Ep. 66: James Brackin IV - The Audacity to Ask

James Brackin IV, the host of the "You Can Too" podcast, joins Passing The Torch to discuss the concept of "invisible progress," the importance of persistence, and reframing rejection. 

James shares his journey in podcasting, past personal losses, and the value of resilience. 

They also discuss leveraging networks, setting dream guest lists, and maintaining mindfulness. 

James emphasizes the Four Ps: Passion, Purpose, Persistence, and Patience. 

The episode is a profound exploration of overcoming challenges, redefining success, and the enduring power of self-belief and personal growth.

Thank you for tuning in! Let's continue to inspire and grow together, Passing The Torch one conversation at a time. 🔥

#Podcast #JamesBrackinIV #InvisibleProgress #Mindfulness #Resilience #PersonalGrowth #PassingTheTorch #MartinFoster #YouCanToo #Inspiration #Motivation #Meditation

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🌟 Episode Highlights 🌟

Invisible Progress Concept:
➡︎ James delves into the idea of "invisible progress," inspired by Simon Sinek's infinite game theory, stressing the value of consistent efforts even without immediate results.

Meditation & Mindfulness:
➡︎ Reflecting on wisdom from former Navy SEAL and mindfulness teacher Jon Macaskill, Martin and James discuss the profound impact of meditation and inner peace.

Persistence in Booking Guests:
➡︎ James recounts his journey of perseverance in securing high-profile guests like Chris Voss and Dr. Michael Gervais, showcasing the non-linear nature of success.

Reframing Rejection:
➡︎ Discover how James views setbacks as temporary and maintains an unwavering belief that success is inevitable.

Guest Lists & Networking:
➡︎ Learn the power of leveraging networks and creating dream guest lists, with personal stories from Martin and James.

Personal Loss & Resilience:
➡︎ Both Martin and James share poignant stories of personal loss and the resilience it fostered, transforming pain into purpose.

Inspirational Reads:
➡︎ James recommends powerful books like "Obstacles the Way," "Psycho-Cybernetics," and "Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself," discussing the insights they offer.

Powerful Life Lessons:
➡︎ From travel adventures in Hawaii and Costa Rica to investing in personal growth, this episode is packed with valuable life lessons.

Four Ps in Podcasting:
➡︎ James reflects on the essential principles of Passion, Purpose, Persistence, and Patience in his podcast journey.

Wisdom Beyond Age:
➡︎ Challenging traditional views, James emphasizes that true wisdom comes from quality experiences and actions, not just age.

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James Brackin IV Resources:

Website

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamesbrackiniv/?hl=en

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jamesbrackiniv

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/you-can-too-with-james-brackin-iv/id1593897435 

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Mentioned:
Tom Bilyieu

Dr. Joe Dispenza, Breaking The Habit of Being Yourself

Chris Van Vliet

Dr. Tom Walters

Joe Hendry

Mark Sisson

Annie Särnblad

Case Kenny

Justin Schenck

Seth Godin

Simon Sinek Infinite Game

Chris Voss

Dr. Michael Gervais

Ryan Holiday The Obstacle Is The Way

Maxwell Maltz Psycho-Cybernetics

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Episode Quotes:

“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” – Squire Bill Widener

“True beauty in life often doesn’t look like beauty when you’re in the middle of it.”

“My own path is going to be my own path.”

“May not be my fault, but still my responsibility.”

“All that matters is how you feel about yourself when you are by yourself”
– Tom Bilyieu

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Conversation:

Intro
0:00 James Brackin IV Martin, you're awesome, man. Thank you so much. Two of those quotes sounded very familiar and I think for a reason and just really grateful for your time and your energy and your presence, man. I'm really excited for this conversation.

Why Life is Great
2:28 James Brackin IV Because I'm looking for it.

Kauai
2:45 James Brackin IV Yeah, my entire life Hawaii was always on the dream board. It was actually my vision board when I made a vision board a few years ago. And it's funny because I grew up watching Hawaii 5-0 and it was like the only thing that I could watch past 9pm when I was growing up.

Costa Rica and the importance of traveling abroad
4:17 James Brackin IV Yeah. I went in January and February of this year. I went for about two weeks. Didn't know anything about Costa Rica. Honestly, I wish I did more prep before I went, because I went in the middle of San Jose. So I'm right in the middle of the city, hours away from any of the ocean. And, man, I stayed there for two weeks

That was my Airbnb. There was no way around it. I think it's so powerful because I didn't know a lick of Spanish, by any means. I just heard so many times how empowering solo travel is, especially to a place where you're unfamiliar with. And so I thought I'd never been out of the country before.

