Mario Armstrong: Why You Can't Stand Out by Standing Still

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Speaker 3 you you can't stand out and stand still at the same time

Speaker 3 you cannot stand out and stand still at the same time so what does that require it requires motion

Speaker 3 we need the motion

Speaker 4 welcome to mick unplugged the number one podcast for self-improvement leadership and relentless growth No fluff, no filters, just hard-hitting truths, unstoppable strategies, and the mindset shifts that separate the best from the rest.

Speaker 4 Ready to break limits? Let's go.

Speaker 2 Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to Mick Unplugged. And today, we have someone who I call my blueprint.
He likes to say he was a spark, but we'll debate that live in person. But he is

Speaker 2 an Emmy Award-winning disruptor. who turned motivation into movement, blending tech, media, and mindset into a formula of unstoppable success.
We're talking about going from NBC to never settle.

Speaker 2 He's living proof that your dreams don't have deadlines. He's magnetic.
He's relentless. He's game-changing.
He is the blueprint of Mick Unplugged. We are talking to none other than Mr.

Speaker 2 Mario Armstrong. Mario, how you doing?

Speaker 3 Let's go.

Speaker 2 Let's go.

Speaker 3 The intro alone sets the tone.

Speaker 3 You do this so well on your podcast for all your guests, obviously, and your team is really well researched i can tell like you put in the production and the investment into not just the quality of it but the the the the technical quality of it but the conversational quality of it and that requires research and energy and time so so thank you for that and thank you for having me here so so you're saying thank you but i'm holding up a mirror okay right because

Speaker 2 You should be thanking you. You know, when I told you that you were the blueprint, man, like, yeah, having conversations, I naturally do that.
I'm a business owner.

Speaker 2 I own three businesses so networking having conversations is all that but there's a blueprint to this success in media man and so when i said i researched mario i studied mario it's because the things that people don't see on camera that make you dynamic yes you're brilliant on camera i totally know that right but authentically you were you

Speaker 2 and you care Like you didn't know that you were my blueprint, but you give enough information for free. You give enough from your heart that people that just spend a moment with you grab so much.

Speaker 2 And I just wanted to publicly thank you for that.

Speaker 3 I appreciate that because I feel like

Speaker 3 it's just been kind of me, but what's also happened is I've recognized that vulnerability is currency.

Speaker 3 And it's hard for people to get to certain levels of vulnerability because then you have to deal with yourself.

Speaker 3 And the more willingness that you are to go into that zone of uncomfort or that zone of potential embarrassment, because that's really what it is.

Speaker 3 You're afraid of failing in front of people or you're afraid of being embarrassed, the more you start to find that you will gravitate and the people that are looking for you will find you.

Speaker 3 Because if that vulnerability is sincere, if it's real, if it's not a marketing tactic, if that vulnerability is sincere, like, hey, y'all, like case in point, I'm writing a book right now, my first book.

Speaker 3 And I'm writing this book and I've been wanting to write a book for 10 years. And start, stop, start, stop, start, stop.
This one just flowing out of me.

Speaker 3 I almost had to reschedule this podcast because it's,

Speaker 3 it's, I'm like, I'm like moving meetings because it is, I don't want to stop it. I am on chapter 10 already.
It is flowing out of me like crazy. And

Speaker 3 the reason why I'm bringing this up is because I'm even telling people, even in my most recent post on my Instagram, I'm like, I don't know what I'm doing. I don't know how this is going to work.

Speaker 3 This is completely unknown. I'd much rather prefer to be on a stage.
I know many of you may be scared of that. I'd much rather be on a stage.
I am a verbal communicator, not a writer communicator.

Speaker 3 And so this is a weakness of mine. But you know what? It's uncomfortable.
I might get embarrassed, but I got to do it.

Speaker 3 So that vulnerability, that truth that I'm willing to share publicly is also helping people that want to find this type of motivation or this type of energy to come to it because it's real.

Speaker 3 So whatever that is for some of your listeners and some of your viewers, whatever that vulnerability is, start touching that line.

Speaker 3 Whatever feels uncomfortable, whatever you've been hiding, whatever you were teased at as a kid, I was in detention for talking.

