S1E8. Our guest this week is Max Garcia, a retired Marine Sergeant Major who is now a motivational speaker and life coach. His advice and words of wisdom were absolute gold, we cover a variety of topics. He shares with us about a veterans mindset after leaving the service and his passion and how to deal with problems. Max is a featured author in the Amazon best-selling book, The Abundance Factor, which you can get on his website, lifecoach8.net, or Amazon.
More information about Max Garcia.
Max’s book (from his website w/ photo), The Abundance Factor.
Max’s book (Amazon), The Abundance Factor.
AUTO-TRANSCRIBED – PLEASE FORGIVE ERRORS AND TYPOS
Max Garcia 00:00
My main focus is on helping people overcome obstacles and accomplishing whatever they want to do. And if you’re focused on whatever it is you want to accomplish, then your problems will minimize themselves, your problems will easily fall off the mat if you will.
Aaron Spatz 00:20
You’re listening to America’s entrepreneur, the podcast designed to educate, entertain, and inspire you in your personal professional journey. I’m your host, Aaron Spatz. And on the podcast, I interview entrepreneurs, industry experts, and other high achievers that detail their personal and professional journeys in business. My goal is to glean their experiences into actionable insights that you can apply to your own journey. If you’re new to the show. We’ve spoken with successful entrepreneurs, Grammy Award winning artists, best selling authors, chief executives, and other fascinating minds with unique experiences. We’ve covered topics such as how to achieve breakthrough and business, growing startups, effective leadership techniques, and much more. If you strive for continual self improvement, and enjoy fascinating and insightful conversation, if the subscribe button, you’ll love it here at America’s entrepreneur. So walk us through what, you know what made you crazy enough decide that you wanted to join the Marine Corps and, you know, talk us through a bit of your career and some some of the things you were fortunate enough to be able to do?
Max Garcia 01:29
Yes, so I decided to join the Marine Corps, I guess you could say, well, here’s where I’ll start. I was adopted to actually don’t know my biological family. And I was adopted by Marines. So my adopted mother and father were both Marines. They were not they were out by the time they got me. But I guess that’s where I’m a big fan of nurture versus nature. Wow. And they actually, they actually wanted me to go to college and all that kind of stuff first, but I ended up, you know, probably being around to too much marine talk. And I ended up wanting to join the Marine Corps. But the real reason I wanted to join the Marine Corps, I wanted to do whatever it is, that was the hardest thing available. I wanted to, you know, I like significance on the significance junkie. That’s why I do motivational speaking and life coaching because I like significant, like making a massive difference in people’s lives. And just it gives me a thrill. So I not only wanted to take on what was considered the hardest branch available, but also once I got into that I wanted to do the hardest things available drill, instructor combat, whatever it is I can get myself into. And then answer your question on why.
Aaron Spatz 02:41
That’s perfect. Yeah. So So walk us through some of your some of your experiences.
Max Garcia 02:47
Okay, so the short version of me is came in in 1994. I was abs and maybe saw vehicles and then after I did toward campus, June, I went to drill instructor duty at Parris Island after that did back to back I rack tours, then went assistant Marine officer, instructor duty at the University of South Florida. Great, great duty, if 15 days ever. Range Rover shocker, I highly recommend doing that. After you go back to the fleet for a bit. And after our system and also instructor duty, got picked up, the first sergeant did a tour in yuma arizona, with a tour to Afghanistan. And then after that went to rota Spain, with Fast Company for a couple years, that’s less to the sergeant major than when to open our within 30 Verse mood to play it all over the place there. And then finished my time in the Marine Corps at back at third track, third assault MVVM battalion Camp Pendleton, who I did my first and second combat tour with, and I just finished there a year ago. Don’t ask me how I pulled that drug deal to get back there. And that was a great, great thing.
Aaron Spatz 04:03
That’s awesome. So how many years total? 2424 years. Wow. Well, thank you so much. Thank you. Yeah, that’s, that’s fantastic. Yeah. So So tell us about. Tell us a little bit about the transition process. What that look like for you, specifically being surgery major. So like, what does it look like for you at that senior level?
