Passion Struck with John R. Miles - Bo Eason on How to Transform Your Lowest Moments Into Power | EP 529

Episode Date: November 5, 2024

In this impactful episode, former NFL player, acclaimed actor, and motivational powerhouse Bo Eason shares his distinctive approach to transforming life’s lowest moments into catalysts for personal growth. Renowned for his resilience and determination, Bo draws from his own experiences overcoming setbacks in both sports and entertainment to offer valuable insights on turning adversity into strength. Through practical steps and compelling real-life examples, he shows how embracing struggle can build resilience and reveal untapped potential. Bo’s wisdom and passion will inspire you to harness the hidden power within life’s toughest challenges, emerging stronger, more focused, and prepared to reach new heights.Full show notes and resources: SponsorsMint Mobile: Cut your wireless bill to 15 bucks a month at “MINT MOBILE dot com slash PASSION.”Hims: Regrow your hair before it's too late! Start your free online visit today at Hims.com/PASSIONSTRUCK.Quince: Experience luxury for less with Quince's premium products at radically low prices. Enjoy free shipping and 365-day returns at Quince.com/PASSION.For more information about our sponsors and promo codes, visit: passionstruck.com/dealsIn this episode, you will learn:The importance of early determination and setting long-term goals.The impact of a supportive and affirming environment.The power of storytelling in personal and professional development.The value of seeking mentorship from those who have achieved mastery.The principle that mastering one thing can lead to success in other areas of life.Connect with Bo Eason: https://boeason.com/Order Passion StruckUnlock the principles that will transform your life! Order my book, Passion Struck: Twelve Powerful Principles to Unlock Your Purpose and Ignite Your Most Intentional Life. Recognized as a 2024 must-read by the Next Big Idea Club, this book has earned ten major book awards accolades, such as Best Business Book at the International Business Awards. Order your copy today and ignite your journey toward intentional living!Join the Passion Struck Community! Sign up for the Live Intentionally newsletter, where I share exclusive content, actionable advice, and insights to help you ignite your purpose and live your most intentional life. Get access to practical exercises, inspiring stories, and tools designed to help you grow.  Learn more and sign up here.Speaking Engagements & Workshops Are you looking to inspire your team, organization, or audience to take intentional action in their lives and careers? I’m available for keynote speaking, workshops, and leadership training on topics such as intentional living, resilience, leadership, and personal growth. Let’s work together to create transformational change. Learn more at johnrmiles.com/speaking.Episode Starter Packs With over 500 episodes, it can be overwhelming to know where to start. We’ve curated Episode Starter Packs based on key themes like leadership, mental health, and personal growth, making it easier for you to dive into the topics you care about. Check them out at passionstruck.com/starterpacks.Catch More Passion StruckMy solo episode on How Your Environment Influences Who You BecomeCan’t miss my episode with Kara Collier on How Real-Time Glucose Monitoring Systems Can Transform Your HealthWatch my episode with Eric Edmeades on the essential Keys to Postdiabetic TransformationDiscover my interview with Dr. Jud Brewer on How to Break Out of Your Food JailCatch my interview with Katy Milkman on Creating Lasting Behavior Change for GoodIf you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review! Even one sentence helps. Be sure to include your Twitter or Instagram handle so we can personally thank you!

Coming up next on Passion Strike. Usually your best story is the one you don't want to tell. Isn't that funny to say? Like there's a lot of stories that we want to tell, right? Like about, oh, I won the championship. Look at my trophy. I'm sure Tom Brady loves telling that story. Look, I won seven Super Bowls.

I won seven Super Bowls. I wanna know the lowest moment Tom Brady's ever had, because that's the one that has the most connective tissue to it. Welcome to Passion Struck. Hi, I'm your host, John R. Miles. And on the show, we decipher the secrets, tips, and guidance of the world's most inspiring people and turn their wisdom into practical advice

for you and those around you. Our mission is to help you unlock the power of intentionality so that you can become the best version of yourself. If you're new to the show, I offer advice and answer listener questions on Fridays. We have long form interviews the rest of the week with guests ranging from astronauts to authors,

CEOs, creators, innovators, scientists, military leaders, visionaries, and athletes. Now let's go out there and become Passion Struck. Hey Passion Struck fam, welcome to episode 529 of the Passion Struck podcast. I wanna start by thanking each and every one of you for being here, for your energy and for showing up week after week to fuel your journey toward living a more intentional, purpose driven life.

You're the heart of this community and we're so grateful to have you here. If you're new to PassionStruck, welcome. You've just joined an incredible community that's all about growth, purpose and igniting your passion to make a difference. For those of you wondering where to dive in with over 500 episodes or how to share this with a friend or a family member, we've made it super easy. Check out our episode Starter Packs,

curated on topics like leadership, personal growth, astronauts, mental health, military veterans, and more. Available on Spotify and at passionstruck.com slash starter packs. And if you're looking to stay inspired between episodes, don't forget to sign up for my Live Intentionally newsletter, where I share exclusive insights, tools, and exercises to help you put these lessons into action.

Head over to passionstruck.com to get started. Also, if you want to watch these conversations come to life, remember that all our episodes are available on YouTube, where we're building a thriving community over over a quarter million subscribers. You can find us on the John R. Miles YouTube channel and our dedicated Passion Struck Clips channel for bite-sized insights and highlights. Last week brought us incredible insights across health, personal growth, and resilience. Eric Edmeads kicked us off with a deep dive into lasting health transformation, exploring

small actionable shifts we can make to align with our biological needs and close the evolution gap. Then Jason Silver joined us to share his unique approach to thriving in our current roles rather than searching for fulfillment elsewhere. And in my solo episodes, I explored the powerful story of MLB player Josh Hamilton, a journey through addiction, redemption, and the unwavering power of resilience. Each episode is packed with actionable wisdom

you won't want to miss. Now, let's dive in to today's episode because it's going to be a game changer. I'm thrilled to welcome Bo Eason to the show, a man who truly embodies the pursuit of greatness and the power of personal transformation. Bo's journey began at just nine years old with a crayon and a dream to become the best safety in the NFL.