Speaker 2 Not Mario. Detention for talking.

Speaker 3 Didn't know how good talking would take care of me later, but detention for talking didn't understand the power of it as an oral communicator at that time. So, the vulnerability will help you

Speaker 3 with the transparency. And that transparency, to me, is the new currency.

Speaker 2 I wholeheartedly agree. You know, I also am writing a new book.
And one of the things that in my book is about modern leadership.

Speaker 2 And I, in this book, I talk to leaders about how for the modern employee, transparency is the new currency. Transparency is the new 401.

Speaker 3 Wait, hold on. How do you, how do you, this is genius of you.
How do you get an employee inside of a system that is known for not rewarding transparency to be transparent?

Speaker 3 Or I guess the better question is: you're probably not trying to convince the employee. You're probably trying to convince the leader on the leader.
So, what's like a tip or a strategy?

Speaker 3 How does that work?

Speaker 2 One, you've got to change those mission and vision statements that your employees don't even know what they are anymore. They don't believe in a shared vision.

Speaker 2 You've got to start with telling your team what your core values as a leader are, right? Forget what the company is. I might work for IBM, that might be who's signing the check, but I work for Mario.

Speaker 2 I need to know what Mario believes in. I need to know what Mario stands for.

Speaker 2 And as a leader, if I can be transparent about my core values, now I've got an employee, someone that I lead, who, by the way, is also a leader, right?

Speaker 2 They're also a leader in their home, in their community. If I can be transparent about what I stand for, I'm building that currency with them.
That's

Speaker 3 you're talking about a leader's personal mission statement. That's crazy good.

Speaker 2 Right.

Speaker 2 Right. Because again, I might work for IBM,

Speaker 2 but I work with Mario. Right.

Speaker 2 And if I'm going to follow Mario's vision, I need to know why that's his vision. I need to know what he stands for.
And the only way to do that is to start.

Speaker 2 That's the first part of transparency, right? Yeah. The second part is I've got to listen to you and what's important to you.

Speaker 2 Right. If I'm, if, if Mario is my leader, he needs to listen to me.
And this, this episode is about Mario. I don't know why Mario's being Mario is hurting on me.
I love it, by the way.

Speaker 2 But, but that's the key. Transparency is the new currency.
Transparency is what this modern employee wants. I can trust you.

Speaker 2 The modern employee doesn't care about a pension or a 401k because in their mind now, they're trying to be an entrepreneur or a leader too.

Speaker 2 And they're probably not going to be with Mario long term if Mario, if Mario is a great leader, he's building another leader. Correct.
Right.

Speaker 2 And so, correct.

Speaker 2 My kids don't care about 401ks, brother. I can promise you that.
My kids,

Speaker 2 that's great. But I need to know what Mario stands for because if I'm working with Mario, I need to know Mario is going to stand with me.

Speaker 3 Nick, this is good, man. This is really, wow.

Speaker 3 Yeah. And that's why I turned the tables because here I am.

Speaker 3 I'm talking about it from a personal development, from a personal branding perspective, like the individual media company owner that's also the brand and

Speaker 3 how I've been leaning into that layer of uncomfort. Like, you know, when it's uncomfortable when your father calls you and he's like, you sure you wanted to post something like that?

Speaker 3 Why would you tell people you're broke?

Speaker 2 Like, why?

Speaker 3 People think you're doing very well for yourself. Why would you tell people you're broke? And I'm like, dad, because it's the story.
You were once broke too.

Speaker 3 You just, you didn't have the tools at the time. Maybe you would have communicated it, but maybe in your generation, it was better to keep that stuff hidden.

Speaker 3 In mine, I'm more willing to talk about it because I feel like it will empower other people. And I want people to see that it was documented.
Like I show my bank account when I was broke.

Speaker 3 It's in the book.

Speaker 2 Negative $77.

Speaker 2 Right?

Speaker 2 You know it very well.

Speaker 2 Yes, sir. Oh, man.
Yes, sir.

Speaker 2 And that's why I love and respect you like I do, man, because you are. transparent and you give people actionable insights, right? Like I'm a believer in, I can't do more than three things, right?