Max Garcia 04:25
Gosh, I guess you could say I’m still kind of going through it because as you know, I moved to Australia and we are still waiting patiently on our TMO to arrive even though I’ve been here for about nine months. Holy cow. Oh, yeah. So I’m still going through the transition. Jeez, I don’t know if it ever stops unless you’re, you know, one of the people that are lucky enough to not have to move your family or your things and walk right into a job or something like that. So that part of the transition so going. The difficult part I can tell you about especially for senior Marines are the most guilty of not taking care of themselves and their families prior to getting out is trying to take care of a battalions for the Marines about 1200 people, while simultaneously planning for retirement very, very stressful. This is one where, you know, everybody really needs to start planning well ahead of time. In so many more, so many ways. I’m talking well ahead of time, or I’m talking like, a year or two. If you’re, if you’re going to be retiring as in, you’re going to do 20 and retire in the Start planning. Two to three years out, I think, for a but even for my first tremors a year, 18 months, I started doing things, get yourself sorted. That was that’s the hardest part.
Aaron Spatz 05:41
Oh, yeah, I see that as a common theme. And, and I think one of the in, you hit on it briefly, was when you’re serving, you’re so engaged with what it is that you’re doing, that it’s very easy for that date to come up on you like real quick, or next thing, you know, it’s like, it’s time to go. And, and I feel like that’s one of the difficult places that people find themselves in because they’re so committed to what they’re doing. But at the same time, like, man, you, you’ve got to take care of yourself, and you got to focus on what’s what’s best for you and your family. And so balancing that I see, I’ve seen that as a big challenge. I mean, how, how did you balance that?
Max Garcia 06:24
Yeah, it was very difficult, I’ll tell you a few different things. And if anybody has, or messages me, I’ll send you a nother podcast that I did that was entirely about work life balance, that would very be very helpful. But a couple things that keep in mind is that for veterans, for people, with any branch service, we are all ego driven, we feel guilty. If we take care of ourselves, we feel guilty, if we’re not well, and we go to the doctor and take time off to go to the doctor. And the more senior, the worse it is. So keep that in mind. Because you there’s this thing called balancing, you need to let it be known ahead of time, hey, this is what I plan on. As, you know, boss, just say, you know, I’m planning on getting out this, that’s that’s time. I’m going to do everything I can which if you want me to air and I’ll talk about ways to squeeze in the things you need to do as well as they’ll serve your Marines, please do, we need to let it be known. And for my senior leaders out there, if you know a Marine is transitioning, start finding somebody else to take their place. If they’re a senior Marine, start finding that hard charger who is ready to step up and fill the void be ready to borrow from another platoon, somebody and then you know bump people up, do whatever it is you have to do so that that person is not killing themselves. Trying to take care of a squad or Marines, the fire team of Marine Company of Marines, the battalion of Marines, while at the same time, prep their family to move to the other side of the country, find a job, move there things, document all the things says the VA doesn’t just say sorry, you get nothing. All I’m saying is that for my senior leaders out there, look out for them because it’s a life changing transition. The things you do during that last year affect you for the rest of your life. Anyways, you get me excited here in a little bit of coffee, coffee. So I talked too much.
Aaron Spatz 08:25
Yeah, well, so let’s let’s talk about that coffee. So it is morning time for you. It’s that late afternoon for us here. So tell us about how the heck you ended up in Australia.
Max Garcia 08:39
So if you remember the initial invasion of Iraq in 2003, yep. I was, I was part of that. And for whatever reason, we our company ended up having to take Shippo We won’t forget we took the steaming clean the USS Cleveland. And that ship stopped in Sydney, Australia on the way back. We were really upset at the time because it was going to take two extra months to get home. The whole country was just excited to have her Marines back. It was around Fourth of July when everybody else is getting back and we’re told you’ll be an extra two months getting home. And I’d say it worked out for me though, because that should stop in Sydney for I believe five days and I met my wife on the last day import. And three years later, we got got married and And what 13 years later now I’m living in Australia.
Aaron Spatz 09:28
Wow. Wow. There’s there’s so there’s so many ways that we could go with that, but like that’s nuts. Yeah, go ahead.
Max Garcia 09:41
I was gonna say you’re getting the guy version of the story. If you want the really good Hollywood version, you talk to my wife, she gets really good versions. Because there was a lot of a lot of neat things. But go ahead. What are you saying?
