50 - Andy Storch : helping you to own your career and your life

Mike Forrester 0:03

Well, hello and welcome back my friend. This week I have Andy Storch with me. Andy is, man, if you're working within corporate within a business, this is your man. He is all about expanding, and just finding where you're at your dream job and how to flourish. This man is your guy. You gotta you got to read his book, listen to his podcast. And yes, that is plural, not just one, but two. So, you know, this man is efficient as well to have all that on his plate. So it is my extreme pleasure to bring to you today. Andy Storch. Andy, how are you doing today, my friend,

Andy Storch 0:42

I thank you so much for that kind introduction. I am pumped. I just got done with a presentation to a big company all about this. And now I get to come here and have this conversation with you. I love it. I love what I do.

Mike Forrester 0:55

Yeah. And dude, it shows I love the title of your book, on your career on your life. And the funny thing is, at one point, I thought I was working on improving myself to improve my career. But it all came back to who I was. So it's not like you can ever walk. And it's like, you've got it. So clearly put out there. So would you mind sharing with us where you are, as far as on the business side, we'll start there and then go to personal afterwards?

Andy Storch 1:23

ual summit for early November: 2021

Mike Forrester 2:42

Yeah, and it's really impressive how you continue to focus on like, the business side, which you've built. But you are all about, if anybody watches you on social media, they're gonna see NF T's dude. It is like this other passion that you have that goes on and it's, it's like you love sharing it with other people as well. That's, that's the other thing that it's not just like, Hey, I'm doing this, I'm holding it close to the vest. But you're like, this is why I'm passionate about it. This is why it makes sense to me. So

Andy Storch 3:18

as I got into NF T's early in: 2021

Mike Forrester 4:14

totally agree. Can we touch on the personal side for you now?

Andy Storch 4:19

Yeah, so on a personal side, I'm a husband married my wife Courtney for 18 years, and we've got two kids who are seven and five. We live in Orlando, Florida. We are very much into traveling and adventures and doing fun things together. And you know, we have done a lot of different stuff. I'm also you know, I would say well connected very pretty big network. I've always loved having a lot of friends and a lot of different places, traveling and doing different things. And I'm very much into health and fitness I have been for a long time. As you know I've overcome some major health challenge. Just earlier this year, and that kind of, you know, got me to double down on health, fitness and also change a lot of things. My perspectives have changed as I continue to learn, and figure out what's best for me and, and possibly best for others, although we're all on our own individual journeys. I'm also big on mindset, big on personal development, constantly investing in myself and my own development coaches, masterminds courses, conferences, summits, all that kind of stuff. And also trying to provide more of that for other people. I share a lot of content on social media, both to you know, support my business, and, you know, just to help and inspire people with the stuff that I'm learning and doing and trying to always figure we talked about this last time. You know, we think about helping people, most of the time, I'm sharing advice on social media that I need or needed a few years ago. And so I know it can be beneficial for other people.

Mike Forrester 5:51

Yeah, and I mean, we've talked about this were like you had shared with me just like what some people would look at as one simple app, you know, that being text expander, where you put in these really abbreviate abbreviated shortcuts, but it's been such a game changer. And I think we often overlook that stuff on the impact that we'll have for others and just go, you know, we just qualify it. But I love the fact that you share that stuff. Hey, this made a difference for me, it may make a difference for you. With the health challenges that you were facing earlier this year, would you mind touching upon that, and that's, that's been something I've doubled down on, doubled down on? Yeah. Because, you know, I was facing similar stuff, where I just burned myself out with the hours I was keeping because of consulting. And I think so many of us find ourselves unprepared at that point. How did you take the news when you found out and then how did you work through that?

Andy Storch 6:57

ished my book, in November of: 2020

Mike Forrester 9:58

So in What you did as far as mindset work ahead of time, what would you say that you went through and experienced and all the training that you did that, you know, might help somebody who's going through, like an identity challenge or work challenge marital problem, you know.