Speaker 2 Like if there's a process that's like 10 steps, I'm not going to do it because I can only focus on three at a time.

Speaker 2 But Mario, that's how you break things down, man. So I would love, let's talk to the viewer, to the listener, that they know that they need to get uncomfortable, but they like the comfort.

Speaker 2 They like those benefits, right? Like they like that corporate ladder, but that uncomfort is eating at them and they know that they're ready to make that step.

Speaker 2 I love to talk about your journey and then give people advice through your journey of how you decided to take action and do it.

Speaker 3 Yeah. And I think one of the worst things that a human being can go through is knowing what they're actually gifted at, but not pursuing it.

Speaker 3 And that's either because they're choosing or they haven't been exposed to it yet or they're refusing to answer the call that's being placed to them. And so

Speaker 3 when I decided to pick up the phone that was calling for me, And it's an uncomfortable phone call. And you're like, okay, should I actually do this? Should I leave this job?

Speaker 3 Should I make this decision? I got a child. I got a wife.
I got a house. We got things.

Speaker 3 So you're clearly thinking about the responsibilities of what you're about to do.

Speaker 3 So what I decided to tell people and what I think works well for people I've coached is I look at it at 11 minutes at a time.

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Speaker 3 I look at 11 minutes at a time. I don't look at what's the overall vision.
Sure, I need to know where I'm going. What's my GPS? What's my destination?

Speaker 3 But what happens when people put the GPS out or the vision out, it is so daunting. If you're ambitious, it's big.

Speaker 3 And if you know what it truthfully is, it's scary. Even if it's not huge, it's still scary because you're in that comfort like you put.

Speaker 3 So when you hit that vision, it can feel like, ah, that's a big mountain. I don't know how I'm going to climb it.

Speaker 3 So what I say is, okay, know what the big mountain is, but tell me, what are you going to do in the next 11 minutes? What can you do in 11 minutes? Can you read an article? Can you write up an email?

Speaker 3 Can you come up with a prospect list? Like, what can you do in 11 minutes?

Speaker 2 That's all.

Speaker 3 I'm not saying leave your job right now and jump off and grow the wings on the way down. I'm saying, what can you do in 11 minutes?

Speaker 3 And if you were to do that repeatedly, in the aggregate, you will start to see your plan, your strategy. And what happens is, as you know, the universal law of motion kicks in.

Speaker 3 And when you start moving in a certain direction and you're committed to it, even in small doses that are consistent, the universe will start to bring you things that you think are now just happening out of circumstance or just luck.

Speaker 3 And so

Speaker 3 I believe that every 11 minutes informs the next 11 minutes. So I feel like that's what I did.
I started looking at how do I keep my day job and start the side hustle? And how do I do it?

Speaker 3 At that time, I wasn't calling it the 11-minute framework. At that time, it was just small bits of momentum.
How can I get them? I used to call them green lights.

Speaker 3 Like, I just want to get a green light. How do I just get another green light? If I get a red or a yellow, how do I shift and see if I can get a turn the corner and get another green light?

Speaker 3 But then after years of looking at this, I'm like, it's been these micro moments of strategic focus that has actually gotten you to this mindset that no matter which vision or thing or idea or project you want to go after, you know that if you give it 11 minute consistency, it will happen.

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 2 Yeah. So I just wrote this down.

Speaker 2 I'm going to have a team meeting with one of my companies and we're totally doing a shift to talk about the 11 minute framework in the 11 minute straight i love that so much i'm going to borrow that you're welcome to it man and when the when the book's ready you can you can get the whole framework in the book oh well absolutely we're gonna definitely buy the book and distribute the book for you too so so that's a no-brainer so mario man like i've always wanted to ask you this when did this start

Speaker 2 when did you know that this was you? You talked about detention for talking, right? Like, when did you know that this was going to be you? Mr. Baltimore's finest himself?

Speaker 3 When I showed up at my my little brother's little league game with a with a handheld mic and and like this like this camcorder like thing.

Speaker 3 No, no, I didn't even have a camcorder like thing. I just had the handheld mic and told my mom to take a picture.
We didn't have a video camera. I just told her and I have this picture.

