“They’re like, “E, this is going to be your legacy -- “homeless.” That's what people going to talk about forever. You were homeless and you committed suicide. You’re weak. You were homeless and you just gave up. But if you keep going, get something for all this pain.”

I’ve been through a lot and I’m number one motivational speaker in the world because of my experiences, not because I’m the best speaker but my experience and what I’ve gone through. You look at other guys, people respect me because it's like, “Okay, if this dude went from all the way there and came here then I can do the same thing.”

I’m not a better speaker than Tony Robbins. I’m not a better speaker than Les Brown. I think people, when they say I’m number one, they’re saying “from where you came from and how far you came.” That is what they're saying.” -- Eric Thomas

-----------

ROB
Welcome to Disruption Now. I’m your host and moderator, Rob Richardson.

CARLTON
I’m Carlton Washington.

ROB
We are honored to bring you a special edition of Disruption Now sponsored by 4Ever Young, an anti-aging solution company that really helps you live your best life for as long as you can. Honored to have my man. He's the founder here, Carlton Washington.

CARLTON
One of the founders.

ROB
One of the founders, yes -- a humble guy. He’s done a lot in the last... It’s been five years, right?

CARLTON
Yeah.

ROB
…to help transform that company. It's been an inspiration. I’ve known him since college. Make sure you check it out because we all need to stay healthy, stay young as long as possible because a lot of that is in mentality. You don't have to have invasive surgery. They can help you live your best life with the best solution that they have. -- So I want to thank you, Carlton, for allowing this opportunity for us. And thank you 4Ever Young, anti-aging solution. -- You could go on there to find more about them. They’re in Florida but they're coming all around the country. I guarantee it because I know this man.

We're honored… we are excited today to have… You may have met Eric Thomas. “ET” as he goes by online. He's been around motivating people for a very long time. His story is really inspirational. He comes from humble beginnings. He’s gone from being homeless to being one of the most successful motivational speakers ever. I believe he's the number-one motivational speaker right now online. If you've ever seen anything about him, you can't help but be motivated. You can't help but get excited. You can't help but be inspired. -- So Eric Thomas, I want to say it's a pleasure to have you on.

ERIC
Hi, brothers. Good to see you for the first time. -- I met this guy multiple times.

ROB
Yeah. I know you started off as a preacher. You’re still a preacher, right?

ERIC
Absolutely.

ROB
Yeah, that's who you are at your heart.

ERIC
Yeah.

ROB
You speak a lot about people being motivated and that motivation being connected to your faith. I had a deep conversation with this brother named “Michael Bennett” and we were just talking about God, talking about success and what that means and I explained to him--

I’ve been involved in public service -- or that was one of my aspirations -- lost variable things. The path was not linear. I’ll work my opponent, did all this stuff, still came up short. I told him I believe that I was following… and still believe I was following God's path so I was kind of confused afterwards when this happened. And the advice he gave me, he said, “Look Rob, your faith and your prayers can't always be tied to the outcome.” I never heard it said that way.

How do you guide people as a preacher when you see like, okay, you believe you're going down the path, you're doing all the things and it still doesn't happen the way you envisioned and you still feel like you are on God's plan? What’s your advice to people like that because I’m sure you hear that. They say, “Pastor Thomas, I did everything. I did my part and I still not see the seeds of what I planted.” What do you say to folks when they have… I’m sure people have that question.
ERIC
Yeah. First of all, I’ll tell them, “It’s God's plan, not your plan.” So it’s God's plan, you don't know what the plan is so you need to focus on the process. The process is what you can control. You can't control the outcome. You're not God.

So it's God's plan. God knows what He wants to do in you, so what you have to do is not lose faith.

Here's what I tell people: “You lose because you quit. You don't lose because you lost. You lost because you quit. You gave up. You didn't see what you wanted to see so you're just doing the tab. But if you kept going, you would wake up one day the number one motivational speaker in the world.”

