Thursday, July 1- Todd Dewett, PhD Dewett joins the show this week to share about his new book, Live Hard, his love for the virtual keynote, and Todd does what he does best – tells an AWESOME story about his visit to EWNCON and a trip around the track that changed his perspective.
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Episode Transcript
Jim Schauer: [0:22] Good morning, everyone. Welcome to this edition of “Coffee with Jim & James”
[0:27] James, I, I was going to go through a wild story of the first time I saw the doctor give a talk. But we’re going to get into that in a little bit because I just got stymied. When I enter this call and I see you two, and I’m like, wait a minute, is my screen split?
James Cross: [0:45] [laughs]
Jim: [0:46] Were they separated at birth? What, are, what are, it stymied me.
James: [0:52] Yeah, Todd got all the genetics, though. But, obviously, neither one of us got the hair. But…
Jim: [0:57] [laughs]
James: [0:58] I’m not mad. I’ve spent the last time combing my hair the last 20 years than, than most things. I’m sure Todd can, can agree. Doctor Do it? Man.
Jim: [1:09] Yeah.
James: [1:10] How long ago has it been since we connected? It’s been a while. Maybe two, three, four years now?
Dr. Todd Dewett: [1:15] Yeah.
James: [1:17] Welcome to the show.
[1:18]
Dr. Dewett: [1:18] Thanks, man. Great to see you. Great to be here.
Jim: [1:20] Welcome.
James: [1:21] Yep.
Jim: [1:23] Welcome.
James: [1:24] We are excited to have you. You’ve been a longtime friend of ours? We’ve had you at a few of our conferences. And I know Jim was a big fan, so I’m gonna let Jim lead us off today.
Jim: [1:34] Yeah, I am a huge fan, you know, Dr. D. And that’s, since we’re on the same level, I can say, Dr. D, you know? I mean…
[1:41] Dr.
Dewett: [1:41] [laughs] Sure.
Jim: [1:42] [inaudible] You were at two of our conferences, 2017, then again in 2019. And I have to tell you, in 2017, I wasn’t with the company yet. I was actually a CEO of another company, and I was wowed by you, you know?
[2:00] First of all, I hear, you know, doctor is going to be give a presentation. I’m like, oh boy. This is going to be an all of a sudden..
Jim: [2:12] stage. And I’m like…
James: [2:14] Terrible.
Jim: [2:14] I’m like, oh no, but I’m being real, you know? I mean, all of a sudden, you know, he’s like eight feet tall and then he starts to speak and he doesn’t even use a microphone.
Jim: [2:16] I mean, like, everywhere.
James: [2:19] That’s awesome.
Jim: [2:20] So, I mean, again, I just want to give you some kudos. If anybody hasn’t, please check out on LinkedIn. A lot of the stuff that you’re doing, it’s great. So I just want to give you that quick plug right now.
Dewett: [2:30] Hey, great time, man.
Jim: [2:32] No, it’s my pleasure. And it comes from the heart, too, because you’re, you are very dynamic. But, you know, this past year, Doctor, it has been interesting. You know, Todd? It’s, you know, unprecedented for all of us.
[2:47] And you being that dynamic in‑person speaker that you have, that’s how we got to know you, how I got to know you. Now the world has changed, upside down. So how has that affected you? How has that, you know, maybe enhanced you? You know, give us some insight into that.
Dr. Dewett: [3:03] Well, I mean, it’s affected me big‑time, for sure. Let me start by saying, again, thank you very much. I mean, the greatest compliment anyone who’s a writer, speaker, think your type of person could ever have is if a client calls them back more than once. So huge props to you guys. I hope I see you a third time in the future.
James: [3:15] You bet.
Dr. Dewett: [3:16] It’s been weird for all of us. You’re absolutely right. For me, the first obvious thing was bye‑bye to in‑person speaking.
[3:24] I was on stage in Sydney, Australia, giving a talk to a large group of people. And after I finished, it went well, I’m very happy to say, I left the stage. And the event organizer walked up, took the mic, and said, very sorry, but the country’s about to close. We’re gonna have to cancel the rest of the event.