Against the odds, he achieved his goal, becoming the top safety in the 1984 draft. But after a career ending injury, Bo didn't stop there. He reinvented himself in the world of storytelling and personal development, creating a one-man play that the New York Times held as one of the most powerful plays of the last decade. Today, Bo is a sought after speaker and coach who has dedicated himself to helping others harness the power of their personal stories

to connect, inspire, and lead. In our conversation, we'll explore why telling your story, even the hard, dark parts, is the quickest way to build trust and leave a lasting impact. Bo's journey is testament to resilience, declaring who you are, and following through with unwavering dedication. His book, There's No B Plan for Your A Game,

gives us a blueprint for becoming the best in whatever we set out to do. So whether you're an athlete, an entrepreneur, a parent, or someone looking to deepen your impact, Bo's insights will inspire you to take control of your narrative and build a legacy that matters. Thank you for choosing Passion Struck and choosing me to be your host and guide on your

journey to creating an intentional life. Now, let that journey begin. I am absolutely thrilled to bring you Bo Eason today on Passion Struck. Welcome, Bo. Thanks, John. Thank you for having me. Bo, you have lived such an extraordinary life and have had so many twists and turns. I think we need to start at the beginning. Can you talk about how your early determination

at nine years old, I can't even imagine it, drawing up a 20-year plan plan set a foundation in your life. Yeah, that was really the key to my life. I grew up, I was the youngest of six kids. So there was a lot of mouths to feed and there was a lot of attention to be given to each one. And I was the youngest, right? So I was always battling for that attention

and to be great at something because that was big in my family, my dad woke us up he's a cowboy is a rancher so he didn't talk a lot but when he talked it meant something so you listen and the way he woke us up all 6 of us was by telling us we were the best. That's how we woke up and we when you grow up on a ranch you wake up really early so it's five in the morning and he's rubbing your back and he's telling you're the best and then he's dropping a few cuss words alongside of it just for punctuation and so that's how I was I was

woke up like that every day until I went to college. And then even when I was married and went back home and for Christmases and stuff, he still wake us up the same way. But that's how I always woke up. So it set the tone. I knew, okay, I'm supposed to be the best. And I always was wondering, is he sure about me? Maybe the other kids are going to be great or the best is and I always was wondering is he sure about me? Maybe the other kids are going to be great or the best but I don't know. I was little. I was younger but I was just trying to find a place to put all my energy and what I was going to be the best at and lo and behold at the about the age of nine, I was watching this game. My dad was actually watching a game with OJ Simpson in it.

OJ Simpson was in the game. He was a running back for the Buffalo Bills at USC and he won the Heisman Trophy. Anyway, I had never really heard my dad use the word beautiful because he's just not that kind of guy. And rarely had I ever seen him sitting down in front of a TV. And that's where we were this one afternoon when I was nine and he was watching a game with OJ Simpson in it.

Well, I didn't know who OJ Simpson was. I don't even know if my dad knew who he was, but he did say that this kid is beautiful and he's pointing at the tv and I'm like looking at my dad I'm looking at the tv wondering what is he's never used the word beautiful a b he's talking about a man on tv and he was talking about the way he moved and the way he ran and what beauty it had. And so I was like, I just remember watching OJ Simpson and going, okay, that kid is beautiful,

the way he moves, the way he runs. I'd never seen anybody do that before. But what I remember being more interested in is I didn't wanna be OJ Simpson. I wanted to stop him. I wanted to tackle him. And look, a lot of therapists have tried to figure that one out. But I later learned that there's this position called safety in football.

That is the last line of defense. And if you can get past the safety, then you score, you win. But if you can't get past the safety, you can't win because you can't score. So that's when I decided and it's strange. I can't put it all together with my memories but I remember that being very important to me. Like I want to be that guy who can stop these beautiful runners from scoring touchdowns and beating us. I wanted to be on that side of the ball. So I drew up the plan. I called it a declaration only because I liked the,

because we were learning the Declaration of Independence in school. And I just remember being in awe of founding fathers writing this document like 250 years ago, yet I didn't write it. And I wasn't related to these founding fathers, but they wrote something that us Americans bring into existence every day.

And I was one of those Americans. So I was like, so these founding fathers created this declaration, they declared who we were gonna be. And I, me, who didn't know them, who didn't write it, by the way I lived, brought their declaration into existence. So I put that kind of all together as I was growing up.

And so I never had, I never liked the word goals. I just, that, that didn't, I just didn't like the word. I liked the word declaration. So that's what I drew up a plan, a declaration that said I would be the best safety in 20 years because that's how long it was gonna take me to grow up and be able to be drafted in the NFL as the top safety. So that's how my life began.

That's how the dream of the declaration began. That was the genesis of it. And then along the way, all those years, so going through grammar school, going through high school, college, and then eventually the pros, as I look back, that actually came true. Like it came, my declaration of being the best safety actually came into existence but so many years after I had written that declaration. So many years. But the one thing that people always ask me about that particular declaration is, well, did were you just great all

the time? Were you just the best athlete in your school? And the answer is not even close. So all my buddies, it felt like to me, were better than me. They were bigger than me. They were faster than me. So I always tell people all those years leading up to being named the best safety in the NFL, all those years leading up to it. It was like I had no evidence for my dream coming true. I had no feedback except from my family that like my brother, my dad, they saw it. A couple of people saw it, but almost no one else did. Almost no one else was going, yeah, Bo, you're really special. You're going to make it. You're going to go all the way. So when I was playing in high school, I thought I was a good player. My brother thought he

was a good player and neither of us was recruited coming out of high school. So 350 colleges play college football, but nobody wrote us a letter, no one recruited us. So then you think, well, God, I guess I'm not very good being that 350 colleges don't want me. The worst colleges don't want me. So it must be really bad. And it just didn't look like to the world that it was going to come true.

But somehow I knew that it was gonna. I'm not sure how, but somehow I knew that if I just don't quit, that this thing's going to come true. Because if I don't quit, I'm probably going to be the last safety standing and everyone else would have quit by then and I'll get to be that guy. So I'll pause right there, John, just to let you know if you want to follow up on anything or if you want to know more about like that journey, I'm happy to tell you more about it. I'm actually glad you started out the way you did by telling a story because that's a lot of what we're gonna be talking about today is the power of storytelling.

But I did wanna go into a couple more questions about your dad because as I was reading your book, it was clear he had a really big influence on you. And the way you were describing him in some ways reminded me of my own father. My dad had a really rough upbringing. His father was an alcoholic for most of his life. I never met him because he died of lung cancer before I was born, but was just really rough on him in particular, less rough on his brother who was seven years younger then.

But as a result, my dad went into the Marine Corps, and when I was growing up, he didn't say much. But when he did speak, it was normally a lesson that he wanted to impart upon us. And then he was always telling us that the true measure of a man was their integrity and it was to him integrity meant living in accordance with your core values. And there are a couple of stories about your dad that were interesting to me because your dad that were interesting to me, because one was a similar situation that I had

when I was young, when I was trying out for a sport and the coach happened to be soccer and the coach told me that I was never gonna be good at the sport because I was too slow. And you had a coach when you were playing football who told you you were too small to play football and your dad had a very interesting response to that. He said did they measure your heart? Can you tell us a little bit about that story and why it had such a profound impact on you? It really did and in fact

I wrote a play that ran for 17 years and the play title is Runt of the Litter. And that is the story my dad told me that changed everything for me. So the first time I was going to ever play tackle football, I was a freshman in high school. So what was I 12 or 13? The first day of practice, they weighed and they measured us for the game program for our freshman year. And so I remember like being in line and getting up on the scale in front of the whole team and the coach is sitting there right next to the scale and measuring my height.