At the time, I hadn't even been to the West Coast. And so this was just like a massive leap. Completely by myself. I knew nothing. I just knew I wanted to get uncomfortable. And so I show up there, and I think it.

I get scammed the first 10 minutes I'm there, whatever it is, by a taxi instead of getting an Uber, because I didn't have my wifi set up or my service set up and everything. But I think it's powerful, man, because you really, I came back just with this sense of I guess I can do this perspective even more than I already did. Just because you continue to show yourself that, you know, a lot of people are fearful of other parts of the world, but I think everywhere is so similar, yet so different. The same sense, but it shows you a lot about yourself. 

Starting journey young versus waiting until more life experience
6:22 James Brackin IV Yeah, it's funny too. I started in my car, not doing interviews. My first 105 episodes were solo, no microphone. I was literally recording on GarageBand on my computer. And it's so funny, looking back now, I wish I documented more of it, but I think for me, the real lever that pushed me to do it was investing in myself. So I became a coach when I was 17. Started my podcast around the same time. I invested more money than I had in my bank account by more than double.

And so I was forced to show up to make coaching work, to even just pay off the coaching program in itself. I joined the coaching program to become a coach. Nevertheless, really recognizing, I didn't know what a coach was. I just knew I wanted to do something that was impacting other people. And so in the process of recognizing, now I have to start posting on social media. Which was terrifying for me at the time, was this awareness of, well, if I'm gonna post, if I wanna start posting on Instagram to get clients or get my content out there, might as well start the podcast now. And so that was just kind of like the needle to it. But I think for me, similar to why anyone does anything in life that they really feel is something that's meant for them, it was a calling, man.

I mean, my entire life, it was like an internal narrative. I told myself was, you can too. I mean, anything that we think of in this world, and I don't think this is talked about enough to this day. Every single thing that we look at, the headphones you're using, the computer I'm using to connect you with you with, was a thought in someone's mind. And the fact that we can transmute that into the world into actually something like, I couldn't tell you how my computer works right now. That still blows me away. I just genuinely don't know how it works. We have more power in our phone than the first rocket that ever went to space.

How does that make any sense? I'm not sure. But the fact that we can think it and then do it was just empowering to me and just seeing how expansive the world really is. And I think the thing that holds most people back is just their lack of belief. And so if I could instill some belief into people, I mean, I think that's so much of the foundation of life, really.

Getting people to trust themselves
8:41 James Brackin IV I think two things. One is an open mindedness, like a state of questioning. I think the challenge with most people in life is they get to a place where they're so solidified in their belief system is what life is. I mean, Joe Dispenza, I read his book, was one of the first books that really changed my life, was breaking the habit of being yourself. When I recognized that we're just going through life based on this memory of who we are, of who we think we are, it's not even who we actually are. And so just the first emphasis there is just the awareness and questioning of what you believe to be true. Because it's probably not true. Might be true for you and it might serve you in a way, but not to your best interest.

And so just to question, to start after we've questioned, we have to get some kind of evidence. I mean, we're not going to believe in ourselves just off of hoping kind of thing. You have to give some evidence to yourself. So for me, investing in myself, maybe I didn't have the evidence of getting clients when I first started or having the life experience, but I invested into myself. I was 17 years old investing eight grand into a coaching program that I didn't have four grand in my bank account.

So that in itself was like, hell yeah, I have a lot of self doubt and I have a lot of imposter syndrome, but I'm, I just did the exact same thing that people in their 40s and 50s just did as well.

Role negative impact has on self-belief
11:17 James Brackin IV I think it's everything. I think if anything, in life we're looking for what we're going to get, what we look for in life. And if we have these beliefs that don't serve us, that were programmed into us from our parents, from the system that society placed us in. I mean, I was just speaking on this, like I said, I had a podcast with Dr. Tom Walters right before this. The amount of people that I know that went to college for psychology or neuroscience, whatever it may be, and I know more about it than they do, I never stepped foot on a college campus blows me away, but in the reality of it, doesn't blow me away because everything I ever learned in school has no actual value in real life. And so most of what we learn is going to come from us doing our own work and putting that into place. And so if that's true, then most of what we learned isn't useful to us and is actually destructive to us because it's either helping us or hurting us, and it's actually hurting us.

And so most of our beliefs or the frame that we see the world through doesn't serve us. And so if we're looking out for what we don't want or moving towards it, and so I think that I can go so much deeper into that. But that in itself, just the awareness of it is transformational.