Aaron Spatz 09:51
That’s an incredible story. Have you been import, you know, last day there and you get ready to leave and I mean, I mean, that’s the kind of stuff that Great stories are made from so I mean, that’s, that’s pretty cool, especially coming off of a no doubt pretty stressful, pretty stressful time. And then having to think about it for quite some time I’m, I mean, because what you still had a few months so you get home right?
Max Garcia 10:18
Yes, that’s right. About not quite two months by then yes, that’s right. And you’re right. I’m very blessed. You know, every young girl dreams of being a princess and having a princess wedding and the big wedding and all that kind of stuff and every, every Marine dreams of going to Australia on deployment and meeting Australian girl, so I’m living the dream.
Aaron Spatz 10:39
That’s awesome. Yeah, so. So what are you up to? Now? What what, what was that? What was that transition? Like, you know, as you as as, as time was running out, you know what it was that what did that process look like for you?
Max Garcia 10:54
Very, very hectic. You know, luckily for me, I had a very good PR sergeant to fill in for me, in a lot of ways. Very hectic and law, like I said, getting ready to move to Australia, that kind of thing. And also, I did not have the desire to work for, you know, a company, climb another promotion ladder or get a government job, because that’s what I see, you know, majority of our peers do is they they get government contracting jobs or work for DOD, or Booz Allen, Hamilton, all those other things which are great. But I wanted to do something. Along the lines of what I was already doing the what I always said is that the best part about being a sergeant major is that people bring the biggest problems to my office, people with life, challenging things. And also the I get to see the best things, wow, that’s the other thing that’s fun about being a sergeant majors you get, you get to talk to your Marines every week information. So you’re out there, you get a big bunch of range, and you kind of pump them up for the weekend. Or you get asked to speak at a birthday ball or a couple scores. And I just love that. So therefore, I decided to become a motivational speaker and life coach. And the short version about what I say is, I use my combat experience to help people conquer, whether it be leadership, mental health can be anything.
Aaron Spatz 12:14
That’s fantastic. And you’ve been doing that ever since you got out? Well, actually. So it sounds like you’re doing that. And that makes total sense, as you shared that, because you’re you’re doing that for years. I mean, once you shoot once you’re like the platoon level, you’re doing it, you know, at, you know, there, but then obviously, the higher up you’re, you’re climbing the more Marines that you have as your audience. And so, and being able to take that and use that experience, and then no doubt you being invited to speak at a ball and things of that nature just kind of start to start to snowball. So sound sounds like has been really kind of a whirlwind. You know, like, pretty quick, how all that picked up for you.
Max Garcia 12:55
Right? Right. I appreciate it. And you know, I’ll say that too, for everybody who’s out there, that, you know, once you have say, I don’t know, two years in service, maybe even less, you become a marriage counselor, fitness counselor, financial counselor, you become all those things, in one without any qualifications, learned by drinking from the firehose. And another thing too, is that for those who are transitioning out, if you know you’re going to get out, I’m thinking a year or two out, experiment around with whatever business it is you think you’re going to want to get involved in. I don’t think I’m being honest, I’m a big real estate investor. So I started doing that, about halfway through my career. And, you know, learn if you’re, if you take the time to experiment with your online business, or whatever it is you do, rather than just drinking beer and watching football on the weekends, because don’t say you don’t have time because you do have time. You know, rather than playing video games, if you experiment around with whatever it is you’re interested in, you will find out what you really like, you also make mistakes, while you still have your military paycheck coming in. You invest a little bit of money in some help building your website, building your blog, building your brand, building your logo, invest some some time and money and effort in building those things. Experimenting around the making mistakes while you’re still in versus when you’re out.
Aaron Spatz 14:23
And see you kind of touched on a topic there with making mistakes and you know, obviously as comfortable as you are sharing but you know, what are what are some mistakes that you’d you’d made during your career, but you ended up kind of turning it around and using it as a strength or as a as a point in which you were able to drive yourself forward.