And I remember I was I think I weighed about 100 pounds right in between 105 pounds. a hundred pounds, right? In between 105 pounds. So on the smaller end, and I just remember the coach laughing and saying that I was too small to play football, but he didn't know I had this dream of being the not only a football player, but the best at my position. Right. So, so I just remember being in tears after he told me that and my dad picked me and my brother up after practice and we had a 17 mile drive back home in my dad's pickup. And I just remember my dad said, what's the matter? And I said, well, they weighed and measured us for the game program today, dad, and the coach thinks I'm too small.

And my dad, without skipping a beat, my dad said, did they measure your heart, God damn it? I was like, I remember telling him, I remember thinking in my 12, 13 year old mind, I don't even think our school has one of those heart measuring things, whatever you're talking about. I don't think my school has one. And he told me a story about the dog,

the ranch dog on our ranch. So in those days, a cattle rancher, you couldn't afford to hire a bunch of men to help you with all the cattle. So you had excellent dogs that helped you. And one particular dog was the ranch dog. And it was always like really heralded in my family. Like that dog was special and it was valuable.

You could tell the way it was fed and the way it was treated and the way everybody loved it and The dog was serious, right? The dog wasn't playful. It wasn't like chase chasing sticks it was a serious working dog on the ranch and That dog could do the work of ten men and that's what my dad told me goes for the ranch dog And I said, yeah, I said I love love that dog. And my dad goes, yeah, that dog does the work of 10 men. And the reason you love that dog is because before you ever met that dog, it was a little puppy and it was born to the prior ranch dog who used to work on the ranch. So when the working ranch dog has puppies, the rancher does something.

The rancher takes all of the puppies, except for the runt of the litter, the smallest puppy born in that litter. He takes that puppy and he ties a little piece of yarn like a pink yarn around its neck and then puts it back with its bigger brothers and sisters and watches that puppy grow over the next six, eight, ten weeks and the whole family is watching all of these puppies and keeping their eye on the rut with the pink yarn around its neck and dad says, do you know why the runt of the litter becomes the next working dog on the ranch? And I said, no. He said, because it is the smallest, it is the weakest, and it has to battle and it has to compete for food and survival against its bigger and stronger brothers and sisters. Well, eventually after 8-10 weeks they take all of the puppies from the litter except for the runt

and they give them away to other ranchers that in in the area but they keep the runt of the litter in the area. But they keep the runt of the litter. And I said, why do you keep the smallest one? And he said, because the smallest one's heart is the biggest. And if he can survive or she can survive those eight, 10 weeks, then that is going to be the smartest, the fastest, the most determined dog that you have. And you can't afford to keep all the dogs. So you give them away to other ranchers and that is your dog. And that's the dog can do the work of 10 men. And he said, you're the runt of our litter.

Like I had four older sisters and one older brother. So he said, I bet on the runt every time. And once he told me that story, I knew what he meant. I was like, oh, okay, he's telling me that they ain't getting rid of me. Like I'm going to be around because I've made it this far. And that was always my way, even though I was small body, that was always my way to compete. I always knew because my, when your dad tells you something like that, you believe it. He said, your heart is the biggest. And I go, okay, that's, I'm going to count on that. And

eventually, my body as I grew up through high school and into college, my body actually grew up to my heart size, you know what I mean? My body caught up with myself. And that's when I was really able to excel and really able to achieve the dream and make it come true. But that moment in that pickup truck, boy, when you got to when you have a parent or a coach or somebody that sees your greatness, which is pretty rare, most of them do like your coach did, like you're too small, like my coach did, or you're too slow. My coach said I was too small. Your coach said you're too slow. Well, let's do something about that. Let's go. Let's get faster. Let's get bigger.

And when you have somebody who sees your greatness and then speaks it and then you live into it, I've always surrounded myself because the dreams were always big for me. I always surrounded myself with people like that because I knew that was somehow innately. I knew that was really important for my development and for me reaching my dreams. And I, you know how like when you grow up and you start being around other kids and you're getting to be an adult and you realize that not be an adult and you realize that not everybody had a dad like me. I just figured everybody must have a dad that told them that, but they didn't.

And it took me a while to understand that. No, I didn't have a dad. And I certainly didn't have a dad who told me that or saw greatness in me and said it was okay. Keep going, son. that or saw greatness in me and said it was okay keep going son so that's why he was such a rare guy and meant so much to me. Bo thank you for sharing that and today I'm going to be asking you some questions from your book there's no plan b for your a game and for the listener if they were interested in purchasing it or learning more about it it'll be in the show notes for this episode.

But I wanted to touch on another thing, another story about your dad that you highlight in the book. And this is around the topic of accountability. You had mentioned him telling you before about OJ Simpson. And over the past four to five years before he recently passed away, I would run into O.J. Simpson every so often here in St. Petersburg because his two kids live here in the Tampa Bay area. I remember looking back at O.J. Simpson when he used to play and he was that great player that you were referencing. You and your brother Tony would often reminisce

with your father looking back on old yearbooks and other things. And a story you talk about in the book is one time you're going through these and you all wanted to hear about the stories of his teammates. And you saw this guy who had huge ears and you asked your dad about him and he told you, man, that guy was a hell of a player and he had this incredible opportunity

to be great, but he started drinking and all of a sudden he had no chance. And what was interesting to me, similar to how he told you about the runt of the litter is your dad had a way of telling you things where he got you to put yourself into the story and in a way that many parents will say don't drink, don't take drugs, don't do this, but your dad had you see the opportunity loss of not being accountable to yourself? And I was hoping you could talk about that a little bit because I think it's an important lesson for parents. Yeah, there is great question. And you know what, John, great question.

Because no one really, I don't know, I think you might be the first person that's ever asked me about that. And that is, I do this, for one, I'm really familiar with it because I do it with my kids all the time as they grew up. About drinking, about drugs, about sex, all the things that you do as a parent. That there's conversations that are hard to have and the conversations that if you tell a kid not to drink, they're probably going to try it anyway. My dad never did that. Always use a story and it was a tiny story, like an anecdotal story. Like he would, you would, I remember this one thing my dad always told me and my brother in high school, because

he knew we wanted to be professional athletes and I Remember he said if and this was marijuana. I remember it was specifically marijuana. He said Because this was in the 70s. He would say now if anyone Brings out he would call it dope and light lights up the dope you Excuse yourself from that person. You get away from the person. You leave that party, you leave that, you just leave. You're gone.