James: [3:40] Wow.
Dr. Dewett: [3:40] [laughs] And so my wife, I was with my wife, my wife and I had to get early flights home and try and escape before they closed for the first time over there.
[3:48] And then I got home and got email after email after email, cancel, cancel, delay, delay, cancel, cancel on events. And it was more canceled than anything. And that’s understandable and difficult.
[3:59] So on the one hand, that went bye‑bye. But then there was a couple of unexpected upsides. One was that this has gone through the roof in many…
James: [4:08] No doubt.
Dr. Dewett: [4:09] ways. And I always did this, but I did this much of it. Now I do a ton of it and strangely really love doing it. I didn’t start that way, but I grew into doing it. [laughs] Making love to the camera, my wife reminds me…
Dr. Dewett: [4:20] is, is kind of what I’m great at now. That’s one. The other thing was that because so many people were stuck at home, online consumption of educational materials of many types went through the roof and hasn’t really stopped.
[4:32] And one of my claims to fame, you might recall, is making a lot of popular online courses.
James: [4:36] Yep.
[4:36]
Dr. Dewett: [4:36] And those things have gone, really, really, really well. So believe me when I say I got as lonely as everyone. I missed friends. I missed restaurants. But I don’t have a darn thing to complain about. Things are going well. And I am very excited about the slow return to stages in front of live people. [laughs]
James: [4:53] Yep. Todd, I feel the same way. I’ve got the bless, I’ve been blessed to speak multiple times this past year virtually. And I love speaking in front of crowds. I really do it. It’s something I enjoy.
[5:06] However, being behind the camera has been kind of neat, too. And doing this podcast is one thing. I’m not, I’m not discounting that.
[5:13] But then speaking to, you know, the virtual conferences out there has been actually something. I love to do it, you know? I really do. And I didn’t think it would be that way. But as I’ve done it more and more, I don’t want to say I prefer it yet, ’cause I really do like getting out there, shaking hands, kissing babies, all that thing.
[5:33] But, man. I don’t want it to go away. And it won’t, I feel like we’re…
Dr. Dewett: [5:37] No, it won’t.
James: [5:37] We’ve got another full‑time job to add to the others.
Jim: [5:40] Yep.
James: [5:41] So I’m glad, it’s good to hear that. And I have a very similar story, Todd. When I heard about the pandemic, I was traveling as well, in Galveston.
[5:49]
James: [5:49] It was kind of like that, but not, not quite Sydney. But in, it might be in the same gulf.
Jim: [5:54] I was in Tennessee. I was in Nashville, in the same type of thing, where all of a sudden people panicked. They’re like, get home because you might be stuck in Tennessee for, at that time, two weeks, I’m telling you.
James: [6:05] Which…
Dr. Dewett: [6:05] Right? [laughs]
James: [6:06] It’s a long time in Tennessee time. Yep. Well…
Dr. Dewett: [6:09] You learn…
James: [6:09] Let’s, Todd, let’s talk a little bit. You sent me, just out on the whim, I just got the book in the mail. Oh, that’s not it.
Jim: [6:19] No?
James: [6:19] This one too? He didn’t…
Dr. Dewett: [6:21] [laughs]
James: [6:21] Where is it? Where is it? There it is. “Live Hard.”
Jim: [6:24] There we go.
James: [6:25] Those, I see it behind you, too. For those, for those that don’t know, you see all the books behind Dr. Todd Dewett? He is an accomplished author. He can tell you all kinds of awesome things and awesome stories. But his books are fantastic.
[6:42] When, when we had him speak, we actually bought books for everybody in the conference so we could supply those.
Jim: [6:49] Yep.
James: [6:51] The new one, though, Todd, can you tell me a little bit about the inspiration behind it, how you kind of got there and, man, also, where can people get it?
Dr. Dewett: [7:01] Sure. Thanks, man. Well, the inspiration actually was the first one? I think I met you guys, I was still talking a lot about, show your ink.