On People dismissing him because of his young age
13:03 James Brackin IVI would say that they aren't my people, but I would think that would be wrong, Because I think a lot of people have that perception to begin with when they first come across my work. But I think anyone that gets to know me realizes that my age isn't really my age. What I mean by that is the amount of people this year that have told me that I have an old soul or that I've lived many lives. You can phrase it in however you feel is more than people that say, dang, you're 21. It's like so many people are surprised by my age. Not because, I mean, I definitely look young, for sure, But I think wisdom doesn't really come from age, but it comes more from experimenting and not much experience. I've used this analogy before, but there's people in their 70s, 80s. I think we've all experienced it when we're sitting on a plane and we're sitting next to an older man or older woman that wants to give us all the advice in the world from a place that they've done nothing in their life of any value.

And so why would I take any. Like, yes, you're older than me. You have more experience than me, but have you had more experiences than me? Have you actually experienced life to its fullness? Like, the amount of people that I've been able to speak to that are in their 70s and 80s through this podcast is profound. I would much rather learn from people that are in a position that I'd want to be in rather than a position that isn't. And so I really don't think age has anything to do with my wisdom or the value that I can provide now.

‘AHA’ Moment
15:12 James Brackin IV Hmm. I don't think I. In my life, I had any. I had reasons to do it, but never a moment that was like. That gave me evidence to do it, if that makes sense.

I grew up not the most confident kid. I was outgoing. I was like the class clown. I wanted to be noticed, but not from a place of confidence, rather from a place of insecurity. And so not really. I didn't really have anything that made me think, man, I'm the one that is capable of doing this. It was just more so. Like I said earlier, it was.

I wasn't pushed to do it. I felt pulled to do it. It was a calling. Like, it wasn't something that I felt like I should do. It was more so something that I needed to do. And so. And I think most people are, in that way, if they're doing anything, you feel compelled. And that in itself, when I spoke to Mark Sisson, who sold Primal kitchen for, like, 200 million bucks, when I asked.

When I asked him what makes him do the things he does is he just feels compelled to do it. And I think the same thing for me.

How serving others through his podcast has changed perspective on success and fulfillment
17:01 James Brackin IV I think it's made me really question what I believe is success as a whole. Like Mark Sisson, I can mention there's plenty others that I've had on the podcast that have sold their business for hundreds of millions of dollars, or they're currently running a business that has done hundreds of millions of dollars. I wouldn't necessarily define those people as successful. Not to say Mark Sisson, as an example, as successful. I think he's doing some amazing things and he's living a great life, but I think there's a lot of people. For example, Annie Särnbladis someone I spoke to recently, and she's a micro expressions expert and is working with plenty of billionaires and people that are really, really high up in companies. And when we were speaking, she was telling me how most of the people, pretty much every person she works with, is unhappy. I mean, they have hundreds of millions of dollars in their bank account, but they're unhappy.

And it made me really think about a lot of the things that we define as success are measurable things. Money, status, followings, whatever it may be, like it's something that we can see. I would take more value in the things we can't see. Like, I would find a yogi more successful than someone that's running $100 million company but doesn't spend time with their family. You know what I mean? So I think it's figuring out, what do you define as success? And almost just questioning what that is. Because what you want and what you're supposed to want are two different things. And I think we've been taught what we're supposed to want and not so much of what we actually want. And I don't think people really get down to questioning what it is they actually want.

And I think for me, I'm still trying to figure that out of what I actually want. So I think it changes as the day goes on, honestly.

Internal measurement of success
18:56 James Brackin IV I would say so. I'd add one more thing that has stuck with me for a few years, and it's that the way people have asked me on plenty of podcasts before is the way I would answer it. Is my success is my standards? Am I doing what I said I would do? I am successful. If I'm not doing what I said I would do, my reputation with myself is diminishing. And that's not. I'm not. I'm not okay with that.

4 P’s of Passion, Purpose, Persistence, and Patience
20:48 James Brackin IV Yeah, in December dude, it'll be four. So it's crazy to think about. I forgot, I forget that I did 105 solo episodes nowadays because I'm doing an interview a week. But no, I think that stays true. Honestly, I feel like I haven't listened back to any of the podcasts I've done in a long, long time. But they're probably, they probably stick to be true because honestly, at that time, like you said, I was a, it was like a compulsion to have to do it when it was freezing out. I, you know, sit in my car.