You're out, you're not gonna be around that. That was the story he told for us to do because that's what he did. Like when somebody drank, when he was a kid, his dad told him, you just walk away. And my dad said he lost some friends because he just walked away from them. And he still liked them as friends,

but he wasn't gonna be in the area of drinking. And he was telling us not to be in the presence of marijuana. He called it dope. So funny. So one time we're coming home from football practice and me and my brother got a ride from some older guys. We were probably freshmen and sophomore and they were probably seniors or juniors. And we looked up to these guys. They were older guys, they were bigger, they were football players, so we wanted to be as good as them and they were giving us a ride home, right? And one guy pulled out, I think it was a cigarette, it was either cigarette or marijuana and started to light it up while he was driving

in the front seat. Me and my brother were in the back seat. I'll never forget this because we lived down the country. There was no public transportation there. It was 17 miles between the high school and our house and just farms in between. So my brother, as soon as he

saw that, I was looking at it, the guy about to light it up, and I was looking around. I didn't know what to do because I didn't want to say that to an older guy who I admired. But my brother goes like this, could you pull the car over? Just like that. Could you pull the car over? And the guy goes, what do you mean? Pull the car over? He goes, just pull over. We have to get out of the car. And I was like, I was embarrassed that my brother was saying that. But the guy said, well, what do you mean you got to get out? And he goes, our dad just told us a story about like when he was around somebody who was doing something that we he didn't want us around he just said you got to get away from that you got to somehow get away

from that so if you'll pull over we'll just we can walk the rest of the way and the guy the cool football player guy who was about to light up said you know what i'm not doing it. I'm not gonna do it. And he didn't light it up. He put it back away and continued to give us a ride. Well, that all came from a little anecdotal story that my dad told me. Somehow innately, maybe it's because of him being a cowboy. Like cowboys are, they don't talk a lot, but if they do talk, they talk in story. And that's how you teach the youngsters how to herd the

cattle or how to win a war or how to overcome something. You did it through story. And I learned then that story was much more effective. Telling a story as you're raising your kids to what you want them, tell them the story of the example of that you went through, they will follow suit. But if you tell them not to smoke marijuana, they might try marijuana. But if you tell them the story of getting out of the car, they might try marijuana. But if you tell them the story of getting out of the car, cause I tell my kids that all the time. I go, you guys, my dad told us that we had to get away from marijuana.

And one time I was driving and I just, the story that I just told you, John, my brother said, hey, could you pull over? Me and my brother got to get out of the car. And I tell my kids that all the time. And you know what? I don't know if it's been helpful for them. But it's much better to train people and teach people based on story on anecdotal evidence instead of telling them what to do. Because even my kids too, right? Like I'm a good parent,

but they do not listen to what I tell them to do. They don't, right? They listen to what other people tell them to do, but they listen to the story and they live into their future likewise because of the story. Anyway, my dad did that our whole lives. He gave us example after example

of a person that did something that he didn't want us to do. Whether that was drinking, whether that was womanizing, whether that was cheating on your girlfriend, whatever it was, he would give us examples of it, of in his life and then we would just sit there and listen to him and go okay I think I know what he's training me to do and you just become those stories that a great storyteller tells you. You become those stories

you become those stories. And that's why I talk a lot about storytelling because I think in the end, looking back, it is the thing that kind of saved my butt storytelling. Like when I had the transition from the NFL to being a civilian, a regular person out there in the public, it was really hard because I was trained to be great. I was trained to be the best in the world at one thing, and that one thing was very

violent and it was to hurt people. That's what safety's did in the 80s. That's what we were known for. That was legal on the football field, but completely illegal in the civilian world. So I had to find a story for myself that got me through that. In fact, it was storytelling in itself that I had to start doing to make a living

in the civilian world rather than hurting people and myself. Because that was what I was trained to do and I was really good at it got paid a lot of money to hurt people and intimidate people well that doesn't work too well in the civilian world so just to avoid prison I learned how to be expressive on a stage in front of people and And that's really what saved me. So that's why I don't take storytelling lightly. Cause it's really saved me on a few fronts in my life. I want to come back to your football years, but I just want to put the audience in this position that you were in.

I think the last game you played, you were playing the Miami Dolphins, and this was the seventh time you had busted your knee, if I have it right. And you're sitting here thinking about your future, and you're thinking to yourself, I have this skillset that the only thing it's applicable for is me doing something that's gonna harm someone that's gonna land me in jail, which is why you're making those comments.

And then you have this idea that pops up that you're going to go to New York and you pictured yourself being on stage. And I want to go back to your book before I ask you this question, because it's really the next part of this chapter on accountability. You give this lesson that you have to build your environment, which is something I think is so important. Because when you build your environment, meaning the people who you're surrounding yourself with, the energy that you surround yourself with, the surroundings've put yourself around with, it can have such a positive or

such a negative influence on how you're going to end up living your life. But as you were going down this path, you start going through some classes and in one of these classes, if I get the story, you ask your classmates, who do you think the best character actor that there is right now? And they all come back to you and say, it's Al Pacino. And you come up with this idea that you're gonna seek down Al Pacino

and get advice from them. If I have the story correct, can you build upon it? You do have it correct. I moved to New York City. Every kid in my class was much younger than me because I already had a career. I was playing in the NFL and they were fresh out of college.

All these young theater students, acting students, improv students, writing students, they were all in my class. And I was like, you guys, who's the best stage performer of our time? Well, this was 1990. So everybody said Al Pacino is the best of our time. And I said, cool, where is he?

I gotta talk to him. And they're laughing at me. This boy's crazy. And I said, because I knew that if he held the mantle, if he was indeed the best on the stage, then he would be the only one to tell me or to help me compete with him and eventually take his trophy

of being the best stage performer. So lo and behold, about a week later, I'm in Al Pacino's house. Imagine this, crazy. I'm at his house. It's just how you would imagine. It is, it looks like a scene out of The Godfather with 15 Italian people in a kitchen,

stirring gravies and pastas and cooking this crazy big old meal. And no one speaks English. They all speak Italian except for Al. And Al comes out and he greets me, he's like, oh, hey, Al Pacino. I'm like, no shit, I've seen all your movies. And he said, Bo, I know why you're here, come on back.

We went to this room that he had a pool table in and we played pool for about three hours and he broke down my next 15 years. He didn't say it was gonna be 15 years until later but he just started breaking down what my desires were. Like I said, look, I wanted to be the best safety in the world when I was nine. I got that. It came true. I want to do it again. I want to do it with stage performance.

I want to be the best at that. Help me. Who do I work with? Where do I go? What's the first thing I do? And this was in New York. And he told me who to work with, who the teachers were going to be, who the movement coach was going to be, who the teachers were gonna be, who the movement coach was gonna be, who the voice coach was gonna be. I mean, there was so much more to it than I knew. I just thought you got up there and winged it and it wasn't, it was just,

I was happy to learn that it was exactly like playing a professional sport. It was exactly the same principles had to be taken care of. Like you had to train and you had to eat in a specific way and you had to be with the specific coaches that were the top at the top and could teach you and accelerate your training and that's what I did and I saved all my money from football and I used it for 15 years To get me to a place where I thought in 15 years if I did what I'll said to do

then I could be the top guy and Basically John he told me exactly what you would tell me, which is he said, Bo, basically your ass, your feet are going to be planted on a stage in a theater more than anyone else in the next 15 years. And you're going to be up there rehearsing, sweating, working through the text, trying to decipher Shakespeare, trying to move authentically, trying to get a better stronger resident voice and if you do that for 15 years then chances are you're probably going to be the top of the heap years, then chances are you're probably going to be the top of the heap because no one else will do that. I said, you know what, I happen to be really good with those kind of timelines.