So I just never quit. Nothing looked like I thought it should look like. My path of success didn’t look like homeless. It didn't look like 12 years to get a four-year degree. It didn't look like that. It looked like the NFL.

I’d never tell this story but I thought was going to the league. Even though I didn't go to school like I was supposed to, I still thought I was going to be next Tony Dorsett. That was my goal. My son, same thing. He wanted to play football, broke his femur. Like our whole life, we wanted to go… I got a brother that I didn’t even grew up with that I found out wanted to play in the army football.

Football was my thing but it didn't work. So my plan and God's plan wasn't the same plan. But here’s what I can say -- because I never quit and gave up, man, I think I like God’s plan more than the plan that I had for myself because even if I played football… Let's talk about it. Football is brutal. You don't play football till you’re 40. You don’t play football till you’re 45. Football, you might like 30-something.

ROB
Right.

ERIC
I’m a motivational speaker. God’s plan is way sweeter. How long can I do this?

ROB
Exactly.

ERIC
I can do this for a long, long time like forever. You know what I’m saying? I can do this forever as long as I live. So I really am grateful for God's plan because God's plan was way sweeter than my plan.

ROB
Yeah. How did you stay in that moment though? Take me back to that moment when you’re… Think about whatever you can think of. What are your lowest moments because people, some of them might be in that moment now…

ERIC
Absolutely.

ROB
…who are like, "Man..." -- whatever that is for them and then they feel they're having that block because... You shouldn't lose the faith but was there ever a time when you ever questioned it?

ERIC
Yeah, I was homeless. I was homeless. I questioned it when I was homeless. But here's the deal... Here's what I always tell myself: "If you give up in your worst state then this is where you'll be in history." So if I gave up at 17 years old in a homeless banned building… Like, "E, this is going to be your legacy -- “homeless.” That's what people going to talk about forever. You were homeless and you committed suicide. You're weak. You were homeless and you just gave up. But if you keep going, get something for all this pain”

I’ve been through a lot and I’m the number one motivator speaker in the world because of my experiences, not because I’m the best speaker but my experience and what I’ve gone through.
You look at other guys, people respect me because it's like, "Okay, if this dude went from all the way there and came here then I can do the same thing."

I’m not a better speaker than Tony Robbins. I'm not a better speaker than Les Brown. I think people, when they say I’m number one, they’re saying "from where you came from and how far you came.” That is what they're saying.

So here's what I tell people: "You are already in pain. You are already going through it. Get a reward from it. Don't quit right now. If you quit right now, this is all you’re going to get. But if you keep going, one day, you can take your story and make millions from the fact that your father wasn't in your life, from the fact that you were homeless, from the fact it took you 12 years to get a 4-year degree." So my thing is, "Don't waste all this energy and all this time crying and moaning. Get something for your pain."

ROB
Yep. I mean one of the things, as you measure a person's success, is not by how far they've come but the obstacles and the struggles they've overcome to get there.

ERIC
To get there, absolutely.

ROB
Carlton?

CARLTON
Eric, one thing you talk about a lot is being free and authenticity. Personally, I went into business to experience some freedom at some point in my life. But as a minority and not only my area where I reside but also within my industry, I've also find in talking with some of my peers in the corporate environment as well, being free and authentic isn't always highly recommended.

ERIC
Absolutely. No question.

CARLTON
A lot of the time, I find myself either being advised not to say or do certain things or having to second-guess the things that come natural to me -- the actual true convictions, thoughts and beliefs that I have. So my question to you is... I know you'd speak about this a lot. I know, personally, that's my main goal. But honestly, I end up curtailing that a lot. I know a lot of my friends were in the same situation I was as well. Do you think that one should be true all the time no matter what or do you think it could also be like... Dave Chappelle said, "Sometimes, keeping it real goes wrong."

ERIC
Absolutely. Yeah, no question. I’m glad you asked. Nobody's ever asked me that before because it's a struggle we have, right? When you are in another environment trying to be successful, that's not necessarily homecourt advantage.

ROB
Right.