Speaker 3 Oh, you know what? I got to include that picture in the book.

Speaker 3 But it's, he's in his full little league gear, everything hat, tights, everything. And I'm sitting there with a microphone in this like,

Speaker 3 I think I had on jam shorts and a red shirt. And I think at that moment, I realized I like to talk about what people are pursuing.
I like to, I'm curious. That's really, it wasn't that I like to talk.

Speaker 3 It was that I like to ask questions.

Speaker 3 And that curiosity led me to more questions, which made it seem like I like to talk.

Speaker 3 And so I think at that age, my mom will also say that I like to figure out how things worked.

Speaker 3 She's got this story where she spent all her teacher salary working hard for Christmas one year and got me this remote control car.

Speaker 3 And apparently I love this car and I remember it so vividly, the Firefox, I remember it. And

Speaker 3 apparently, I do not remember this, apparently at some point, I decided to take the damn thing apart. And I said, mom, something was wrong with it then, right? And she said, no, it was perfectly fine.

Speaker 3 You were just so damn curious. It took everything in me to not lose it.

Speaker 3 So I said, oh, so this was, this was the engineer in me wanting to know what's working, but I wasn't really wanting to be the engineer.

Speaker 3 I wanted to communicate what the engineers were doing or what they were seeing. And then it was, oh, the engineer of everyone's life, of everyone's dream, of everyone's passion.

Speaker 3 If I saw someone doing something that I was admired or inspired by, I'm now in engineer mode. How did you do it? What were your thoughts? How did you get over the objection?

Speaker 3 What about when your friends told you that ain't cool? Like, I wanted to know.

Speaker 3 So I didn't know that years of this was being embedded in me of this level of curiosity and having all of this data from individuals that I have been interviewing, meeting, hanging with all this time, and then recognizing that I belong on the radio, I think.

Speaker 3 I belong interviewing people. I belong on TV, having conversations.
How do I do that with no degree?

Speaker 3 I was pursuing communications as my degree, but then a local gangster in West Virginia decided to target a skinny, curly-headed freshman from Baltimore at an off-campus party, and then brought everything, including guns to campus, shootouts.

Speaker 3 It's drama at the highest level, really could have died and left in my second semester and then tried to re-enter into college.

Speaker 3 You ever been thrown off your track and you never can get back on the same track again?

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 3 So that was the story of my life that I was trying to figure out, okay, how am I going to do this without a college degree? And so that's where this idea of, one, do you believe in it?

Speaker 3 Two, how are you going to get small moments of experience?

Speaker 3 And so then that turned into, let me see if I can, I saw, I saw a possibility to host my own show and I was like, let me, let me, let me call this station to see what's up with this.

Speaker 3 And I called the station and they were like, yeah, it's going to cost you $800 for a half hour. And I was like, okay, if I find a sponsor to sponsor that, we can do this, right?

Speaker 3 And they're like, yeah. And I'm like, all right, what are the times available? They're like, Thursday at noon, 12 to 12.30.
I was like, put me down. Give me a couple of months.
I'll be back.

Speaker 3 Took me like three weeks.

Speaker 3 I called up some tech companies in the local area in Baltimore, had one within like three calls that was like, sure, they were spending a lot of money on training and certifications.

Speaker 3 And so they had a reason to really put some money out there for a show around tech, which was my show.

Speaker 3 And I basically used that 30-minute show that was in Annapolis, Maryland, that was about 20 minutes from my day job near BWI airport. And I would fly from my office from the from the day job.

Speaker 3 go down, do the host this half hour show, and come back and always be late from lunch. And so, but that was my training.

Speaker 3 So that then what happens is once you start doing something that you are actually gifted at and you start working on it, then you want to take it bigger.

Speaker 3 So, I'm like, I got to go from AM to FM, and then I'm going, How do I go from FM to NPR? And then I'm like, How do I go from NPR to TV?

Speaker 3 And so, it started like that, and that's when I realized, like, oh, this is a real thing.

Speaker 3 I just need to build up my own experience and credibility so that people can see the potential.