[7:08] And the reason it’s fun to start answering with that is because, when I wrote that book, a lot of folks said, man, you can’t write a book that’s just stories, stories that you use in keynotes and things. You’re giving away the show there, Todd.
[7:20] That was, that was common for me to hear that from some people. And I decided, I’ll spare you the long story, but I decided it really made sense and wasn’t going to do anything except help. And I was right. Kind of lucky, but I was right.
[7:29] And because that took off for me, I said I’ve got to do this again. What do I have left to talk about? And I had a big area left, maybe two or three.
[7:37] But one of them is about creativity, innovation, and change, really engaging life, taking principled risks, trying to be successful on your own terms. And I started thinking, do I have stories around that? Have I met people that shared stories?
[7:48] Pretty quick I realized I think I have 20 very personal, you know me, I think pretty deep. But I really try to communicate simple, simple, heartfelt, emotional stories because people can remember, relate to maybe use them.
[8:00] And I started taking some notes and I realized, yeah, I’ve got, I’ve got 20 stories here. And they fit into themes such as, you know, living fully, living successfully, embracing the future, what have you. And I started thinking, what am I going to call this?
[8:13] And there was a signature story about the time I was doing a lot of soul searching and reading a lot of philosophy and figuring out what I believed in life and things of that nature.
Dr. Dewett: [8:21] And I kept coming back to, you know, again, I’m simple. I kept coming back to two words, live hard, which really did kind of bring together a lot of related ideas that I think the book speaks to. Its supposed to wake you up, shake you up, make you believe that more is possible.
[8:36] And I bear a little soul in there, admit a few things, and push you to do the same along the way. And it’s been fun, very early, it’s been fun. And of course, anyone interested can jump over to Amazon and grab a copy.
James: [8:48] Sweet. Sweet. And now, just, in full disclosure, when I talked to Todd last time, I was booking him for our conference. He told me, you better book me now. Because after I release this next book, my price is going to double.
James: [9:03] And I said, all right, you better get on. So I don’t know if he’s the best sells man or the best salesman, but either way, he nailed it. But I thought that was a…
Jim: [9:11] It’s like a little marketing genius going on right there.
James: [9:13] Either way, he got me twice, I think.
Jim: [9:15] I love it. Todd, let me ask you a question. In the book, you kind of reference our last conference, and a, it was at the Fort Worth Motor Speedway at an event that happened to you on, down on the racetrack. Getting out of a car, I, you looked a little shook up. And I think this is a great time to hear one of those stories. Can you…
Dr. Dewett: [9:42] Yeah, man.
Jim: [9:43] every…
Dr. Dewett: [9:44] I owe you, man. I really owe you guys for this. Life experience…
Dr. Dewett: [9:47] that are rich, even when they’re scary and almost kill me, are a beautiful thing, to me because I learn something and then I usually turn it into a story and share it with others to help them and to make a dollar in my life, frankly.
[9:58] So I’m a lover of experiences that produce stories. And boy did you guys give me one.
[10:02] So I showed up and I, the first time I was ever with you, I passed on the opportunity. And I don’t remember why. I was busy or something. Second time, I said, yes, let’s do this. How often do you get to do it? I’m not a NASCAR guy. I’m not even a car guy, but it just sounds so intriguing I had to do it.
[10:16] And so I stood around with some other people that you had, you know, that were there for the conference. And we’re getting to know each other, we’re putting on these stinky, thick, hot, fire suits.
James: [10:25] Yep.
Dr. Dewett: [10:25] And then we got these big old helmets and stuff. It was great and scary. I’m not even gonna lie. I’m a motorcycle guy from way back. But the idea of being inside one of these caged cars with the way they go, just kind of freaked me out.
[10:37] I was ready to, let’s do this. You only live once, right? So anyhow, there were six cars that day, if I recall. And I had the one in the back. I don’t know how that worked out.
[10:45] And we get strapped in and that was tight. I barely fit. That was creepy all by itself. I’ve got a newly retired, I think, pro, who’s going to be driving for me? Nice guy. Didn’t say a lot. Looked a little twitchy. I was nervous before we start moving.