And I, I'm just thinking of one lesson for your listeners right now is that, you know what, and I tell my kids this all the time no I don't know if they believe me I don't know if anyone believes this but I always knew since I was a kid that if I didn't stop whatever this declaration was at the time if I just didn't stop like I stayed loyal to it and only it. I somehow knew that no one else would. I somehow knew that despite my abilities, despite my shortcomings, if you give me that long, that big of a runway, I'm probably going to be the best at that given the 15 years. And I didn't talk about this earlier when I had the declaration of being the best safety all the way up growing up, there were certain things I didn't do growing up.

Like I didn't go to the prom, right? Because in my little 15 year old, 16 year old mind, I thought that was a conflict of me being the best safety. I thought that that ran against being the best safety. So I didn't go to the prom. I didn't drink. There was certain things I didn't do going on dates that I knew all the other safeties were probably

who wanted to be the best safety growing up in whatever city they lived in. I thought they were going to the prom and that's where I would get ahead of them. Well, I still, I had a very simple mind in my late twenties and I did the same thing in the entertainment business. I just said, I'm going to train more than anyone else can train. I'm going to be on a stage more than anyone else can be on a stage.

And I'm not gonna have any conflicting interests. And so I wasn't searching for an acting career. I wasn't trying to get an agent. I was trying to be the best on stage. And I figured if I was, then like Al Pacino, if you're the best on stage and I figured if I was then it like Al Pacino if you're the best on stage chances are people are going to come calling and saying hey can you do this hey can I hire you for this and that is exactly what happened so 15 years later after meeting Al Pacino, 15 years later I'm on stage on Broadway and off Broadway in front of an audience of a play that I wrote that I was the playwright of and that I'm the only guy in. So it's a play I wrote and I'm the only guy in. And I'd never written a play in my life. I never written anything in my life

other than English papers. But I wrote a play. It was a one-man play, opened in New York, ran forever. Went on a 50 city tour. It got bought as a movie. And that play, because I took the time to be great at that play and hired people around me to make sure to hold me accountable and to make sure I was authentic and great at the performance.

15 years later I'm in a I'm in a house in New York City, opening night, critics are in there, I am so nervous. I've never been this nervous and I've gone up against 350 pound dudes. They were like cupcakes compared to the critics in New York. So I was going out, I went out on opening night, I did the play, and right on the aisle in the fifth row was Al Pacino sitting there watching me do a play that I'm the only guy in and I remembered like looking at him going shit that is Al Pacino and I'm trying to remember my lines while saying wow I can't believe Al Pacino came to my play.

It was like these two things going on at once. And all he did, all I remember him doing was he had his arms crossed like this as he sat there and he just was watching the play and he just went like this. Just nodded his head. And that was the moment, and that was the best review that I ever got. It was like as if he was saying, kid, you did what you said you were going to do, and you did, and here you are, right here, where everyone is out to murder you in print because you're a football player thinking you can write a play and bring it to New York City and actually perform it. And that play was a huge success not only for my development but it made me a screenwriter. I got bought as a movie so I got

to write screenplay. I got to write several other screenplays for other movie stars because of that. And I never saw myself as a writer. But it turns out I knew how to tell a story. And that's basically that play saved my ass, John, because I was really nervous. I was scared, you know, I was scared because I was great at one thing and that one thing did not translate well to the civilian world. So the ability to express myself on a page

and the ability for this instrument that my coaches built to be able to express this thing in a storytelling manner, coaches built to be able to express this thing in a storytelling manner. It gave me forever, ever since that day, a voice to share my own self, to share the expression of what I feel inside this body. And I was really good at that as a football player, like athletes, elite athletes are really excellent at expressing their physical body on a field or on a court.

And I wasn't good at expressing myself verbally. I was pretty good physically, but not great verbally. And that's what I learned. And once those two things matched, like the physicality and the verbal, it really set me free. Like it gave me like a sense of health and a sense that, wow, this art form that I have mastered can't be taken away from me. Like a knee surgery cannot take it away from me. I'm going to do this for the rest of my life. And then it turned into me teaching people to do it. People would come to the play, John, and mostly people come to plays and they want to come backstage and meet you as a performer or as a writer. But no one wanted to meet me in that way. The people who came backstage to meet me and this was over 17 years. The

people who came backstage were business owners, were CEOs of the biggest companies in New York City and in the world. They were coming backstage and they weren't there to say, hey can I get a picture with you? Hey, you're a really great performer. What they wanted to know was how did you do that? And can you teach my people to do that? What you just did? And that's how I began to train people, business people, salespeople, doctors, financial advisors.

I train them to do what I did on stage, which is basically to tell my own story and have a connection physically, have a connection with other human beings. Well, these business people wanted it because if you can do what I did, you can make a lot more money for that company. You can build your own company based on the ability

to physically and verbally share yourself. And that's what built trust and that's what they knew. So that's how that whole career started as me training people to do what I did best. So I'll pause right there. Bo, one of the things that I love about this story with Al Pacino is I understand that, and maybe it was this 15 year point

because you hadn't seen him from the time he gave you advice into that point, but at some point you're having a conversation with them and you ask him, how many other people have you helped to do? How many other people have you helped in the same way you helped me? And his answer was no one. He goes, people always come to me and they want to be famous and they want money and they want this and that. But what you wanted was different. You wanted to be the best that you could possibly be.

And he leaned in and told you that. And I think it's an interesting story about how we need to ask for help because you need to ask it in the right way. Had you asked it differently, I doubt he would have given you the same advice. Do you think that's true? I 100% think that's true.

Everybody requests things of people who are successful, like can you introduce me to the important people? Can you fund my project? Can you introduce me to your agent? Can you get me a movie part? Well, somehow I knew that a movie part was not going to help me. What was gonna help me take care of my whole life

was being the best at something. So I always chased the best rather than the money. But what I quickly understood was that when you were the best, the money actually comes because it's pretty rare that somebody is the best at something and is dedicated to that or takes the time to master something. And here's another thing I learned John was those famous people, the people who are actually in position to help you.

I swear they're the most generous people. They are, you just don't know they are. They're so generous because there's no way they could reach the height that they're in without being generous. They can't. If they're a dick, they ain't going to the top. It just, in my experience, it doesn't happen.

