe somebody beat the shit out of me and I didn't deserve it, you know? Um, okay, look, I've been a victim many times in my life. No, I take that back. I have been victimized many times in my life, but I have never been anybody's victim. Okay? Um, so once you figure that out and take ownership, then here's how you ch- You can change your past.

01:35:30:17 - 01:35:52:21
Chris Harris
People say you can't change your past. I call bullshit on that. I've changed my past so many times, it's not even funny. But here's how you change your past. Go back to whatever mistake or accident or poor, poor choice or s- a time where you were victimized, and you most certainly have a superpower to where you can assign a different meaning to it.

01:35:52:23 - 01:36:02:07
Chris Harris
And if you go back and willfully and intentionally assign a different meaning to something in the past, you change the past.

01:36:02:09 - 01:36:20:17
Brandon Adams
I can see that. And I think, uh, again, that all goes to, you know, mindset, you know? Um, mindset overpowering, changing things, changing the tone, changing the way we look at things. Um, and I guess kind of is a, is a good jump off to your latest book here, which is called Mindset.

01:36:20:19 - 01:36:21:20
Chris Harris
The Book of Mindset. Yeah.

01:36:21:21 - 01:36:30:22
Brandon Adams
The Book of Mindset, yeah. Can, can you Tell, tell me about that. Like, what is this about? What is What did you write this book for, and who are you talking to when, when you wrote it?

01:36:30:24 - 01:36:55:06
Chris Harris
Look, I, I, I do a lot of keynote speeches, and, um, and if I were to go into a room filled with sales professionals, top performers, leaders, and I would say, and let's just imagine a room of, like, 300 people, and I'd say, "Raise your hand if you truly believe with all your heart that mindset, like having the right mindset, is critical to your success, your happiness, your fulfillment, your joy, all of these things, the money you make."

01:36:55:07 - 01:37:19:12
Chris Harris
90% of the people in that room will raise their hand. Nobody really disagrees with that. But if I would say, "Now raise your hand if you know how to change your mindset." Man, the hands go down quick. Most people, they, they completely agree that they, it, it is vital, but how do you change it?

01:37:19:13 - 01:37:51:08
Chris Harris
Hell if I know. So what I'm doing is I'm taking this really important point, and I, I Look, I, I begin by telling them, first of all, what is mindset? 'Cause most people couldn't tell you the difference between attitude, mindset, and belief. Most people couldn't even, like, articulate. They may know here, but they can't articulate it. So first of all, I tell you what mindset is, and here's what mindset is, um, as far as the way I teach it. From the moment the alarm goes off in the morning and you get out of bed, that's, that's a stimulus.

01:37:51:08 - 01:38:09:01
Chris Harris
That's the first stimulus of the day, okay? Alarm goes off. And now you have to determine what your response is going to be to that stimulus. Am I gonna hit snooze? Am I gonna lay here for 5 minutes and, oh, shit, what do I gotta do today? Or am I gonna hit the ground running, right?

01:38:09:02 - 01:38:27:24
Chris Harris
Whatever. Am I gonna call in sick? Am I gonna tell my buddy I can't make it to the gym today? What, what are you gonna do when that alarm goes off? Because that's really what our day is made of. It's made up of 100 or 200 or 300 stimuli, and then our response to that.

01:38:27:24 - 01:38:48:14
Chris Harris
I'm driving to work, some asshole cuts me off in traffic. I'm trying to get in and merge, somebody won't let me merge when they could easily let me merge. You know, somebody says something inappropriate to my wife. Something s- my boss says something condescending to me, you know, under their breath. You know, whatever. Okay, that's all, it's stimulus, stimulus, stimulus. This is what our day is made up of, and then we have either our response or, uh, y- maybe a reaction, which is even

01:38:48:14 - 01:39:22:02
Chris Harris
You know, that's, that's different. You know, uh, a, a response is me thinking, "Oh, gosh, not again. I can't believe my boss is gonna give me this lecture again." A reaction is saying, "I'm done with this shit. I quit." All right, so here's what mindset is. It is the space that lives inside you that is between stimulus and response.

01:39:22:04 - 01:39:41:08
Chris Harris
That is mindset. If you wanna master mindset, if you wanna tell me someone who's mastered mindset, you're talking about someone who's mastered that space between stimulus and response. Man, I can't rattle their cage. I can't get under their skin. Why is that person, like, not just, like, throwing a gallon of milk across the kitchen right now?

01:39:41:08 - 01:39:56:04
Chris Harris
I would be furious. They've mastered that space between stimulus and response, and when you've mastered that, you've changed your life. Because the distance between stimulus and response is who you are.