ERIC
But here's what I tell people. The thing I’ve noticed about this country is the more value you add and the more talented you are, the more you can get away with which is why push extreme execution. I’ve noticed that there are people who--

And again, I don’t say this with any disrespect. But when you see athletes who have gotten in trouble for sexual assault or whatever -- they are at the top of their game -- they go through the legal process and looked different than the kid on the block who's gone through the exact same experience, right? Why -- because maybe they've won a championship, maybe they are great business people, whatever. The access they have to a certain legal counsel, whatever, is different.

So what I’ve learned is the more you execute, the higher you are in whatever your craft is, the more value add, you have some leniency that others don't have. I’m not saying "right, wrong or indifferent," I’ve just noticed that in this country, when you can produce and you can add value, you have a little bit more say. You have a little bit more skin in the game. So my thing is... Yeah, I would tamper it. Like if you feel like you're good then only do what the good can do. You feel what I’m saying? [Laughter] If you're great, if you're phenomenal then you got a little bit more up... You know what I'm saying?

ROB
Yeah, but you got to be self-aware.

ERIC
You have to be self-aware, yeah.

ROB
There's a saying in one of Robert Greene's books, Mastery, "Speak through your work not through your arguments."

ERIC
That's right.

ROB
So sometimes... Look, your work speaks.

ERIC
That's good.

ROB
You even have to speak it. It just says, "Look, my work speaks."

ERIC
Yeah. But it is of fine balance.

ROB
It is.

ERIC
I've learned as I’ve gotten older, it's where... This is the community I love but this community is paying for me to be with the community that I love. You know what I’m saying?

CARLTON
Right.

ROB
I get it.

CARLTON
My good friend always says to me in the morning... because sometimes I have to be walked off the edge, man. He's like, "Man, are you an activist or a businessperson?" He's like, "That'll answer your question most of the time."

ERIC
Yeah.

ROB
Yeah. But actually, it goes to like that -- “Speaking through your work, not for your arguments” -- in Mastery, really emotions, because what... Speaking just about the community, right?

ERIC
Absolutely.

ROB
Because of things we've been through, because of the trauma, sometimes we project things that are not there. Sometimes they are there.

ERIC
Absolutely.

ROB
And the question isn't, "If it's there, racism exists.” Racism is here. Racism is always--

ERIC
No question.

ROB
But how do you react in that moment? How can you best advance for yourself and your family and for the things you're trying to fight for? Is the reaction to just go straight and just go for a straight punch or is it just to--

ERIC
Jab, jab.

ROB
"Jab, jab, come back." [Laughter]

ERIC
And that's real because... I get people who are in different spectrums who would be like, "E, what do you..." And I’m like, "Bro, look at my work and you will know what I believe."

ROB
Exactly.

ERIC
You know what I'm saying? Like, "E, you were at the rally the other day. We talked at the rally." I was like, "No, I wasn't at the rally. But while you were at the rally, I was at the boys detention." You know what I’m saying? "I was with the foster kids from our community." You know what I’m saying? "I was at the worst school in New Orleans speaking to these kids." You know what I'm saying?

“We both care but the way we go about doing the work that we do look different. So am I not a part of our community or am I not not a believer in the fight because I wasn't at the rally?” You know what I'm saying? “But I was at the school training. You were at the rally walking with a sign. For me, I was actually trying to work with the people that you are... So you're going after the people that do the laws. I’m going after the kids that's getting in trouble. I’m trying to get them before they get there." So to me, it's like--

ROB
Everybody plays their part.

ERIC
Absolutely.

ROB
Everybody shouldn’t be an activist, by the way, because some people have no business being an activist because they might do harm to the cause.

ERIC
Yeah, absolutely.

ROB
But we shouldn't discount the protest... and I know you don't do that...

ERIC
Not at all.

ROB
...but everybody plays a different role at different times.

ERIC
That's right.

ROB
And then it's also understanding power and how things work.