Speaker 2 Man, I love that. And I want to unpack a couple of things because

Speaker 2 what I know about Mario Armstrong is this. You freaking dominated Baltimore, right? Like you can't go into the city of Bimor and people not know who Mario Armstrong is.

Speaker 2 And so I always tell entrepreneurs and people that think they're influencers this. If you can't dominate your hometown or where you live,

Speaker 2 you are never going to make it on a national level because

Speaker 2 people are going to fact check you.

Speaker 2 And they're not fact checking you to find something wrong but like hey if I have friends if I have business partners in Baltimore hey do you know Mario Armstrong what can you tell me about him is that somebody I want to do business with right like if your hometown doesn't love you or the city that you live in wherever you live now if they don't love you and I'm talking about from city councilmen to the school systems to the the the true local community, if they don't know who you are, you're never going to grow as big as you think you can.

Speaker 2 And I tell people, it's easy because most people aren't active in their community. People aren't trying to be the voice and they're not consistent.
Yep. Right.

Speaker 2 You did that. So, for the viewers and listeners, talk about that strategy.
And more importantly, why is it important to dominate where you live?

Speaker 3 Vic, you are really, you are unlocking some stuff right here because this is golden. What you're talking about is

Speaker 3 because our thinking today is that we should instantly try to go national. We should use our social media.
We should use the internet.

Speaker 3 We should try to go national because we've seen other people go national. So we assume, but have you done research on them? Are they known locally? Are they known regionally?

Speaker 3 Now, every once in a blue moon, you're going to have somebody that popped.

Speaker 2 Absolutely. And

Speaker 3 they didn't have time. It wasn't in, it wasn't, their

Speaker 3 destiny was already set up.

Speaker 2 They didn't have to do that.

Speaker 3 But most of us,

Speaker 3 we have to do that and so here's this here's a quick strategy i want all your experts every last listener that you have is an expert whether that's in in in money in finance personal development public speaking running a company entrepreneurship leadership you all have expertise you're underestimating the power of local television by going on local tv as a local expert for topics that would be relevant to that audience

Speaker 3 completely underestimating and what's great about that is it's wide open for you.

Speaker 2 Yes.

Speaker 3 Because nobody else is thinking about it. They think it's beneath them or they think it's like not going to help them.
That was the stepping stone to national.

Speaker 3 National doesn't happen unless I actually go to WMAR-TV, ABC2, in the local market, and I went to the station and I said, here, my name's Mario Armstrong. I have a podcast on technology.

Speaker 3 I would like to talk about tech on the morning news for free. I don't want any money.
Your viewers need to be educated on this, and here's why.

Speaker 3 And the reception is like, I can't make that decision for you. And I'm like, who can?

Speaker 3 So she's like,

Speaker 2 hold tight.

Speaker 3 I'll get the producer and I'll get the director. Next thing you know, I'm having a meeting with the local GM because they're accessible.

Speaker 2 Correct.

Speaker 3 And if your expertise is really good, or if you really want to do this and really

Speaker 3 increase your odds,

Speaker 3 show

Speaker 3 bring a corporate sponsor with you

Speaker 3 for the station to have 70% of the revenue.

Speaker 2 Right.

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Speaker 3 You keep 30.

Speaker 3 I mean, if you need to make money doing this, then don't take that piece of advice, but if you're already making money and you're looking for more influence, more authority, more credibility in the marketplace, then you want to remove every obstacle possible to get in.

Speaker 3 And I'm telling you, if you email these people or better yet, go to the station, tell them who you are, that you're willing to do, that you would like to do a segment for free.

Speaker 3 And you can DM me this on Instagram and I'll help you shape it. Because I would love to have a McUnplug listener or viewer tell me they actually reached out to me.
I helped them shape their pitch.

Speaker 3 They went to a station and they're going on next month. Like that would be crazy for both of us to know that that happened, right?

Speaker 3 So I'm challenging people, like DM me and I'll help refine your pitch. Go to at Mario Armstrong on Instagram, DM me and we'll refine your pitch.
But that's the strategy.