Max Garcia 14:43
Right. The first thing I’ll recommend to everybody out there is just like you hear when you’re in school, hang around the right crowd, the wrong crowd, that kind of thing. That is that is the exact same wire in the service. If you hang out with dogs, you get fleas, instead of hanging out with the dogs Dogs fly with the Eagles, hanging out with the right people. The number one thing that can hurt someone’s career, and I’m lucky, it didn’t hurt mine is irresponsible use of things in your off time such as sex, alcohol, driving a vehicle. These are things that we need to be careful with, you know, if you get too loose and reckless, then, you know, for one, it comes back to you, I think just because of cash, bad karma, but also just being associated with the wrong people the wrong time, it can slow you down. Luckily, I learned those lessons quickly. So it didn’t slow me down, I still managed to pick up rank very quickly. But those are things that could be very much hovering over me and I made a few mistakes. But luckily, I, you know, had the right leadership to help me to, you know, recover from them. And the other thing I’ll say, is that, whatever it is, you’re thinking of doing if you want to stay in and become, you know, Gunny, First Sergeant, Sergeant Major or master gunnery sergeant, if you want to stay in, you want to become an officer. Find yourself a mentor, find someone who is willing to spend some time with you, and have a chat. I don’t know, once a month, maybe a couple times a month, but not just a five second chat where they say, oh, you should read it. Oh, do that, oh, go to that course know, someone who’s actually going to sit down with you. Look at your record, look at what you’ve done. And then compare that to what you want to do. And give you quality. That by step advice, that is a huge mistake I did that I made. And luckily, I didn’t pay the price. Too hard for it. But where I did pay the prices, was when I first started real estate investing. I just went out on my own. And yeah, that looks like a good deal. And so I bought Oh, that looks like a good deal. So I bought and did not have a mentor. That is a huge thing. I recommend a mentor a coach, preferably one that you pay for, because then when you pay them, they’re obligated to sit down with you. Whether it’s for an hour or two, whether it’s once a month or once a week, there was you contract to do they’re obligated to sit there and give you that advice. Versus friends, family, people you work with who know you too well and will give you biased opinions based on what they know about you and what they think they know about your capabilities. And what they have time to revive, which is usually just five seconds from the hip. Oh, yeah. Look at this website. Oh, yeah. Try that. Oh, yeah. Ask so and so it’s quick, it’s not deliberate. So that is really, honestly my biggest mistake in all areas of life. Not finding a solid coach, a solid mentor to hold my hand and get me to the next level? And then it’s your question.
Aaron Spatz 18:01
Oh, that is that is that a solid? That is so solid. And I think, and I’m just speaking from, from me, like my own experience, I absolute, I did a terrible job at that. Granted, I was only in for a few years. But man, I should have taken way more time to be deliberate in seek out people that I really admired and looked up to and, you know, and cross the rank barrier and say, you know, and approach these people and ask them to, to mentor you, you don’t have to make it weird, but like, but go in and start asking them questions and, and take an interest and invest in that relationship. And, and it kind of goes back to what you’d said about choosing your friends wisely choosing those people that are going to influence you choosing those people very carefully. And I I think it’s solid, solid advice, because we we tend to operate solo or, you know, there’s there’s that pride, pride thing that you talked about, you know, ego Yeah, that is a huge, yeah.
Max Garcia 19:06
It’s the ego is the thing that will hold everybody back, because you don’t know what you don’t know. And, you know, the majority of service members are male. And even the service members who are not male, tend to be type a female, very strong, very driven, very, I can do this, I’ve got it. But they’d rather work hard uphill, struggling to get, you know, one inch of progress to where if you work smarter, instead of harder, and talk to someone else who is qualified, who’s credible in that space. And like you said, it doesn’t have to be weird. However, I will say that even in the Marine Corps, I think other branch service too. We have a mentoring program. So that word is is thrown around is it’s loose, but it’s used enough that it’s not going to be weird if you talk to have conversation with someone, but the way to do it is just ask someone. Hey, you know, after, after lunch, do you have a few minutes to, you know, answer a few questions. And I was just gonna ask your advice on something you asked somebody that looked like, or they look like they, they, they’re not busy at the time, they did two minutes to, I’d like to get your advice on something. And for some reason, with egos we have a problem doing that, hey, can Can I meet with you during lunch? And I just want to get your advices from get your take on something. And then you have you’re prepared, you have questions written down those questions, start a dialogue, those questions, start a dialogue you ask, they give you some answers. And then you say, Okay, got it, I’m gonna, I’m gonna work on that. And then get back to you. And you get back to them say, had did that. And here’s how well it worked or didn’t work. And then they give you some follow on advice. And then you’re off to the races, you are light years ahead of your peers.