At the University of Cincinnati, as I told you, I was chairman of the board and during that time, there was a shooting by one of our officers of an African-American man. Long story bearable, when I became chair, I really worked to reform the police system -- the police chief, the assistant police chief -- just really do a whole change. But some people still were very frustrated and I really get it. But I told some folks, “Some people wouldn't be satisfied unless I got on top of the table, put on a lot of fist.” But I wouldn't have gotten the officer fired. I wouldn't have changed the culture.

ERIC
Absolutely.

ROB
So it's understanding that when you're at the table, there's ways to do things, too.

ERIC
Absolutely.

ROB
And sometimes, we got to have some trust. Like I said, your process over the years, you've been doing this for decades...

ERIC
Absolutely.

ROB
...so how someone questions that you don't have the interest of the community in mind is quite incredible.

ERIC
And again, to your point, they don't even know that I’ve been doing this.

ROB
Correct.

ERIC
People look at YouTube, I'm like, "Bro, I started way before YouTube and it just didn't get chronicled because we had VHS."
CARLTON
Right.

ROB
Right. [Laughter]

ERIC
“There was no way to put that up on.” Well we would have a forum to put it up but… I've been in a struggle and in the work for quite a long time, yeah.

ROB
In your book, "The Secret to Success," you talked about relationships and how important they are. You say, "Relationships are never neutral."

ERIC
Yeah.

ROB
What do you mean by that?

ERIC
You either deposited or withdrawn. Some people, unfortunately, do a lot of withdrawing. In the real society, that's overdrafting and they go, "Take your privileges."

ROB
Yeah.

ERIC
Right? The bank will take your privileges. I just think a lot of people think that they're neutral. It's not. It's either "I'm important to you and you're important to me. I'm depositing, you're depositing" or "I'm depositing, you are withdrawing" or vice versa.

I think it was Stephen Covey who... you know, "The goal is win-win." I think a lot of people going through a relationship is just taking and they end up exhausted in the relationship. They end up destroying the relationship and they’re wondering what happened to the relationship. Well you are what happened to the relationship.

So when I get into relationships, I value them more than currency. I don't know what happened in this country but in this country, it appears that people believe money is the highest currency and it's not. It is a currency, yes, but money can't pay for certain things. They could pay for rent, pay for gas, pay for electricity but--

When my wife got MS, she needed me more to be at the hospital more than she needed anything else. I couldn't take my money and put on top of her and just cure. I could have paid for a better position, absolutely, but she still needed somebody to be present, somebody to hold her hand, somebody to drive her back and forth. So that currency was just as important.

My mother-in-law, never been married. My wife is her only child. My wife had to work. So I would take her sometimes to chemotherapy and just sitting there with her and praying with her and like reading stories to her and then taking her home afterwards and feed her. That's way more important than money.

And I saw something that happened in my relationship. I actually saw me working and paying my wife for different things. Buying [purses- 15:39] was good. But when I took care of her mom, I saw our relationship go to a whole nother level in a way that it didn't go when I was just paying bills because the person that was most important to her… I valued her mother as if it was my mother and I just saw that take our relationship to the next level. So I just believe relationships… they're not the only currency but I believe that they're higher in value than we want to give credit to sometimes.

ROB
Well I would argue that relationships are the highest currency. As we talked about earlier, going back, if your relationship with God is tied to the outcome of the prayer, that's a transaction relationship. That's not fate. That's transaction. I would say the same thing with your marriage or anything else. If it was only about quid pro quo… I would say it's not even about always depositing, always taking. It's about like, "Is the relationship there? Is it more of a covenant than a contract where you two are...” If you understand, sometimes you are just giving because you need... Like when your wife is sick, most of the time, you just got to give.

ERIC
That's it.

ROB
Right?

ERIC
Yeah.

ROB
That's what a relationship is. Relationship is not based upon just the transaction -- "What you could do for me."

ERIC
Yeah.
ROB
And I’m sure you've seen that a lot.

ERIC
Of course.