Speaker 3 The strategy was go local, get on TV local, because TV is visual, it's influential,

Speaker 3 it's a powerful medium for your credibility, for your own business. And then you capture the video of you appearing.
You capture you being.

Speaker 2 Professionally produced, by the way. What's that?

Speaker 2 Professionally produced. Professionally produced.
You look amazing.

Speaker 3 There's cameras cutting in. There's editing that's happening.
You're in a professional studio. You're standing next to an anchor.
So yeah, very, very much so.

Speaker 3 And then you want to just grab a couple of moments of how do you prep? What's your research like? What's your study like? What's the drive there? What are you thinking as you're walking in?

Speaker 3 A couple of those behind the scenes kind of documentary moments.

Speaker 3 And now you have a killer clip that you can use from everything from getting more clients to believe you and sign up for your services to actually getting on larger platforms or larger podcasts because you have something you can point to that's credible.

Speaker 2 All day.

Speaker 2 And I tell people this, you'll be surprised at the journalists and producers that love the fact that you're reaching out to them because for them to find, for them to find people to come on is challenging, right?

Speaker 2 Like you don't believe how challenging it is. But then the second part of this, Mario, and you know this.
The national level is going to want to see your clips from TV episodes.

Speaker 2 The Today Show, I promise you, didn't just say, oh yeah, Mario, come on. You better believe it.

Speaker 3 In fact, I know it because I have the email from 11 years ago where Rainey Pharrell says to me, we saw your local clip. Now, here's one difference.
I posted that local clip on my own YouTube channel.

Speaker 3 So they were searching for tech expert. happened to pop, but they saw it on the channel website as well as on my YouTube channel.
And that got me the introduction to come in.

Speaker 3 And oh, by the way, when I got the introduction to come in, today's show think they slick.

Speaker 3 do these segments that are called a whip. I don't know if we do them that much anymore.
I haven't really seen them that much anymore. But a whip is when they take one segment block.

Speaker 3 Normally, now when I'm on, I have my own segment block, or it'll be three minutes or four minutes, and it's just me as the guest or the guest contributor with the talent.

Speaker 3 But back then, when they try out talent, they put you in what's called a whip.

Speaker 3 And a whip is where they take the same three-minute block, but they have three different experts within that same three minutes.

Speaker 3 So I might be with Al in Studio 1A upstairs, but someone else might be with another anchor downstairs, and then another person might be out on the plaza with Carson Daly or something.

Speaker 3 And the idea is that Mario or these other three people, they probably can't ruin our viewership in 60 seconds.

Speaker 2 So if they bomb, it's okay because we're going, by the time you realize they bomb, we're on to the next person that's right so this means i didn't know this at the time but this is tryouts right right right let's really see if mario is is who we think he is that's right that's right right and so again i want to go back to and i know you're gracious with your time and i won't hold you long man but

Speaker 2 you left comfort to to be you

Speaker 2 And I don't think people understand

Speaker 2 the gravity of that, the brevity of that, of really saying, okay,

Speaker 2 I don't like when people say, I bet on myself, right? Because on a bet, the house always wins, right? Like the house always wins, and you can't control the outcome.

Speaker 2 You might have a lot of information, but you can't control the outcome.

Speaker 2 What Mario said was, I'm investing in myself, right?

Speaker 2 Talk about that investment and what you learned about you and the things that you are doing now.

Speaker 3 I just had this innate belief

Speaker 3 that all we need to do is prove our potential.

Speaker 3 I think that many of us may feel like we don't take that investment or don't take that step because we need to have it all together. And

Speaker 3 what I have found is I don't need to have it all together. I need to show the potential.
of what I could possibly have together. So what comfort level am I with showing what I'm working on? What

Speaker 3 without it being perfect? Perfect doesn't exist anyway, but without it being in whatever your eye's mind is of perfect. And so I think that

Speaker 3 that level of investment of

Speaker 3 removing the angst by number one, shrinking the momentum. How can I do things in small doses? That's step one of my own confidence building.
Like you wonder, like, yeah, how did he do it?

Speaker 3 Yeah, I didn't just bet on myself. I actually did small things that I would then reflect on because then I would put in another system.
How do you remember the small things that you actually did?