Aaron Spatz 20:56
Man, this is a golden Yeah, that’s such golden advice. Yeah, no, seriously, because we’re wherever you may find yourself, this doesn’t. This applies to more than just the military, obviously, you know, whether, you know, doesn’t matter where or how you serve, or how long you served. This also, this applies to business. It applies to school. I mean, it really I mean, it applies to marriage and parenting. I mean, there’s so many different ways that you can, that you can run with this. And so I think it’s tremendous advice to somebody to, to one, I think, have the humility to understand like, Okay, I don’t have it all figured out, I might act like I do, but I really don’t. And, and to be in to be humble enough and coachable enough to go find somebody that can do that for you. And you talked about the paying for that. And I think that’s important. In many ways. One, like you said, yeah, they’re a captive audience to you, they, they have to do what they said that they were going to do. But also you as the person spending the money on that, like you are invested in it. And so we tend to value the things that we spend money on. So if we’re going to spend money on a relationship with somebody who is an, you know, who understands how to help get you where you are, and get you to where you want to be, and help you kind of roadmap that out and hold you accountable. It helps when you’ve, you know, had to kind of put some cash up on the table and to make that happen, because you’re actually going to pay attention. And and obviously, the person is more than worth that, you know, that that fee, you just just out of respect to their time and their experience. But But now, I mean, this is golden.
Max Garcia 22:40
Yeah, thanks. You know, I get lots of messages on Instagram, blood. And so for instance, a lot of people ask me about real estate investing, because I’m a service member or was, and I was able to do that enough that I don’t have to, you know, work for anybody else. And I can do the passion that I love, which are speaking and life coaching. And someone will, and this is why I want I recommend deliberate coaching that you pay for because sometimes people will first of all people don’t have time. We’re very busy. So if you want, you know, one sentence answer advice, then, you know, free advice often worth what you pay for it, and including the quick advice I’m giving you right now, because it’s just quick. But when you sit down with someone delivery for a couple hours, that’s when you make progress. And I get messages on Instagram and Facebook and LinkedIn all the time. And you know, I’m a service member, too. Can you teach me how to do real estate investing? Well, Brother, I’m not going to teach you how to be a successful real estate investor in one Instagram message. And the other thing is, I’m not going to, I’m not going to invest. I’m not going to invest significant amount of time and energy and effort into someone who’s not willing to invest in themselves, right? I’m not going to deplete my family, take time with my family, deplete myself use up all my energy, you know, coaching you to invest in real estate or do an awesome job at your career or anything else. Become a drill instructor, whatever else it is, I get random things for advice all the time. I’m not going to spend all day coaching you to do that, only to have you I don’t think I’m willing I’m ready to do that yet. I don’t think I’m ready to invest in real estate. I don’t think I’m ready to be a drill instructor and you know, the advice is for nothing like you said, we we value things that are not free. When you offer things that are free, you get people who are out there looking for for free things you get that I don’t want to say type of people but yeah, you get that you attract that kind of crowd and that’s not really the crowd I’m looking for. Again, I will not invest significant time and energy into someone who will not invest in themselves. So when you’re out there, and you and you want someone to mentor you, whether it’s someone you know around where you work for somebody else, keep them mind that there needs to be something in it for them, that they that you contribute to the relationship just as much as they contribute to the relationship, you know, no one who’s a multimillionaire is going to tell you let me sit down and take all this time out to help you and you might not even help yourself, you have to contribute to the relationship somehow.
Aaron Spatz 25:18
That’s so valid. I mean, that’s it’s incredibly impactful in the way that in the way that you navigate those relationships and the way that you are intentional about how you do that. I’d like to pivot a little bit into because you’ve been you have been in the real estate business for for a number of years now, I couldn’t help but notice the year that you started. And we all know what happened a couple years later. And so I just love to hear, you know, what your experiences have have been in the real estate market and what you’ve learned in business during that time.