I couldn't put the heat on. Same thing for when it's hot out. I couldn't put the AC on, but it was just, It was more so for me than anyone else. I mean, hopefully it would provide some value. But it was like a public journal, and so anything that was true then probably is true now.

Power of Questions
23:28 James Brackin IV Yeah. Thank you again. I think it's similar to belief and it is the foundation that is creating our life experience. It is the glasses. It's the color on the glasses that we wear. It's the air that we breathe. It's everything. It's everything.

 When you think of. And I'll give you the example when you ask me, is there something that made me start podcasting or want to impact people? There was a moment in my life when I stopped asking, why is this happening to me? And I started asking, how is this happening for me? I know you've heard it if you've listened to any podcast I've done. I explained this many times, but it really is like the moment that instantly everything changed. Not in a tangible way, but in the way that I framed my experiences. And I think that in itself is everything, because Justin explained this on my podcast. I've heard it plenty of times of the father that had two sons. The alcoholic father had two sons. I mean, one became an alcoholic, one became successful.

Their reasoning was because of their father. And so the questions that you ask yourself are going to. Your brain is kind of like ChatGPT and the questions are the prompts. And so if you're giving yourself a negative prompt, why is this happening to me? ChatGPT is going to give you an answer based on the prompt that you gave it. You have to be specific. Same thing with your language that you use the language. If. If someone tells me that they're going to try to do something, I automatically know they're not going to do it.

If someone tells me that they should do something, I automatically know they're coming from a place of shame, because should is only shame. Like just the language that we use and the questions that we ask create our experience and the way that we approach life, because life isn't. You don't experience life, you experience how you perceive life, your experience of life. And so I think it really is everything. And I'm always trying to find questions to better ask myself. When I had Seth Godin on the show, he told me to create a guidebook of 365 questions that I ask.

Currently working on that now. Because I think that even if I were to only use it, it would be transformational for me. Because if everything is going wrong, ask yourself a better question. I bet you the situation gets better.

Invisible Progress
27:05 James Brackin IV Yeah, yeah, I was just speaking about this on the podcast. I was speaking to Tom Walters before I think most of our life, at least for me and I'm a very action driven person. If I can't do anything about it, I'm just going to take action on it. And I'm a day to day kind of person. When people ask me I'm so young, what's your dream vision? Five, ten years down the road? I'm thinking the whole purpose of life is to enjoy the passage of time. I couldn't tell you where I'm going to be in two months from now, physically, mentally, business wise, I don't even know. I have no idea. And so who am I to think that I have any kind of idea of where I'm going to be and actually hold true to it.

So for me, invisible progress is the day to day of you're not seeing any kind of result meditation, for example, you don't see anything from that physically reading a book, you may not get anything from it. Physically showing up and reaching out on social media to get guests on your show, you may not see it visibly. It may take three months like sales does where you do something today and it shows up. Your results show up 90 days down the road. I kind of treat life like that in a sense of everything in life really. I may not get the result now and it may feel invisible to me, but I'm just going to take action on it and just trust in the universe that it's working in my favor because I'm doing the work. And so I think just showing up most of life is just that invisible progress of just doing something and not needing it to work out. Because that detachment is almost what makes it work out because you show up more.

 When I started the podcast when I was doing solo episodes, I had no detachment or I had no attachment to people watching it, it was just more so I need to do this. And so that Invisible Progress, I wasn't getting downloads. I wasn't getting people watching. Like, I wasn't getting any kind of anyone really paying attention, but I was doing it anyway. And so I think it's kind of like the infinite game that I think. I think Simon Sinek talks about it. It's like in anything in life, if you can do something, and even if you were to fail, you still get something from it, do that. And I think that's what the core of Invisible Progress really is now.

How to stay motivated and persistent in the face of a challenge
30:05 James Brackin IV 

Importance of turning pain into purpose
34:01 James Brackin IV Yeah, I think it's like you said earlier, the questions that you ask yourself and the belief and the experiences and kind of the way that you approach life because with the way that you reframe your experiences is it's going to be everything really. I mean, growing up with losing all the men in my life that were like the most foundational men in my life all passed. All unexpected. No one could have predicted any of it. It was just felt like it didn't make any sense now. I mean, even trying to make sense of it is almost the purpose of life is like whatever the purpose of life is, whatever you believe the purpose of life is, like just trying to make sense of things that you can't make sense of. And I think for me, when someone passes in your life, we often live as though we're never going to die because we can't conceptualize it. Like no one can predict what's going to happen.