Dr. Dewett: [10:57] And then he started revving the engine. first thing that scared me, to be frank with you, is that I didn’t know this, but when they take off, especially when they’re just practicing and warming up, they intentionally swerve the back of those cars to help get those tires warmed up.
[11:11] I had no idea. No one told me. All’s I know is I thought we’re about to crash or something. Anyhow, he didn’t look at me. He’s used to us freaking out. And we started doing the first turn, and we started hitting speeds I’d never hit quickly in a car.
Jim: [11:23] Yeah.
Dr. Dewett: [11:23] My heart was racing. I honestly was feeling as much scared as I was exhilarated.
[11:29] And then things, in a very, very quick second, changed. We went for, I believe it was turn number three on the first lap, if I recall, and I’m in the back. And the car in front of us, I don’t know, 30, 50 feet at one point in front of us, did a little er, er, er.
[11:44] Next thing I know, slamming into the wall, and there’s smoke involved. My guy does an emergency [brake squeal sound], and we clearly missed by feet, not not too many. This car pulled over quick. Everyone else pulls over quick. All’s I know is that there was a wreck. I saw smoke.
[11:59] I knew the one, I had met her in line, who was in that car. And my life is passing like this. I mean, I we came close to this smoking thing, and I just, I’d never been that scared in my life. Anyway, we pulled over. They forgot about us.
[12:11] The drivers jumped out of the cars to go check on their buddy and see what was going on and a few minutes later remembered me in the car. He came back [laughs] and he unbuckled me and got me out. I was almost ready to dance, but I had to know if the, our friend that we just met, was okay.
James: [12:26] Yeah.
Dr. Dewett: [12:26] I’m standing around with the other survivors of this unexpected, difficult moment, thinking, I can’t believe I did this. I should have listened to my better senses. Man, I’m glad that’s over. I don’t ever need to do that again.
[12:36] We got word that the woman passenger was hurt a small bit, no big deal, gash on the chin. Driver’s fine, car’s kind of OK. I think I remember a conversation about debris. I’m not sure exactly what the eventual cause that they figured out was for the little wreck there.
[12:54] Anyhow, I’m just thinking, let’s see her. Sure enough, the ambulance and all that leaves. Next thing that we know, we’re surprised they haven’t dismissed us. We thought they were going to at some point. We didn’t think we were going again.
[13:04] Here comes this small woman. And I had met her, and I wish I could remember her name. She was…
James: [13:08] Can’t think of her name neither, but I’m going to find out before.
Dr. Dewett: [13:11] 4 or 5’3″, 5′ 2″ tiny, thin little woman in her 20s, brunette, kind, walks up to us. She’s got a big old thing on her chin now because she got a cut down there.
Jim: [13:20] Yep.
Dr. Dewett: [13:21] She’s looking at us like, what’s wrong with you people? And we’re all like…
James: [13:23] [laughs]
Dr. Dewett: [13:23] you’re OK. And she’s like, yeah I’m OK. Aren’t we going to finish this thing? [laughs] I’m like…
James: [13:27] Yeah.
Dr. Dewett: [13:28] [laughs] Oh, on the inside. I’m like, no. Are you serious? And she said, matter‑of‑factly, like, duh, why don’t we go finish what we started?
[13:36] Duh, that was rare. That was an anomaly. We got the [inaudible] stuff out of the way. It’s not going to happen again.
[13:42] She was saying all this stuff without saying it, just by being so confident, calm, and encouraging us. And I don’t know if that was her goal or if that was just her personality.
[13:49] But me and most of the others standing around there, who thought we had survived and we’re done, instantly kind of melted as we watched her confidence and thought some, what, what all of sudden seemed like obvious thoughts.
James: [13:59] Yeah.
Dr. Dewett: [13:59] Of course, we’ll persist and finish what we said we would do.
James: [14:02] [laughs]
Dr. Dewett: [14:02] It was more fun than it was scary. She just proved it to us.
James: [14:05] Right?
Dr. Dewett: [14:06] Let’s go. And so, like crazy people, put the helmet back on, got in the car, did the full laps, and frankly had a blast, had a blast.