Max Garcia 25:58
Yes, the number one thing I learned, which I’ll mention again, is work smarter, not harder. Find a mentor. So yes, I first started real estate investing around 2004 ventured out on my own. Just like everybody else that too much ego, I don’t need any help from anybody. I got this, I could just read up on my own. No, they could read it they value and blah, blah, blah. And, and yes, the economy took a massive tank, and it hurt me It hurt me real bad caused a ton of stress. In my life, I’m talking a lot of stress. And now, it doesn’t matter what way the economy goes. When you learn to do real estate investing or setting up your business or whatever it is in the right way. You’re you’re protected. It’s almost like you buy yourself insurance. I don’t have time to get into a class on it all here. But I can say this, that that was my mistake is venturing out on my own. Find a mentor, find a coach before you do anything and offer them something for their time so that you get quality, time quality advice, not just from the hip. Oh, yeah, you should buy in Detroit because it’s cheap there. You know, you don’t want just from the hip stuff, you want details. And you also want to be able to follow up with them questions. Okay, now I’m looking at a deal. I’m considering this, it costs as much as this neighborhood, Here’s the address. And you help me analyze it if it’s a good deal. Okay. Yes, I can let me sit down when we put it in my computer running through my spreadsheet. Let me look at the comps in the area. Let me contact somebody I know in that area and see what they think. You know, it’s a bit more detailed than just Oh, yeah. Now’s a good time while the elections are about to go. People give too much rash, quick advice, and that that often worth what it’s paid for. Sure. That what you’re asking,
Aaron Spatz 27:47
Yeah, who knows this. This is great. We’ve talked a lot about coaching. And I certainly want to talk about that. I’d like to see what what other thoughts you may have in terms of yoga guys, that are guys that are floundering and frustrated, like you seem to have really connected your purpose in your mission and things that you are really passionate about, you’ve been able to kind of make that connection. And so that’s really what you’re living out. That’s what you’re doing right now. Some guys haven’t been that fortunate to really have that. That moment where they understand what it is they’re doing. And it’s not to say that you can’t change your mind or have another pivot at some point down the road. I mean, it’s, that’s what makes that’s what makes life fun. But for guys that have gotten now I’ve seen personally, I’ve seen a lot of guys just really struggle in staying focused on in in having a purpose. And so if you’d like to speak into that, I certainly I would love to hear what you have to say about that.
Max Garcia 28:52
Yeah, I would love that. Because you’re right, the whole time I’m in and I hear this too. Oh, I can’t wait to get out. All this is so miserable is so bad. I can’t wait to get out. And then as soon as they get out, their hair cut goes shorter, they have a sticker, or two or 10 on the back of their car. They’re wearing the t shirt that hat Oh, I served and and then you hear them say and post things like this and social media. All those are the good old days. That was the best ever. And there’s this whole vibe about so many veterans that they think that is the best thing they’ve ever done in their life. And they think that’s the best thing they will ever do in their life. And that nothing can be further from the truth. Yes, being a veteran is so honorable and I’m so proud that I did it. However, I can tell you right now my best work is yet to come by far. And everyone should look at it that way because you know you have this thing called freedom and your DD 214 in hand. So you’ve got the credentials, you know, you’ve got you’ve got the Been there done that T shirt which gives you just street credibility. You know, you walk into a room credibly He’s just dripping off of you. And then you have your time to be able to do what you want to do with that. So for all my veterans out there, stop, you know, posting on social media, how you feel sorry for yourself that that was the best thing you’ve ever done AND, and OR could do with your life. And it was like 20 years ago, Stop, just stop thinking that you’re still the same person, you got that under your belt, use it, use it wisely. Use it as leverage, you’ve got something that, you know, very few people have less than 1% of the nation wears in the uniform whatsoever, less than 1% of the nation. So you’re special leverage that don’t sit there and you’re in your sorrows saying, oh, woe is me. I wish I hadn’t got out. That was the best thing I’ve ever done. I can’t do anything else better stop thinking that your best work is yet to come. If you look at it that way, you’re not certain how to look at it that way, or you don’t see it that way. Call me. And I will pick your skills skills apart with you forgotten enough. And I’ll tell you exactly what you got to do to apply it in the civilian world. And I mean, you can be come 10 times 10 times the young buck fresh out of high school that that you were in the military? Yeah.
Aaron Spatz 31:19
That’s fantastic. Man, you got me wanting to go run a Pft. Now? The thick? Yeah, no, no, no, it’s awesome. So talk us through which two so the name The name of the company that that you’re doing your coaching through is called life? Coach eight. Is that right?