Al Pacino is a great dude, but if I went to him and said, hey Al, can you give me a little small part in your next movie? Now that would have been fun to do, right? But he would have looked at me just like I was any dude coming down the pipe. And yeah, I could do that,

but is that really gonna help your life? A small movie part it's not going to help you. How about I tell you the miles to run and then you run them and then you'll be valuable to every movie maker, to every stage, to everywhere you go because you have the ability to perform. You have the ability and you've mastered something. And here's the one thing I've learned about mastery is if you master one thing in your life, you master all things. Master one, master all. And people just don't, I don't think they believe it because they don't want to do it. They don't, and I mastered a position called safety, but that mastering of that position,

which is, it's completely unrelated, but I'm a great husband. I've mastered what it is to be a great husband and a great dad because of the training I had for those years attempting to be the best safety. It's the same principles. It's the same exact principles. Playwright. People like New York Times called me like one of the most powerful playwrights

in the last decade, right? The only reason they said that, you guys, the only reason I became a good playwright was because I mastered what it took to be a great safety. That was it. I knew the principles were exactly the same and I just repeated these principles over and over in my life.

And it turns out it works in every field. So say today, John, you and me decided, hey, let's start a new declaration together. John, how about we become the best ballet dancers in the world and we give ourselves 20 years. Now, the principles would be exactly the same as playwright, as safety, as podcaster. Once you master a thing, then your timelines get shorter because of the principles, the miles to run.

And that's what I'm always training, only my kids but my clients. I always want the people that I'm training to be great presenters. And they think it's going to take a long time. And I always ask them, well, what where are you going in this time? Are you dying? Are you going to die? Or are you going to live for the next few years so we can master this thing? And they're like, no, I'm going to be alive. I'm like, okay, cool. We got time then.

So relax. Let's learn this thing. Let's master this thing. That way you're completely in control of your own life. Because if I can control the stories that I tell and the ability to move people, then I always get paid for that. There's always somebody wanting to invest, wanting to pay, wanting to be in because no one does it well. They do it. They just don't do it well. Imagine if a politician did this well, they'd be really dangerous, right?

They're just, they're really bad at this, which keeps them powerful, weak, like no one trusts them anymore. If you notice, no one trusts them anymore because they're just no good at being them, at being authentic and being able to tell a story that is tried and true. They really are bad at that and thank God they are because we put them in a little cupboard over here and we go okay you're a politician I

don't believe anything you say and not only do I not believe it no one believes it and so they have a certain amount of power and that power just keeps dissipating as our world goes forward and people in our department who can actually express themselves authentically coming directly from their heart. Well, we become the powerful. We actually flip the script on our so-called leaders and now we are the leaders because we're better communicators. We're just better at being us. Now, I'm not saying we're more polished. That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying we're more real. I'm saying we're more trustworthy and that's my big push now. That's really where I'm headed now in training people because I think the whole leadership model is bankrupt

and I feel it, I can feel it in my own life. It's bankrupt and I keep looking around for another leader to show up because I'm a good player. So I like following leaders. And I realized a few years back that there's just nobody coming. No one's coming. So why don't I take the lead? Why don't you take the lead, John? And why don't my clients and my family, why don't we take the lead? And that's a big responsibility that really nobody wants, but too bad. That's how it is nowadays. That's how it's going to have to go. So along those lines, Bo, a lot of people are out there and they have powerful stories,

but they don't think their story is worth telling. What's your advice for someone on how they could maybe use their lowest moment and use that moment to create their story of victory and turn it into a powerful narrative? You guys, just so everybody knows, including me, including John, you don't, no one thinks they have a powerful story.

You just don't go around going, wow, I got a really powerful story. No one thinks that of themselves. Do you know why that is? It's because over your lifetime, so I'm 63. So my stories of planes being the best safety, well, That took 20 years to come into fruition. So I initially didn't think that was a powerful story. Who's going to care about me at nine years old having a dream and then fulfilling on that dream 20 years later? Does anybody really care? Because I was thinking personally, it's me. It's 20 years. It seems like a boring life. I didn't go to the prom. I missed a lot of parties. I missed a lot of fun stuff because I was doing my safety training. It seems our lives seem mundane to us because it takes a long time for these stories to develop. But after 20 years, you look back and you go, wow,

I used to think who would give a crap about me and my little plan? Well, you know what it turned out to be? Everybody cares about my plan. Everybody who's ever heard the story cares about my dreams and my 20 year plan. Everybody cares and is inspired by somebody who sticks with that dedication for that long

and brings it into existence. Everybody. Well, I thought no one cared because it seemed boring to me because I just did it, it was my life. Well, I thought no one cared because it seemed boring to me because I just did it with my life. Well, same for you. You think that when your mom, you had a dream of being a pop star, say, and one day your mom was driving you to choir practice and you're sitting in the backseat and you're singing your lungs out and your mom turns around and says you know what sweetheart you're the worst singer I've ever heard which parents sometimes do that right it's not the greatest

parenting I wouldn't think but it's what they do. Well that moment to a kid 13 that is the most painful moment of your life. Now you've worked through that by now as an adult but that's where I always start my students. The people that work with me they always say well Bo that's not an interesting story is my mom just said that to me and I say well what did you say what did you do right after your mom said because you're the one with the dream of being a pop star and then your mom says you're the worst singer in America you did something next you said something to yourself you decided something for yourself in that moment in that car. What was it? And that is their defining moment.

It's a moment that defines you for the rest of your life. And you have these defining moments all throughout your life. But the really dark ones, the ones that hurt the most those are the most powerful and it's usually at an age between nine and 12 usually not all the time but those are usually the powerful ones like mine every just so you know every elite athlete on the planet Michael Jordan Tom Brady me we all have the same story. Our story goes like this. I was cut from my high school basketball team. That's Michael Jordan's story.

So Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player ever to play the game, yet he was cut from his high school basketball team, not once, but twice. How could that be? That is his defining moment story. It is the story that defined him for the rest of his life. Tom Brady, same story, just in football, right?

No one wants him, no one likes him. He is defined by not a very good quarterback. And now we know him as the greatest quarterback of all time because he decided to change things through pain of his defining moment. You suck, you're no good. He defined himself as the greatest quarterback and lived it into existence.

I did that, every elite athlete does that. Well, everyone who's accomplished, like all of you listening right now, say you're a doctor, say you're a doctor of note, you're a well-known doctor. The only reason you are is because you had a defining moment story. And that defining moment story,

it could be you got an F the first day of medical school. It could be that you were told you were stupid and you wouldn't amount to anything as a child. Those you guys are the most powerful thing you've got. I don't care what your education is. I don't care what your resume says. Your defining moment story came from pain, a lot of pain. When I got cut from Little League, I never had that much pain in my life, never. And I decided in that moment as a kid

that I'm never gonna get cut again. No one's gonna send me home ever again. And guess what? You guys, that made me a pro athlete. that made me get paid a lot of money just that decision. Those are called defining moment stories. That's what I train people to learn about themselves. And no one wants to tell it for one because of what john said.