Andy Storch: 10:19

So I would say, first and foremost, you've got to like, kind of take stock and understand the situation you're in and think about how you got there and try to take responsibility for it, you know, I try to avoid being a victim, which I think a lot of people go straight to, like, Oh, you know, this life did this to me, someone did this to me. You know, it's not my fault. So can you start by taking responsibility? You know, how did this happen? What can I learn from this? And I have, when I face a big challenge, I have three questions that I like to ask. Number one is what's great about this, because there are almost always silver linings to every challenge. Now, they're hard to find when you, you lose a loved one, or you're facing cancer. But another example is in 2020, you know, the global pandemic, that was hard for everybody, right? My whole business was selling and running in person training programs, my whole business got shut down. But what was great about it was the silver lining was that I had been traveling a ton before that I got two young kids. And I've been home with my kids almost every day, since then, since March 2020. Right, last year and a half, it's been great. And I don't really want to go back. I'm getting a lot of virtual keynotes. Now, I haven't had to travel or haven't really chosen to travel for work in quite some time. So that was great. Number two question asked is what can I learn from this? And so getting cancer allowed me to learn a lot of things about cancer and health and nutrition. And number three is what is this make possible. And a lot of times challenges come up when we lose our job, or we face a health issue, or some type of crisis that seemed terrible in the moment. But they often open up new opportunities and make new things possible. So the example I give in my book is, in 2019, I was planning a conference with a friend of mine named Bennett. And the conference was planned for November and 2019. And right, a week before the conference, there was huge wildfires in Sonoma, California, where the conference was planned to be in a week before the conference, they came into town, and our hotel was evacuated. And they called us and said, We're leaving the hotel, you can't have a conference here. And we had 150 people coming, it was sold out. And so we got to the opportunity to send an email to 150 people and say, Hey, the hotels evacuated, this conference is not happening. We know you're flying in from all over Europe, people come from all over North America, from the Caribbean islands from the UK, we need to postpone. And so we postponed it to January. And what was great about that, or what it made possible, was that we got all our speakers, there were a few people who had bought tickets who couldn't come. But there were several people who weren't able to come in November, but were able to buy tickets and come in January. And some of those people who came in January have become clients have become supporters and champions in my work have become good friends, and I never would have met them. If it wasn't for that fire for that, you know, the change in the conference venue. And you know, same with cancer, it's opened up some new opportunities. For instance, me being able to talk about it on podcasts like this, so that I can help other people who are going through similar things. So when you think about facing challenges like that, you know, start with curiosity, start by asking questions, why is this happening? What can I do about it? What can I learn from it? What opportunities might this open up? What can I make possible and then doing things to develop that resilient mindset. And, you know, when I talk about talking my book about having an ownership mindset, for me, that means it taking a making a big shift from the mindset that a lot of people have the victim mindset of everything in life happens to me. Instead, thinking everything in life happens for me, everything that comes my way as an opportunity no matter what it is, and then allows you to turn challenges into opportunities, you start to see everything as a blessing, or an opportunity, whatever it may be. And it's really hard in certain circumstances, right, you'll lose a loved one, you get really sick. But there are opportunities to see it that way. And there's some silver linings, things you can do. And then the second thing that I go to, for all these troubled times is going back to gratitude. And gratitude is one of the most important things in my life. One of the things I like to talk about all the time, because I think it combats almost all the bad things that are going on, right? I mean, you always have no matter what's going on in your life in your world, you always have things you can be grateful for. And so when I was going through chemotherapy, and I had some really, really hard days, there were two things that I did almost every single day. Number one was I would meditate for 10 minutes every day no matter what. And number two was that I would take out a journal and write down my gratitude, my gratitude for my family, for my mom helping me to take care of me for all the friends who had been reaching out for the great health care professionals, the nurses and doctors at the hospital where I was for, you know, the ability to still walk around. Sometimes I would try to take a walk every day. It wasn't always possible. But I would do it and but I would remember the grant and I was Start writing down that I'm grateful for this cancer experience. And when you can shift your mindset, and you know, almost trick yourself into thinking, wow, this is a great thing. This is a blessing, right? It shifts your mindset, it shifts, your perspective shifts everything. And so I started writing that down and being more and more grateful for that experience. And it's turned out great for me, because it you know, first of all, I got back to health. And there are many perspective is another thing to remember, right? There are many, many, many, many people in much more difficult situations, right, with worse cancer diagnosis with, you know, not great healthcare, or not a great outlook, whatever it may be, like, I had a good, you know, let's be honest, I'm very, very lucky. But going back to that gratitude, and having that perspective can really help you get through some of those tough times. And the other thing was remembering the nature of impermanence, most things don't last forever, and you will get through it. And then things will get better, right? It will take some time, but things will get better. And so I went back to that a lot. I have a good friend named Lauren Davis, who right before I went there, as I was starting to go through this, she told me about a tattoo she had that says this is how it is right now. So as my toughest days, I would remember that this is how it is right now. And I'm grateful for everything that I have. And I will make it through this. And I did. That's awesome.