ROB
As you move up, people probably just come to you and just say, "What can you do for me" and that's it. And it is never any thought--

ERIC
And I think here's the other bigger challenge -- it’s not just people look at me as "What you could do for me," I think people, sometimes, devalue what they can do for you because we live in such a money-driven society so they don't really see what they have as valuable. So they wouldn't go--

I had a guy said something to me yesterday -- Mustafa. He works with us. Mustafa said... -- Hey, Mike. -- Mustafa said, "E, you've done so much for me. What can I do for your son?" And I was like, "That's deep."

So he had this quote, exactly what you said, and the quote was just saying, "It's better to have a failure that draws you closer to God than have a blessing that takes you away from Him." So he said that to my son. I was like, "Man, powerful."

He was like, "Yo, I want to show you something. Your son replied and said, "Do you pray?”” He was like, "Well actually, yeah, I do." He said, "Do you pray three times a day?" He said, "I don't want to brag but I'm a Muslim, I pray five times a day." "You should've told me to pray five times a day." He said, "You think I should respond?" I said, "Yeah, you should respond. And not only respond, help him to understand how to pray." And he was like, "I got it. You've done so much for me that I could do that." He saw just sending something to my son as valuable.

ROB
Right.

ERIC
I think a lot of people, when they come to your sphere, they feel like, "If I’m not making six figures, if I don't live in a certain neighborhood, drive a certain car, I have nothing to offer." And I promise you, if you are 18, 17, whatever, you have something to offer. You can tell kindergarteners what not to do, middle school kids what not to do, high school kids what not to do."

I want to just make sure that I make that point, that humans need to realize that you don't have to have money or degrees to add value. Your experience and your personal gift could be of value to somebody.

ROB
Yeah. That's relationships. When you think about what that means... because we talked about what it means to have a good relationship. But I think understanding the importance of who you surround yourself with--

ERIC
Absolutely.

ROB
A program I started at the University of Cincinnati when I went to engineering is called "The Emerging Ethic Engineers," one of the better programs in the country for graduating African-Americans and part of it is because we would take the summer before we start school -- I didn't want to do but my parents, “You better do it.” -- take that 12 weeks before you even start school to go through like a boot camp where you work together.

One of the things that I remember coming out of that is... They said, "Look, show me your friends, I’ll show you your future." Who you surround yourself with have more to do with your success than almost anything else.

ERIC
Absolutely.

ROB
How do you go about choosing your friends? And how do you go about, more importantly -- the second follow-up – is getting rid of those kind of toxic people. It's hard for people to understand that people that maybe your cousin, your boy, they're not adding value and they're actually taking you in the wrong direction. But I found people find it very hard to get rid of those people in their life. Advise people on that. How do you do that... because that seems hard. That seems hard to do. It seem like you can say it but it's hard.

ERIC
Yeah, it's hard. It is. But here is what I would say. You want to establish relationships with people who can help you to the extent that you can help yourself. I’m going to say this: The thing that I’ve admired about CJ more than anything is that CJ, literally, has made my vision his vision. It's the craziest thing. So from the time I met CJ, literally, he would listen to my message--

ROB
Who's CJ? Some people don't know. I don’t know.
ERIC
Oh I'm sorry. CJ is the CEO, the president, the CFO, whatever, the decisionmaker for everything for ETA. -- I call him the Quincy Jones. I’m the Michael Jackson. -- And it's weird. But when I met CJ, CJ literally would listen to every message I would do every day. So when he goes to work out, he doesn't listen to music. He's listening to my messages and taking my messages and saying, "Okay, we're going to do mixtapes. We're going to do books. We're going to do content." So he's listened to my stuff every day.

I remember when I met him, he was the first person to say, "I’m going to turn you to a household name." He was the first person I met that didn't say, "Okay, how can you help me? What are you going to do for me, financially? How are you going to help my career ..." which is nothing wrong with that. If somebody's getting 40-50 hours a week, it should be, "What are you going to..." But he was like, "Nope--”

He had four-odd job opportunities. He could take any of them. He told his mom who paid for him to go to school, and his dad... Yo, his dad has always been a fan of mine. But mom was like, "Yo, you got job opportunities.” He's like, "I’m not taking those. My job is to cover Eric and Eric’s vision is to help him to be the number one motivational speaker in the world."