[14:14] And I’ll never forget her as long as I live, even though I’m blanking on her name.
Dr. Dewett: [14:18] Because she so confidently turned us around and how we thought about it, just like that. And I, for the rest of my life, will remember how fun, how scary it all was.
[14:27] But most importantly how she looked at us, like, yes, we’re going to finish what we started. We can persist. This isn’t going to stop us. And because someone said it so well, so confidently, it seemed real, and we did it. It’s a great story.
James: [14:40] Wow, that was unreal.
Jim: [14:43] I love that.
James: [14:44] Yeah.
Jim: [14:44] I absolutely love it.
James: [14:46] Jim, a very similar story.
Jim: [14:46] Yeah.
James: [14:47] When, from the year before, two years before that, that’s not the to the degree yours is. But, Jimmy, tell, tell Todd that, just fly over it.
Jim: [14:56] I was a visitor, I was a client, I was a CEO of a energy company. And we get to the racetrack and I thought it was great. And somebody says, well, you should go in the race car.
[15:05] And I looked at it, Todd, and I’m like, [laughs] that’s cute. There’s no way. I’m like, how fast does it go? They were like, oh, 165 miles an hour, not too bad. I’m like 165 miles an hour.
[15:14] But the people are like, come on. You can do it. You can do it. And I’m like, OK, so how do we do it? They said, well, the first lap is when you get up to speed. And then the second lap, you kind of get your groove. Then the third lap they take up to 165. And then the final lap is a downturn, right?
[15:29] So we get in the car, and the same thing. All of a sudden they drop the flag, and this guy’s going 165 miles an hour in the first turn. And I’m like, I mean, I’m white knuckles. So we made one turn and I’m like, OK, I got three more or three more laps to go.
[15:44] But all of a sudden, we’re going around, and all of a sudden there is a noise. Poof! And I see confetti, and I feel something on my leg. And I’m like, I’m like, Lord, help me. You taking me now?
[15:55] And the driver was frantically moving his arm like this and grabbing for stuff. What had happened is the transmission blew, the gear shift blew up, hit the roof, came down. I had my cell phone in my pocket, shattered my cell phone. And this confetti was the boot to the gearshift knob, all the…
Dr. Dewett: [16:15] Oh. [laughs]
Jim: [16:15] in there. And there was smoke and everything. And all of a sudden, you know, we, he’s, you know, yelling and and controlled.
Jim: [16:23] But he’s like, hold on, hold on. And then we get down, we’re going like maybe slow, 30, 40 miles an hour. I’m like, do we jump out? Do we jump out? He’s like, stay in your seat. I’m like, yes, sir. I will.
[16:33] So we get down there, they finally tow us back in. Everybody thought, they were like, what happened to Jimmy’s car? And then people are like, well, somebody throws up, they usually get down to the story. Everybody threw up, right?
James: [16:45] I may have spread that rumor, but…
Jim: [16:47] They probably did. So we get back in and I get out. And, you know me, I’m like, OK, yeah, we’re all right. They were like, did you throw up? I’m like, no, the car blew up. I mean, you know.
[16:56] So then guy, the main guy comes up and he goes, hey, you know, you didn’t get your full ride, go ahead. I’m like, go ahead where? Home? To the hotel? I need to lay down.
[17:05] He’s like, no, no, you gotta go another round. So, you know, everybody’s cheering me on it. I’m telling you, this is the same point. I’m like, you know what? Am I going to quit? Or am I going to do it? What’s the worst that could happen, you know? It’s all in, not in my hands. And I did it and similar, not, not to the same extent of you, but it was similar.
Dr. Dewett: [17:22] Quite similar, quite similar. It sounds like we are both survivors. And we gotta ask this client if they’re going to continue offering these dangerous rides, huh?
James: [17:28] I know.
Dr. Dewett: [17:29] [laughs]
James: [17:29] And you know, it’s sad our vision is to make the world a safer place to work, but.
Jim: [17:34] I know. Right? [laughs]
James: [17:34] But based on both of these stories, it sounds like we have.