01:39:56:05 - 01:40:08:03
Brandon Adams
No, I love that. That's a, that's a, that's a great analogy, and, like, or not even a great analogy. That's just a great breakdown of the way that, that truly is. It's the, it's the processing part and the conditioning between what you're gonna get and how you're gonna react to it, what you're g- Yeah.

01:40:08:05 - 01:40:29:08
Chris Harris
When you ask me a question in that microphone, that's a stimulus. When I give you an answer, that's a response. So what we're really talking about here is y- you said, "Hey, I really like this interview. I like this conversation. I, I like, you know" That you, you, you, you gave me a couple of really good compliments that, that I'm appreciative and I won't forget, and I don't take them lightly.

01:40:29:08 - 01:40:43:11
Chris Harris
But what you're really talking about is the space between you and I right now because it's a conversation in front of a camera and an and a microphone. What we're really talking about is the space between stimulus and response. Your question, my response.

01:40:43:12 - 01:41:00:05
Brandon Adams
I have a couple of paintings. I, I'm an artist. I don't know if you knew that or not, but I have a couple of series that's about the beginning and the end, and, uh, it's One is a neon sign, says, "Hello," and the other one says, "Goodbye," and it's over this girl's face, and she's got a cigarette smoking in the middle, whatever.

01:41:00:07 - 01:41:15:06
Brandon Adams
And that is, in a nutshell, what I think life is. Life is the, the gap between the initial contact, the hello, and how we respond to it, the goodbye.

01:41:15:06 - 01:41:18:22
Chris Harris
And then in the middle- In the middle lies the space between 01:41:18:23 - 01:41:19:14
Brandon Adams
Yeah.

01:41:19:16 - 01:41:21:03
Chris Harris
as she's contemplating.

01:41:21:07 - 01:41:47:08
Brandon Adams
So it's, it's, it's really funny how you can take a, the same concept and, you know, e- explain it a thousand different ways, but really when it all boils down, it's, it's really about the conditioning of the way that we process. We decide to choose how we're gonna handle it, 'cause let's say I gave you a stimulus of making a comment that you don't particularly care about.

01:41:47:10 - 01:42:10:23
Brandon Adams
Your response could be immediate stand up and special force me real quick, or you could go, "I need to read what's happened. I need to understand why it's happened," or, "I need to decide who I am that's different than just a special force guy, and I can handle this A, B, or C." That's the conditioning between and decide what that, what that parse is.

01:42:10:23 - 01:42:35:06
Brandon Adams
And when you decide that and you put that in the middle, "This is who I am. I respond this way to these conditions," right? Can be the difference between somebody flying off the handle and punching somebody in the face or going, "Let me understand really what's bothering you that you would say something to me," and now I'm a, a learner versus a reactor. You know? Um, I appreciate the, the breakdown of that.

01:42:35:06 - 01:42:40:12
Brandon Adams
It's a, it's a really cool, you know, breakdown of that, that philosophy.

01:42:40:13 - 01:42:48:10
Chris Harris
So, so what I do in this book is I teach people, 1, what is mindset, 2, why is it important, and 3, how do you change it if you want to.

01:42:48:12 - 01:43:01:22
Brandon Adams
Well, very cool, man. I've had, I've had an absolute blast on this one. Uh, this has been Is there anything that you wanna elaborate on? Any- anywhere people can get your books, like tell them where they can find you, tell them all those different opportunities.

01:43:01:22 - 01:43:16:10
Chris Harris
Just Google The Warrior Maker. you'll find me. It'd be hard not to with, uh, I just kinda own that space, and I'm very grateful, at least for today I do. Uh, my website's thewarriormaker.com, but if you just Google The Warrior Maker, there'll be plenty that comes up.

01:43:16:14 - 01:43:35:24
Brandon Adams
Yeah, I mean, h- honestly, like this has been a really good one for me, guys. I hope you guys enjoyed this. Uh, Chris, it's been an absolute joy to talk to you today. And to, and to go much deeper, I, I love conversations that are not shallow, ones that are gonna go a little deeper. And thank you for being so vulnerable with the opening half of that, uh, story today.

01:43:36:01 - 01:43:43:18
Brandon Adams
Uh, I know a lot of people would've probably shied away from something like that, but honestly, that gives a lot of people some connectivity to you, so thank you for being honest about that.

01:43:43:18 - 01:43:45:02
Chris Harris
I really enjoyed it. Thank you.

01:43:45:03 - 01:43:50:16
Brandon Adams
Well, everybody, until next time, The Warrior on The Blueprint.

01:43:50:17 - 01:43:51:12
Chris Harris
The Warrior Maker.

01:43:51:13 - 01:43:54:12
Brandon Adams
The Warrior Maker. The Warrior Maker on The Blueprint.