Max Garcia 31:40
Yes, that’s correct. Okay.
Aaron Spatz 31:41
So given that you’re in Australia, I’m assuming that a lot of time you’re gonna be spending with people. Obviously, if they’re stateside, rather than them, we’re gonna fly out to you. You’re doing a lot of video teleconferencing and phone calls. Like, what does that look like for people?
Max Garcia 31:58
Yes, so you wouldn’t think that I mean, in today’s busy world, even people who are local, the majority of people prefer to do coaching sessions over video, because meeting in person is great. And I actually prefer it. However, in today’s busy world, if we’re going to meet in person, you got to drive 20 minutes. 30 minutes, I’ve got to drive 20 to 30 minutes. We have to all there you are across the other side of the coffee shop? Oh, yeah. Okay, great. Shake hands. How are you? Good. How are you? Oh, let’s order a coffee. When we sit down? Where do you want to sit? And then drive back home? Both of us. So we figured that without even a coaching session that you know, an hour plus, maybe longer so people actually prefer to talk over Skype, my favorite actually FaceTime video if the person has an Apple device, because then I can multitask. It’s much easier to work with. But people actually prefer that versus meeting in person. So the majority of my clients are all over over video of some sort. Wow, it works out great. works out really great, actually.
Aaron Spatz 33:09
And I’m asking because I genuinely do not know. But what so why, what makes FaceTime better. So what you’re like, I’m guessing you’re able to like, share stuff with them or
Max Garcia 33:21
no. So as in, I primarily work off of one of those iPad Pros. It’s like the biggest iPad that we have, because it’s very mobile. And with FaceTime, I’m able to hit the FaceTime button and have a chat with someone on that iPad, and then minimize the window to one corner, right still see them and then pull up their file, and I can work on their file. So while the person is talking to me, telling me, you know, oh, I’ve got this issue. And I’ve tried this and tried that while they’re telling me. So then I ask them to repeat it. I’m taking notes, typing away on that same iPad of that little keyboard that goes with it nice typing everything that way, because I have so many clients, so many people come and counter with I can quickly reference, you know, back to their file, or if I’ve come across something, and I think, oh, you know, so and so said they were looking for a way to move to Indonesia and get a student work visa. And just who was that that said that? Let’s see. Oh, yeah, it was Jennifer. Let me message this link to her quickly look into a file and And anyways, answer your question. It just based on because it’s an Apple device. It’s an apple specific thing. It allows you to multitask much better on on any device.
Aaron Spatz 34:40
That’s fantastic. No, yeah, I was just, I was genuinely curious.
Max Garcia 34:46
And that’s a that’s a very non high tech guy like myself. Who needs any leverage you can get in that department. Right? Well,
Aaron Spatz 34:59
you’ve published the book The abundance factor Amazon number one best selling. So talk with us about that.
Max Garcia 35:07
Yes, so the abundance factor. I’m a co author in the book with a gentleman by the name of Joe Vitale, Joe Vitale, he was featured in a very popular movie called The Secret. If you have not seen the secret, I highly recommend it. It is absolutely life changing. It’s on Netflix for free and all these other platforms. I can’t say enough things about it. I feel very blessed to have come and not only just come encounter with the movie but to been at the right place and right time to be able to publish another book with Joe vitality who was in that movie. I mean, he’s just a top notch individual. And yes, the book The abundance factor, you can find it on my website Life Coach eight.net. If you get it off my website, you’ll get a copy in the mail with my my mug shot on the front of it with Joe Vitale, if you ordered off of Amazon, they will only have Joe Vitale face on the front, because they’re actually several other authors in the book. It’s set up kind of like the movie The Secret, or the book. There’s also a book the secret, the secret where there’s several authors in the book, if you will, several duty experts, if you will. Okay, so obviously, you can’t fit them all on the front, we are all in the back of the book. So again, if you order on the website, you get my mug shot, if you order off of Amazon or some other platform, you only get Joe vitality on the front.
Aaron Spatz 36:29
Got it? Okay. So that makes sense. I try to give everybody like this last segment, you know, so if you have any save rounds, man, I haven’t used that. Haven’t used that phrase in a while. But, uh, yeah, but no, but I mean, if you have anything else, that’s it, you know, just dying to get out. Like, if you have any other advice, if there’s anything that you’d want to encourage people in, if there’s any other stories or any other hardships that you’ve had to endure, that you that you want to share, and some lessons that you’ve learned from them, I would love to give this last segment back to you.