Jim: [17:37] And I’ve, and since then we’re giving live presentations because I’m not too good at doing technical at the same time. Todd, I tried to give one at the Oklahoma Gas Association last year. And I love speaking in front of people live because I can connect.
[17:51] And I’m trying to work a mouse and monitors and things are going haywire. And James is like, never again.
Dr. Dewett: [17:56] Never again.
James: [17:57] Never, never again.
Jim: [17:59] Never again.
James: [18:01] Todd, we do something on our show with every guest and to close.
Jim: [18:05] Yep.
James: [18:05] And so I’m going to ask you one question. Do you love what you do?
Dr. Dewett: [18:11] I not only love what I do. I sometimes love it so much I feel guilty. I, I’ll just say that I have a good, I make a good living, and I’m grateful for that. And I get to have fun doing it with material I find interesting.
[18:24] And this is the, this is a flex, this is a brag, and maybe I should, I should try and be humble about it. But I get to know…
James: [18:29] Yeah.
Dr. Dewett: [18:29] people while I’m doing that.
James: [18:31] Humble brag.
Dr. Dewett: [18:32] Actually, whether I’m on stage or making a course or writing a book, I get to help people. So I feel unspeakably blessed that I get to earn a good living, have fun, and help people while doing it. You kidding me?
James: [18:43] Yeah.
Jim: [18:44] That’s awesome.
James: [18:45] Right?
Jim: [18:46] The passion, I mean, that flows out of you, the passion from the first time I’ve, we saw you to every time.
Dr. Dewett: [18:55] You can’t, you can’t fake it. You know, one thing I talk about a lot with people is finding fit in your life. I found my version of it.
[19:00] Where does that passion come from? It comes from being comfortable and honest and excited about finding a, it’s a, it’s an alignment between what your personality is, what your skill set is, and what’s required around you.
[19:11] Now, if you saw me working for a consulting firm 25, 30 years ago, you would have seen a different person. And you would have been like, that kid’s lacking passion.
Dr. Dewett: [19:19] It wasn’t there. But eventually, over time, got to take some risks. You have to in life. It is an active sport life. And, and if you’re lucky, you’ll find fit. And that’s where I see the same juice in you guys, man. I absolutely, I got a lot of clients, they’re not all…
James: [19:32] We love it.
[19:33]
Dr. Dewett: [19:33] authentic and excited as you guys are. So obviously, you’ve taken the time to find some quality fit yourself.
James: [19:38] We do.
Jim: [19:39] Thanks for…
James: [19:40] We do.
Jim: [19:39] Thanks for recognizing that.
James: [19:40] Yeah, for sure. We’re loving what we do, Todd. I mean, we’re thankful to have guests like you and folks to join us and help spread the word. But we are. We’re enjoying it. And we’re enjoying connecting people, which is really our biggest goal.
[19:56] You know, during all this is why we started it. And if, you know, we can help one person, obviously, that’s, that’s enough to keep going.
Jim: [20:03] Keep, and puts a smile on our face every day? Todd, or as I like to say, Dr. D, thank you so much. We can’t…
James: [20:10] Yes, sir.
[20:11]
Dr. Dewett: [20:11] My pleasure, Jim. I hope I see you again.
James: [20:13] Oh, absolutely, sir.
[20:14] For all of our audience, please connect with Dr. D, as I like to say, connect with Todd, follow him on LinkedIn. If you’re on a podcast, go to LinkedIn, go to his website, check it out. There’s some…
James: [20:26] Drdewett.com.
Jim: [20:29] There we go.
Dr. Dewett: [20:30] Excellent, Jim. I appreciate that.
Jim: [20:32] Absolutely. Until next week on Coffee with Jim & James, for all of us, thank you for tuning in. We hope you grabbed one item today that will make your life just a little bit better. And until next week, as I always say, stay safe. Take care everybody.
James: [20:47] Pick up the book.
Jim: [20:48] Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Get the book Live Hard on Amazon.
Jim: [20:50] You can order it on Amazon.
James: [20:50] All right, see you, everyone.
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