So as he watched these all those years, he did it. He made it happen. His new goal now is, "I’m going to make you a billionaire because you need money to do the work that you're doing."

The reason why this relationship is so important to me... because it's almost like my interests and my vision and my goal, like God-given goal, is for him to make that goal become a reality. You can't leave a person that's helping you. And so the opposite is true -- most people aren't successful because the people that they're with--

It's like MC Hammer. He took care of 50-60 people he employed. And that wasn't the problem. The problem was they couldn't do anything for him so they end up actually taking everything and not having anything to put back. So when I look at relationships like my wife, I look at people who have a... their intention is to take you and help elevate you. Like those are the relationships you shouldn’t be in.

Now those other toxic relationships, they're toxic because they're constantly withdrawing and they put absolutely nothing in. So I would just say, “If you love yourself then you've got to say, “This is detrimental. This is killing me."”

CARLTON
Before my next question or statement, I wanted to support that. I had a guy, way down here, he was texting me. He’s like, "Where are you going?" I was like, "I'm going to New Orleans." He's like, "Why?" "I'm going to see Eric Thomas. I’m in his mastermind group," blah-blah-blah. He's like, "Really? You really think that's worth it?" So I had to pick up the phone and call him--

And this is a testament to you and the question you just asked about the people that you're around. I asked my wife about a year and a half, almost two years ago now, on Super Bowl Sunday, I was like, "Man, this guy Eric Thomas is coming to town. You think I should go? It’s Super Bowl Sunday.” She was like, "Go."

And then I see there's a VIP ticket. I was like, “It’s $1000, man.” I’m not really right where I need to be to spend $1000. She was like, "You think it's going to be worth to spend the thousand dollars for the VIP?"

The VIP took me to a dinner after that, which is where I met you and, then I joined the group. By joining this group, I got put around these people in this group who have really, just like what you said, brought a lot of value. And we've been able to share our values with each other.

So initially, questioning that investment, I don't need more because through the last year and a half, I’ve met all these people who have plugged all these holes and doubts in business and life and family and all this different stuff which goes exactly what you're saying which is the people that you're around.

So now these are the people that I’m calling. These are the people, when I’m going out of town, having dinners with these guys. And my business has gone straight up. My relationship has gone straight up. My family stuff is going straight up. And now the people who are calling me like, "Hey, can you hang out? Can you do this? Can you do that," those people that you're talking about as well, "I can't, man. I can't" because I see the value of being around these people, what actually happens when you really just decide to just surround yourself with a certain group. So it's completely true, man.

So to that guy's question, I was like, "Hell yeah, bro." I was like, "What do you think? Five years, five locations, bro. When I started this thing, I had one, dude." You know what I mean?

ROB
Yeah.

CARLTON
So every time I come back and report, it's higher and higher and that's because of the people that we're surrounding ourselves with.

ROB
Absolutely.

ERIC
Absolutely, bro.

CARLTON
So yeah, it completely... A question for you, also as a man of God... And these are personal questions for me that come from places that I’m experiencing right now. As a man of God, I want to know if you believe in karma. And the reason I ask that is because as you're climbing the ladder of success -- I’m sure you've experienced this -- the closer you get to your goal, it’s like people come out the woodwork, man. Crazy stuff, evil things that you just can't imagine, people with bad intentions.

And while you have those good intentions on... especially when you know that you're waking up and act with good intentions every day, the first thing, personally, being a person that's used to react in a certain way, you want to strike back. You want to do something. You want to respond. You want to go punch him in the face or worse.

And I’ve noticed, through a lot of counseling from parents, friends, family, partners and stuff, I’ve been told many, many times, "Do not react. Do not say anything. Just keep on doing what you're doing."

ERIC
Absolutely.