Speaker 3 You don't unless you put a system in place to remember them. Because I bet you you do know what you don't, what you have, I bet you remember what you haven't accomplished, what you haven't done yet.

Speaker 3 But can you tell me, can you rattle off real quickly the three things you got done this week? It's very hard for people. They got to sit still and think about it.
So I came up with the three wins.

Speaker 3 I was like, at the end of every single week, now I do it daily. At the end of every single week, I'm going to sit down with my family Sundays and we're going to go around the table.

Speaker 3 What were your three wins this week? I don't care what they were. You had the great, you got a great sandwich,

Speaker 3 you got that email that you were hesitant to get off, or you got that contract that came in. Whatever it is, didn't matter.
Just give me something to reflect on to move us into Monday with strength.

Speaker 3 And so it was small moments

Speaker 3 reminded me with this system that, okay, I'm having progress. That progress created confidence.
That confidence gave me the push to keep going.

Speaker 3 And so where it seems like I'm betting on myself or this dude's willing to lose it or he's got something different in his jeans and all of us. No,

Speaker 3 I had small consistent steps. I believed that all I had to do was prove my potential.
And then I had a system that would reaffirm that I am making progress, even if that progress is small.

Speaker 3 And then when that happens and you start getting getting to, you know, big progress and you end up with one of these independently on your own. And then you're like, okay, this is a real thing.

Speaker 3 And then what happens to people that hit a level of success, they don't want to take more risks because they're afraid that they can't get to where they got to before.

Speaker 3 So either you're one of two schools. You're like, oh, I did that.
Let's go higher. Or, oh, I did that.

Speaker 3 Now I'm nervous to go forward in public and do the next thing because it may not be as successful as the last thing.

Speaker 2 that sir is why you're the goat

Speaker 2 that is why you're my goat man that that is why you are my blueprint

Speaker 2 not was you still are man because all the things that you you put out there i'm picking up and it's things that i can still implement right like you say it all the time on your social media people think that Even the greats got it together all the time.

Speaker 2 No, we're still learning, right? Like there's new things that we pick up on every day. And so that's right.
I'm picking up things from you because I'm trying to get better, right?

Speaker 2 I don't want to stay where I'm at today. In order for me to get better, I've got to change, right? My mindset has to continuously evolve.
And I do that by following you, man.

Speaker 2 Like keep laying out the blueprint because I need it.

Speaker 3 I appreciate that. And I'm telling you people, look,

Speaker 3 you can't stand out and stand still at the same time.

Speaker 2 Right.

Speaker 3 You cannot stand out and stand still at the same time. So what does that require? It requires motion.

Speaker 3 We need the motion. And don't underestimate.
You know, I say this thing that

Speaker 3 it's the thing you do consistently when no one is watching that in the aggregate builds these opportunities for you.

Speaker 3 And so don't worry about if people are watching it or not. Just do the work.
Show us what you're doing more than telling us what you're doing and continue to have a

Speaker 3 system of checks and balances of being able to reaffirm the progress that you're making.

Speaker 3 And you'll start to see that you're actually building something that's leaning forward and something that you need to continue to do.

Speaker 3 Because when you do the action, every action is going to give you an opposite or equal reaction. It's going to tell you what to do next.
Yeah.

Speaker 3 So, yeah, Mick, I just really appreciate the time, the energy.

Speaker 3 I do have a question for you, though. Yes, sir.
When you are preparing

Speaker 3 and you're, you've had you know, phenomenal guests, all types of backgrounds. I've been listening to some of the episodes even prior to like getting ready for this, too.

Speaker 3 I was like, binging a few more just to kind of hear.

Speaker 3 How

Speaker 3 did you figure out that

Speaker 3 the question

Speaker 3 or the open-ended question process

Speaker 3 without ego

Speaker 3 was the way to do it. I don't know if you know what I'm trying to say.

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 3 To make it plain for some people is like a host will

Speaker 3 a host can tend to

Speaker 3 you're an expert, so you have a lot to offer and you do do that, but you don't do it at the expense of the guest. How have you found that balance?

Speaker 2 Because if I wanted a show about me, it would just be a YouTube channel and I would just talk into a screen and tell people what I want them to know. Why not do that?