After death, no one can even picture it because we have no idea of what it's going to be like. But we still live as though were not going to die because of that. And I think for me, growing up with many people passing away in my life, at first I felt like, why is this happening to me? These are the most important people in my life. And then it was this realization of, well, now I get to create my own identity not carved after anyone before me, because they're not here. I'm not convoluted by their preconceived notions or perceptions that would probably. Their biases that probably wouldn't serve me. I mean, there's so many positives that you can get, but I think in your life, we're always looking for the things that we want, like the biggest dream goals, buying a house, buying the Lambo or whatever it is, like the small things that we think are the biggest things in our life. The reality of it is that when you get to the end of your life, the things that are really going to make you who you are isn't the things that you've done, but it's the things you went through.

And so I'm very grateful for the things that have happened in my life, and that's the best way I've been able to kind of see them for my benefit.

Any conversations he regrets not having with his Dad, Uncle, or Grandfather
36:35 James Brackin IV To be completely honest, I heard my dad's voice for the first time, like last year through a video. So I don't remember anything. Not really. I don't think I was to give myself some graces. I don't think I was conscious enough to even have cause I truly believe, and this is, I don't know what it is over these past few years, but I feel like I've lived two separate lives.
 
I really do. Like, I feel like when I started my podcast, coaching and everything else, my life actually started. Like, I don't know who the quote was from, probably Teddy Roosevelt or someone. But you're. You have. You have two lives, and your second life starts when you realize you only have one. And that quote really stuck with me because I. Over these past few years, I realized, like, a lot of my memory from my childhood, and I'm diving in with a lot of psychologists and psychotherapists and people like that from, like, somatic work on the podcast to dive into this.

But I don't remember a lot of my childhood, so I couldn't tell you a conversation I did have, to be honest, let alone one that I wish I did.

How loss has shaped approach to personal development
37:46 James Brackin IV I was actually making a YouTube video on this this morning. Obstacles the Way is one of the best books I think everyone needs to read. Truly. Like, I really love that book Psycho Cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz.

So many good things. I have multiple tattoos in my body from that book. Psycho Cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz came out in like the. Think the 60s, 1960s. I read it, I listened to it on audiobook and I think that's a book everyone needs to read to understand the self image. And it's just so good. So good. Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself by Joe Dispenza.

Favorite Yankees’ memorabilia from his Grandfather
40:21 James Brackin IV It's crazy that you know that. On the other side of my room, actually, I have a Yankees baseball bat with a bunch of. I think it was 1993 when they won the World Series. Could be. Could be a different year. I know it was in the 90s. All signatures of people, which was really cool.

It's funny that you mentioned my grandfather giving me the Yankees stuff because my dad was the biggest Steelers fan, I think, that I've ever met. I guess you'd say I got stuff from his that like, couldn't even use it. Like, he had a Steelers credit card. Like, I don't even know how you get that. I don't even know what to do with the Steeler stuff that he's given me or I've got from him.

Failures looking forward to
41:52 James Brackin IV It's a good question. I don't know where I'd go with that. I think life in itself, like, there's tiny failures we deal with every day, there's big failures. But in the grand scheme of thing, I think I was making a video on this right before this earlier today that I think a lot of people think success and failure are like two different roads that they go down. And I think that success is just further along the road of failure. And so. And one of the going back to, like, reframing experiences, I used to do everything to avoid failure. Now I just see it as feedback.

So I think every failure I experience is kind of like one. I guess I'm actively trying my best to be open to, I guess, and see what I can gain from it. But there's nothing specifically that I can think of now.

How fear of failing actually a positive and productive motivational tool
43:26 James Brackin IV Yeah, I think the fear of failure was. I think for a lot of people, it's kind of like a driving force in a way, because as much as it holds you back, it also pushes you forward because it can hold you back from taking action. But once you've started to take action, well, then it's like, well, the fear of failure is going to be the thing that pushes me because I don't want to be seen as a failure. So now I have to show up. Now every single week, you're going to get two podcast episodes from me. And so it's like just. It really. It holds you accountable to doing what you said you would do.

I think failure is the greatest information rich experience that we can have. And I think if we see them as feedback rather than I'm the failure, rather than identifying with it, we see that, the benefit from it. I think a lot of people would search for it rather than try to avoid it.

Movie image that depicts motivation and inspiration
44:45 James Brackin IV Invincible with Mark Wahlberg.

If there was a GIANT BILLBOARD that he could place anywhere in the world with his message on it for the world to see, where would the billboard be and what would the message say?
45:17 James Brackin IV