CARLTON
And I didn't believe them at first. And I’ve seen the craziest things over the last four or five years of people who have acted in bad intentions, evil things. It's like, man, it's literally somebody like pushing them out of the way. I know people call that "Karma" but I also know that that's not necessarily a biblical thing. So as a man of God, I want to know what you think about that and I want to know how you experienced that? If you can give an example of something that just shouldn't have happened, like someone that really want to take you out and how that works.

ERIC
And it's semantics. People say "Karma.” You know, you reap what you sow. You know what I'm saying? So do I believe in it? Absolutely. Is it challenging to live that principle? Absolutely. But I think it's challenging when you first start doing it because you're young. But after you do it for a while, you understand, "Look, I got to stay focused. I can't allow what other people do to affect me."

At the end of the day, that's really what it is. I think about Dennis Rodman. I felt like a big part of Dennis Rodman's success was getting under people's skin. He intentionally would try to get up under your skin because he knew, as a human, you're going to react. And if I could get you to react... I’m not trying to get you to react for the sake of getting you to react. If I can get you to react then you're not going to play at your highest level. That's what I’m trying to do.

ROB
Because emotions cloud reasoning.

ERIC
That's what I’m trying to do. So if I can get on your nerves, you're not going to score like you normally score. So I don't want you to be in your natural authentic self. I want to throw you off and get you to adapt because I already know you're powerful so I can't stop your power. But if I can get you to adapt, I can get you to self-sabotage.

ROB
Yeah.

ERIC
So for me, it's like, "Bro, I’m not dumb. I see what you're trying to do. You're trying to get me off my game because you know if I’m in my game, you can't stop me." You know what I'm saying?

So for me, it's like, "E, you got to stay focused." And not focused in terms of evil. You got to stay focused, period. You can't let good be a distraction because a lot of people look at evil as a distraction but sometimes, good is a distraction.

And I look at Tom Brady and I was like... You know what I'm saying? This morning, I was like, "You know what's so crazy about Tom Brady--"

And Kam is my dude. I’m like, "I got to reach out to Kam and talk to Kam." But I’m like, "One of the things I noticed about Tom Brady…” Forget the whole... like not doing easy stuff. Tom Brady don't even do a lot of commercials and stuff I noticed. He don't do movies. He don't do nothing but football. That's the only thing he does -- just football. And he's been one of the most successful one. Even Manning had football. Peyton had commercials, I mean. He's doing commercials and stuff.

Tom Brady is successful as he is. Brady should be doing way more commercials, way more advertising for stuff. He should be in movies. What is he doing? He's there focused on football. And once he blow up on football and retire, I’m sure he'll be able to do whatever he wants.

ROB
Exactly.

ERIC
So for me, what I’m learning is knowing... And one of my biggest situation--

We talked about Michigan State University. I had a supervisor that came in that literally sabotaged us -- like literally. I came to her office. "Can I talk to you?" "Yeah." Went in. She literally had... I don't know what you call it -- "Internal revenue" or whatever. They were trying to really go after us.

One of our ladies got fired who was about to retire from Michigan State. Lord blessed her. She ended up getting into another department. It was just ugly. They brought in the police. It was ugly. You know I was killing the game in terms of helping students.

And I remember, CJ was like, "Yo, E, I can't believe this." I was like, "Look, stay focused, guys. Stay at the course." And guess what? We are killing it and we are still doing the program we did at Michigan State. We're not at Michigan State anymore but that program we did, we're on our 15th year. And guess what? We got more people coming. People come from the world now to come to that program every Monday at Michigan State University.

So I didn't lose anything, became number one in the world. She sees me every blue moon. I see her. And what's so funny is the people who tried to destroy me have to still see me at the University. When I do the trainings, they have to come to the trainings. You know what I'm saying? So it's like... What the Word says, "In the presence of thy enemies," so I wanted to leave. I'm like, '"At least, let me get from around [me - 29:47]." He was like, "Nah-uh, they need to see your success because they tried to destroy you. They need to see what I’m doing on your behalf." So yeah, I do believe in that.