They don't think it's important. They don't think people want to know that't think people want to know that story everybody wants to know that story so think about this in your life everybody think about this right now the what's your favorite movie just think about what it is what's your top three favorite movies I guarantee you every one of them started the first frame of film started at the lowest moment. A defining moment. Everyone, if it's Rocky, guess where Rocky starts. He's a bum. Rocky's a bum. He's shaken down old men for change, right? But what is he at the end of the movie? He's the heavyweight champion of the world. You guys that is a defining moment. He is a bum fighter. He his

desire is to be the heavyweight champion. Your story is no different than that. That is what great storytelling is all about. So if this is why I train people to start at their lowest moment and tell me what that was, the one where there was no answers for you, that moment is the moment that you decided you were gonna take matters into your own hands. That is all human beings are interested in. We reward courage.

And since time, and this is the only thing that's been rewarded since time, is courage. So if you're at the lowest moment and there's no answers for you, you have to have courage to decide and define yourself as having a dream and then getting after it. Just like Michael Jordan, just like Tom Brady, just like me, just like Rocky, just like you. Once you've a story, then we rehearse it and we physically attach it to your humanity because you know here's the truth of the matter people believe about 50 percent of what comes out of your mouth that's the statistics that's the science science tells us that people believe 50 percent of what comes out of your mouth but people believe your body this physical instrument that we all have,

people believe your body 100% of the time because the body cannot lie. The body cannot lie. So my workshops are all about finding this most valuable story that you have. And then I bring in my movement coach, the guy who taught me to be on stage physically with a presence.

And then we attach this verbal story to your solar plexus, to your molecules. So now this instrument, the greatest instrument that God ever created as far as expression goes, is the human body. Well, we want this body expressing the exact story that you're telling. And I have found that this is how people, all of my clients, including myself, have built their businesses, have built their companies, and have built their brands based on a defining moment story of pain. In that wild, you would think it would be the opposite, but it always starts there.

Then, once people trust you, which they will because physically they not trust your body. Understand that people have to trust your body because your body cannot lie. That's why it's important for me and for you is to attach this story to a physicality to our body. This is why you trust animals, no matter what. You trust babies, little kids, no matter what, because they're so physical in front of you. They're so unapologetic physically

that you must keep your eyes on them and you must trust them. Well that's all we train to do in my workshops so that all my people get the trust. All my people can then raise the funds or build their business however big or small that they want to but they're in control. I'm in control of my business. That's the freedom I would like everybody to have. Because once I was given that freedom and trying to do this, that's what I've experienced is just like this freedom of movement and a voice and of dreams. This is what I want to build. Can somebody help me build this? Here's my story. And they follow the story.

And then they build the business with you. It's very cool. It's a very cool story, Bo. And I typically, in probably 50% of my episodes, start with a question that I ask the guest. I always say, we all have moments that define us. What is a moment that has defined you? Oh wow, yeah.

It's interesting. I would say only about 20% of them. Can answer the question the vast majority try to take it. Try to tackle it in a way that doesn't show vulnerability that doesn't show a low point. It's almost like that interview question you get. What's your biggest weakness? Yep.

Instead of really leaning into it, telling it with emotion, a listening empathy, so you get people on your side. Then talking about your journey through it, then how you come out on the other side and what you learn from it. And that to me is what good storytelling is. It's really what we see in a lot of the movies where you've got this hero story and they're really going through the journey

of that person going through that vulnerable moment, learning from it, and then the inner work, the inner journey they do on the other side of it. That's to me what makes some of the best stories out there. That is a hundred percent. And just a quick tip for everybody. Usually your best story is the one you don't want to tell. Isn't that funny to say? Like there's a lot of stories that we want to tell, right? Like about, oh, I won the championship.

Look at my trophy. Like I'm sure Tom Brady loves telling that story. Look, I won seven Super Bowls. I want to know the lowest moment Tom Brady's ever had because that's the one that has the most connective tissue to it. There's a reason why a guy wins seven Super Bowls. It is pain.

It is not from joy. It is not from fun. It is not from any of that. It is from pain that he felt as a kid when they cut him. When they said, you're no good. It is from pain that he felt as a kid when they cut him, when they said, you're no good. You're not a good player. You can't play here. Same story we all have.

That's the story we're interested in Tom Brady, because can you really connect to another human being based on a trophy? You cannot. You can only connect through pain. It is the most intimate. It is the most this vulnerability that John's talking about. That pain makes you vulnerable. Well, that is the greatest connective tissue that human beings have. that human beings have. It's embarrassment. It is shame. It is I'm reluctant to tell that, to share that. That is the story for you. You got to know this. Do the think everybody do this. We're going to do a 10 second exercise. The first one's five seconds. Think of your greatest moment of your

life. Five seconds. Think of it right now. Greatest moment of your life. Proudest moment of your life. Five seconds. Think of it right now. Greatest moment of your life. Proudest moment of your life. Five seconds. Go. Everybody got it? Good. Forget about that one. It's not a good story.

It sucks as a story. No one can connect to that. Here's another five second exercise. Think of your lowest moment. The one where you looked around and there were no answers for you. Five seconds go. That's your story. That's the one. That's the one that connects you to human beings. The other one doesn't work. It doesn't work. We don't. That

would be like this. They start the movie of climbing Mount Everest. Say we're making a movie of climbing Mount Everest. Do we start on the top of the mountain? Does the movie begin with us on top of Mount Everest planting the flag, waving with our successes. No, it does not start there, does it? No story starts there. The movie starts us looking up at the top of the summit and saying, there's no way in hell we can make it. And there's dead bodies all around us.

That's where you start a story. No one's interested in your success. They're only interested in the climb. That's it. That's what connects us to human beings. That's why you've got to start at your lowest moment. And I just want to end on this whole note of us talking about Tom Brady because you're right. I think the story that is the most amazing one that I've heard him talk about is his story when he was at the University of Michigan. He's in his sophomore year. He's number six on the depth chart and he's ready to throw in the towel. The coaches are telling him he has all these issues with this mechanics, with this, with that. He's about ready to head back to California and he meets a mentor who tells him he's got to work on the mechanics.

He's not trying hard enough. He's not out working people. He's not doing everything that he can do and he basically says, how will you feel about yourself if you didn't do everything that you possibly could to become the best. And it started this whole, if I'm telling the story right, this whole new way of him thinking where from that point forward, he was going to out practice everyone. He was going to out technique everyone. He was going to try to learn like a sponge, everything that he possibly could, try to break all the illusions that he had to get back to the fundamentals

and to train himself to be the best. And I think people can resonate with that story because we've all had those low moments in our life where we wanted to give up and it's really that perseverance that's the story that people wanna hear. Here's why people go to the theater. Here's why people go to the theater. This is why you go to the theater.

I heard a movie star say this once. It was a lady movie star and she said this, people don't come to the theater to see me. They come to the theater to see themselves. That is so accurate, you guys. No one goes to an event. No one goes to an event. No one goes to a speech. No one comes to a podcast to see me or to see John.