Speaker 2 Because people are going to learn.

Speaker 2 I learn from my guests. I selfishly ask questions that I genuinely want to know because I feel like I represent who my listeners and viewers are.

Speaker 2 Stop.

Speaker 3 Full stop. Did you all hear that?

Speaker 3 He's asking questions that he would love to to have answered for himself, but,

Speaker 3 but, or I shouldn't say, but, and

Speaker 3 is only saying this because he feels that he is a representation of his audience. Not because this is a self-serving way for him to get info.
He knows he's going to get the info.

Speaker 3 But how is the info valuable to the audience? Well, let me ask questions that they most likely will want to have answered as well as I.

Speaker 3 That's big, man. That's why this is so, that's why it's successful.
You figured out a way.

Speaker 3 You've done these things, these lights, these cameras, this stuff, it can grab you by the ego, man, and you lose track of who my audience is, what's the purpose, and it's about me.

Speaker 3 And you have been consistently giving it to us with that beautiful balance that I've only seen experts really in the business be able to do.

Speaker 2 Man, seriously.

Speaker 3 I'm not even trying to, I'm just telling, I'm just calling it as it is.

Speaker 3 And I'm really trying to let people know at the same time, like, hey, that's a tidbit that's a gem right there what does your audience what does your your audience can be your employees right your audience can be your listeners or your viewers your readers your newsletter your clients your audience could be your kids what does your audience need and what are the questions that you would like to have answered that you think they need answered as well yes sir

Speaker 3 We can continue on, man. I know you got a format to keep to and a structure, but maybe we'll have a talk.

Speaker 2 part two.

Speaker 3 Maybe I'll bring you on my podcast as well.

Speaker 2 Well, I definitely would love to be on your podcast, but we definitely need to do a part two because I want to talk more about the upcoming book so that we can get that in play and circulation.

Speaker 2 And I want to buy copies for my viewers and listeners because I'm always doing that. So

Speaker 3 could we get a quote from you too? Could I get because we're in the middle of writing it and it just hit me? I know which chapter on

Speaker 3 which chapter you think I was playing that I had this stuff that I was about to like reschedule this okay

Speaker 3 i won't go do that i won't go do that to you um but i have this chapter that's uh called don't pitch offer

Speaker 3 so the idea of like pitching is is loaded yes uh with tension and everything else but offering is inviting and you're a you you know with your financial background and everything that you built and done, you know, this difference and this delineation I'm talking about.

Speaker 3 And I feel like we should get a quote from you about how you approached it either there or that

Speaker 3 I might have you jump in on this, this prove your potential chapter with me.

Speaker 3 Yeah. Or maybe, maybe I'll have you in, you are the business.

Speaker 3 Like, you are the business. That feels like you too.
Okay, we got a couple options. I'm going to, I'm going to email you some questions.

Speaker 3 Let you go to, let you go to town, and then we'll figure out like where it fits. But we're going to get a quote from you in the book.

Speaker 2 You got it, brother. I love you so much.
I appreciate it. At Mario Armstrong on Instagram, anywhere else you want people to find or follow you.

Speaker 3 No, that's the place. Instagram is where I'm very active, communicating the DMs there.

Speaker 3 If you,

Speaker 3 it's a little premature for the,

Speaker 3 oh, you know what? If you would love to book me for speaking, yes. Yes.
If you love the book before speaking, it's all in my link tree inside the Instagram.

Speaker 3 Just go to Mario Armstrong on Instagram, hit the main link, and you'll see everything. However you want to engage with me, I'd be more than happy.

Speaker 3 But tell me that you heard me here on Mick Unplugged, okay?

Speaker 2 I love it. I love it.
For the viewers and listeners, remember, your because is your superpower. Go unleash it.

Speaker 4 Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Mick Unplugged. If today hits you hard, then imagine what's next.
Be sure to subscribe, rate, and share this with someone who needs it.

Speaker 4 And most of all, make a plan and take action because the next level is already waiting for you have a question or insight to share send us an email to hello at mickunplugged.com until next time ask yourself how you can step up

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