ROB
Yeah. So I kind of what to wrap up and get some final questions. With that, I want say -- one really quick, Carlton -- it's also important to know your triggers because people... You know, the thing is you can't control nobody else. So there are things that trigger you. And you might have some bad routines that you got to figure out what that is and replace them because that's going to continue to try to explode on your face.

ERIC
Absolutely.

ROB
Final kind of questions. I have some rapid fire question. You have a committee of three, living or dead, that advises you, who are those three people and why?

ERIC
So you mean literally like... I said CJ. So you just not to talk about people that I’m not--

ROB
Right.

ERIC
Okay. So I'm saying Martin Luther King because he was able to stay focused in the midst of adversity. Mother Teresa because she's just as powerful as the Pope and as a nun, you shouldn't be. Right?

ROB
Right.

ERIC
As a nun, you shouldn't have that type of power. And then I’ve had a chance to sit with Warren Buffett, really one-on-one. Sit down with Warren Buffett from a financial standing point and really learn some... Where I am now, I’m in business now. I have some questions for him now that I’m in business.

ROB
Okay. What's an important truth you have that very few people agree with you on?

ERIC
We talked about it earlier -- "Being your authentic self" and knowing that you couldn't be as good being somebody else as you can being yourself. So even though being you could possibly be going... You would be called a “Rebel…” Being your authentic self is way more important than being with somebody else who wants you to be.

ROB
Right. Final question: You got a billboard or Google ad now -- we got to keep it current -- that says your theme in life, whatever, what is that?

ERIC
"You owe you." -- "You owe you."

CARLTON
Yeah.

ERIC
"You owe you." -- Take full ownership of your life. "You owe you." Nobody else owes you. Nobody else is going to love you like you love you. Nobody else is going to support you like you support you. "You owe you." So whatever you want in life, you--

Superman is not coming. -- Superman is not coming. -- You have to be your own Superman. I used to wait for my biological father to come. He ain't coming. You're going to have to be your own superhero.

Of course, God is your Father and He's going to support you but God is not going to do the work for you. He's going to support you and give you the strength but He's not going to climb the mountain for you. But He will give you the strength to climb... So "You owe you."
ROB
Eric Thomas--

CARLTON
One last question real quick. I just come from “Wellness Perspective.” I see you go all the time. I want to know what your "forever young" is. Meaning, what is your thing that you do every day that you could tell anybody to do this, that's going to keep you working like you're doing right now, being effective and passionate for as long as possible for the rest of your life? What is your "forever young"?

ERIC
Rest, man. Rest, you know. And I’m not just talking about--

As a Seventh-day Adventist and Sabbath-keeper, we work six days. We rest on the seventh. I work six weeks, take off the seventh week. But rest -- like literally. Not rest just meaning going to bed but be at peace.

How much money you're making, be content. Whatever you look [who - 33:04] is, be content. Stop focusing on always what's next.

"I’m making a hundred thousand. I need to make two hundred thousand" or "I got a master's degree. I need a PhD" or "I got a law degree. I need to pass the bar." It's like, relax. Relax. Enjoy what you have. Relax. Rest. And not just rest. I do physically rest. I go to bed early. Wake up early. I physically rest. But just mentally and emotionally, just rest. Relax. If it's not as deep as you’re making it, don't be fussing and fighting. Relax. It's going to work itself out. Don't stress yourself out.

And I just believe stress is one of the highest causes of death and illnesses. I just saw study the other day that says, "People who don't forgive have a higher immune deficiency challenge."

ROB
Wow.

ERIC
You know what I'm saying? So when you don't forgive people, it actually shuts down your immune system. You know what I'm saying? So I’m saying, “Relax, rest, chill out.”

CARLTON
Wow. Amen.

ROB
You heard that from Eric Thomas, Disruption Now. Pleasure to have you and we'll see you next time. -- I appreciate you all.
ERIC
All right. Thank you. I appreciate you all, man. Thank you.

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