You're here to see yourself. And the only way you can find yourself is through how it's through my story or John's story. And that's what you relate to. So you see yourselves inside of well I'm the guest on this podcast so you're seeing yourself through my journey. I'm telling you stories of my dad. Well you're not thinking of my dad you're thinking of your dad. The more personal your stories are, the more effect you have. Because here's what it does. It puts people inside of their own life and that's where people want to be. They go to the theater to see themselves themselves not the actor not the actor but if the actor can put me in my life he gets

rewarded forever so think about that you guys your stories are not selfish they are personal and they mean something to you the more they mean to you the more they mean to the audience mean to you the more they mean to the audience. So you're giving your audience the greatest reward you can give to any audience which is to put them into their own life which is where they want to be and they see themselves through your life through your story through through your dreams they see their dreams. You see how this works? There's this term that was invented a couple decades ago and I hate it and people use it all the time when they speak or when they tell a story. They preface their story by saying well I'm gonna tell you a story. It's not about me.

They'll say this term. It's not about me. Well, right then you should run out of the room because that's going to be a crappy story of narcissism. Don't use that term. It's not about me. If you tell a personal story, you are giving your audience the greatest reward you can ever give, which is putting them in their own lives. That's what I want. That's where people go wrong.

That's why they sound like they're bragging. They sound like narcissists because they're trying to prove that they're not bragging. Well, you don't have to brag. Just share your life. Share your dad, share your dad, share your grandmother, share your child. And if you do that, you put them in their own life and now you're on the same wavelength. Now you have trust, now you have intimacy. Something that our leadership model right now cannot have,

does not have, which is why trust is so low. But you and me, we get to have it. We get to rebuild the trust that's been eroded over time by these idiots, because they don't know what they're doing. We do. We know how to share ourselves. It's through pain. It's through the pain of that lowest moment story that defined you.

That's how we do it. And once you do that, you guys, you can take your people, your audience, whether it's virtual or it's one person at a time or you're in a big arena speaking to people. You get to take them wherever you want to take them because they trust you and they don't trust the rest of the world. Remember how you used to trust every doctor that you met? Remember how you used to trust every buddy who spoke in front of a podium or behind a podium? You believed them. You trusted them. You did what they said. You don't do that anymore.

You don't do it anymore. Think about it. You don't. You go, I don't know. You don't trust them because they're not trustworthy because they don't share themselves and they You don't. You go, I don't know. You don't trust them, because they're not trustworthy, because they don't share themselves. And they certainly don. We didn't get to cover, but thank you so much for joining us today. So much valuable insight, uh, through your stories and your wisdom. Thank you so much. Yes, you're welcome. It was a, as a pleasure for me. It's great. Well, I'd love to have you back in the future and for the audience again, I'll

put it in the show notes, but please check out Bo's book. And if you're interested in public speaking, I highly encourage you to check out YouTube's of Bo speaking on stage because he's been to so many events like Mindvalley where he's been picked the number one speaker at their conferences. And there's a reason and it gets down

to the authentic storytelling that he's been talking about this entire episode. So thank you again, Beau. John, you're welcome. And John, I'd love to put something in the chat for you guys too. Just a number they can text and I'll send them a video where I train people how to uncover their signature story,

their defining moment story. So everybody listening can watch that video and go, oh, okay, I'll give you some prompts. You can start to write it. You can start to understand what that story is for you and then start using it. Okay? Yep, absolutely.

I'll put that in the show notes for all the viewers and listeners. Thank you for that. Okay, great. Thanks, John. Where's the best place that people can go to learn more about you? I mean, that's actually a really good place. Boeysen.com is my website. It's got all the programs that I do. I do some live stuff, three-day events. I'd love to have some of your audience come and work on their story and physically embody their story with my movement coach. It's a very powerful event called personal story power, which we do in La Jolla twice a year for three days. And love to have you guys come and learn this powerful story so you can start using it. Plus you get to go to

La Jolla. I used to live in San Diego. It doesn't get much prettier than that. Man, you know what? That's what most of the people that come to the la Jolla are like, oh my gosh, there are seals on the beach right next to the theater that we do our event in. It's so beautiful and so cool. Well, thank you again, Beau. You're welcome, John. What an incredible conversation with Beau Eason. His journey from the NFL to the stage and beyond is a master class in resilience, storytelling, and the relentless pursuit of excellence.

Bo's insights on declaring your identity and crafting a personal story that connects on a deeper level offer a game-changing approach to personal and professional growth. The lessons he shared about pushing past our limitations, embracing vulnerability and channeling our life experiences into our unique narrative. Remind us that each of us has a story worth sharing. So as you reflect on today's episode, ask yourself, what parts of your story are you willing to own and share to inspire others and build trust? How can you put in the sweat equity to make your dreams a reality as Bo has done time and time again? Remember the best legacies are built not from perfection, but from authenticity, dedication, and a commitment to always be improving.

All the links to Bo's work, including his book, There's No Plan B or Your A-Game, will be in the show notes at passionstruck.com. Please use the links if you're purchasing books from our guests and help support the show. You can also find our videos on YouTube and check out all our advertiser deals and discount codes at passionstruck.com slash deals. Please consider supporting those who support the show. And as for me, you can connect with me on Twitter and Instagram at John R. Miles or on LinkedIn. I'd love to hear from you.

To dive even deeper, head over to passionstruck.com and take the Passion Struck Quiz, where you can explore how you're progressing in living your most intentional life. And if you haven't yet, join our Live our live intentionally newsletter to receive our weekly courage challenge, a practical way to bring these insights to life with actionable steps you can take each week. You can find it on passionstruck.com. If today's episode resonated with you, please leave a five-star rating and review and share it with someone who could benefit. Sharing these conversations makes a tremendous difference, not just for the show, but for our community as well. And for those of you interested in diving deeper, I also invite you to explore my speaking engagements.

If your organization is ready to unlock potential and inspire intentional action, reach out to learn more about booking me for a transformational speaking session. You can do so by going to johnrmiles.com. Before we go, here's a sneak peek at what's coming next on Passion Struck. Joining us is Naixin Chen, a dynamic public speaking coach who has mastered the art of helping entrepreneurs and executives speak with power and authenticity. Nashiin's incredible journey from top manager

at Procter & Gamble, to award-winning filmmaker and improv performer, culminated in her bold choice to become a public speaking coach. We'll explore her unique out-in-out framework for impactful speaking and uncover the power of embracing your true voice. I absolutely agree. Your role is one way of defining what you do, but it may not always be very clear. So for me, it always comes down to who's asking you the question and

what context and who's going to be at the receiving end. But making sure that you're actually talking about what you actually accomplish, what are the outcomes of the work that you do. So for example, I help people become the best speakers they can be. That probably means more to someone versus me saying, I'm a public speaking coach. Thank you as always for your time and attention.

Remember, the fee for this show is simple. If you found value in today's episode, share it with someone who could benefit. And as always, do your best to apply what you learn here so you can live what you listen. Until next time, live life passion struck.