Max Garcia 37:08
Yeah, for sure. You know, the biggest thing I’ll approach is that, you know, there’s a lot of people talking about, you know, all suicides of veterans or active duty or this or that, but I will say this, my main focus is on helping people overcome obstacles, and accomplish whatever they want to do. And if you’re focused on whatever it is you want to accomplish, then your problems will minimize themselves, your problems will easily fall off the map, if you will. Because when you’re pursuing something that’s bigger than you, you end up becoming bigger than your problem and being able to deal with and are much better. And much better than you typically would. So with that, I’ll mention that, you know, we just crossed over into the new year. And a lot of people are thinking about what they want to accomplish in 2020 years, the the 2020 vision, this, that and the other all over social media. And a lot of people are thinking about what they did not accomplish what they failed to do in 2019. And up until a month or so ago, the buzzword, which is the same word every year, this time of year is New Year’s resolution. I’m going to create a New Year’s resolution. What I’m going to tell you right now, it’s a complete waste of time. And here’s why. Because we’re almost March are approaching March very quickly, I should say. It’ll be here like that. And by the time March, April rolls around, people will not even remember what their New Year’s resolution was, let alone if they accomplished it or not. In fact, I’d be willing to bet a paycheck if I took a survey right now and asked a million people. Now that we’re in, I think, what week seven of the years, something like that, what kind of progress they’ve made towards their New Year’s resolution, if you will. And most likely All I hear is crickets. Complete silence. Because people talk a big game as a person in the new year and on New Year’s Eve. But then they do next to nothing with their little New Year’s resolution, or things they want to accomplish in 2020 2020, vision, all that stuff, if you will. And here’s the number one reason why here’s my parting piece of advice is because they forget what their New Year’s resolution was, by the time we get halfway through the year, simply for one reason. Because they didn’t write it down. Just by writing down your goals, your ambition, you are so many more times likely to accomplish them. Now I know that sounds a bit like I’m taking you back to school or cliche or maybe you’ve heard that before. But we’re talking statistics now I’m not going to get into statistics because there’s a lot of different words out there but no, it’s drastically in your favor. If you contact me, not only why advise you to do that, write it down, but I’ll show you how to write it down. because some ways are more effective than others. For example, I hear a lot of people say, oh, you know, but this year I’m going to lose weight. And if you write down lose weight, and your focus is on weight, that’s exactly what you’re going to get more of your focus should be, I weigh 130 pounds by set date, or whatever the number is for you. And, and I will do this by there. Because that way you engage your subconscious mind better, and engage your subconscious mind from the direction of focusing on what you want, instead of what you don’t want. I hear a lot of people say, oh, you know, in 2020, I’m going to get out of debt. Okay, well hold on before you write that down. Or before you focus on that, if you focus on debt, that’s exactly what you’re going to get more of. Instead, your written ambition, your written goal should say, I will have all three credit cards paid zero balance by June 1 2020. I’ll have a paid to pathway at five grand by April 1 2020. And I will do this by taking the following actions number 123. These things help you to focus your subconscious mind on what you want, not what you don’t want, versus just most people, you know, they make these new year’s resolutions. It’s like they only have a vague and Mr. Concept, lingering in the back of their mind of the things they want to have do or become. And then they wonder why another year goes by and they never get them. So that is a very, very short version. If you contact me for the long version. It’s not that I think that you’ll you’ll do better this year, it’s that you will knock it out of the park. And it’s not that I think that you will, that’s another word eliminate words in 2020. Such as can’t think hope. Try try is such a wimp word. I learned this from a guy named Marshall Marshall silver, who’s amazing. And anyways, that’s not parting advice. It’s too much to give too much for me to squeeze in one podcast. If you contact me, I’ll provide much more.
Aaron Spatz 42:06
Thanks for listening to America’s entrepreneur. If you enjoyed the show, please leave a review or comment on your preferred social media platform. share it out with friends, family, coworkers, others in your network. And of course you can write me directly at Erin at Bold media.us That’s a Ron at Bull media.us