Mike Forrester: 16:17

So in order to get to that point, I mean, you've, you've already gone through experiences, to be able to write your book, and to have that mindset going into the cancer situation. Like how did what did you traverse? And how did you build up your mindset to be strong enough to weather that and not just weather it, but come out strong on the other side?

Andy Storch: 16:44

Yeah, so building up that mindset, I think it starts with small things. And it really starts with your language. I think language is so important, how we talk to ourselves, how we talk to others, how we perceive things, as I mentioned, mindset, is really your perception. is cancer the the end of the world? Or is it just a simple challenge that we're facing in our life? That's up to you, right? It's up to your perspective. In fact, there are like very few absolute truths in life, most of what we experience in life comes down to our own perception, right? We get to decide what's good or bad, or you lose your job. Is that good or bad? I don't know. Maybe it leads to another opportunity that you never thought was possible, right? You burned out and dealt with some really serious stuff, right? felt awful in the moment. But it's it leads you that go start a podcast and meet other people that you never would have met otherwise, right? It could create amazing opportunities, or it could have been the wake up call you needed, you know, to get your health in order. So how we perceive things comes down to us, right? It's our perception. So you practice that, and and start with really small things. Like, you know, someone cuts you off in traffic, right? Or are you mad at them? Are you angry at kids? How many times people and I probably was, you know, lost, like lost in space and wasn't paying attention. And maybe I cut somebody off or whatever, and, and somebody flips me off. Like they're like, genuinely angry, right? about someone getting in front of them in traffic. And I just I'm fascinated by that. Because we really think about it. Like, who cares, right? Like, maybe that person wasn't paying attention. Maybe they're having a bad day. And can you take this stuff in stride, so when you can start to laugh that off and go Oh, so you know, that person over there is not a very good driver they got in front of me, or Oh, I spilled this drink at home. I used to get so mad at myself. Now. I'm just like, okay, that's fine. Stuff happens, right? My kids spilled a drink. It's okay, stuff happens. You practice with those little things, and you pay attention to the language you use. And one of the biggest shifts, one of the biggest shifts that I made has helped me helps other people is instead of saying I have to do something, you say I get to do something. And you remember that we all have personal choice. If you live in 90% of the world, you know you live in a democratic country, you probably have free will and choice to kind of live your life how you want to we forget that sometimes right? I have to go to work. I have to work on this project. I have to do this. You don't have to do anything you don't want to write you actually get to do these things right when I saw this on my calendar, I didn't say I have to go do that interview with Mike No, I get to do this. This is an amazing opportunity. And when you start you, you trade out that word have with get instead of I have to I get to do this. Everything in your life becomes an opportunity becomes a blessing and it starts to seep into your mind that everything you get to do and I say that with almost everything as absolutely changed things for me. And so I really really think language is such an important factor. Tony Robbins talks about that he had a whole chapter in his book, unleash the power within which was a big game changer. unawakened The awaken the giant within only power. This is the seminar. Awaken the giant within is the book. I remember reading about that years ago and thinking wow language, I didn't realize language that important but the little things how we talk to ourselves and we save others. Are we complaining? Are we being a victim or are we celebrating life are we taking responsibility Ownership? And are we seeing things as opportunities? And as you do that, and do that and do that in practice, it builds up so that you can handle the big things when they come your way.

Mike Forrester: 20:09

Yeah, it is. So small words, you know, like, I've made choices in how I'm going forward from here. And the difference between, I can't eat this, or I choose not to eat this. I mean, it can set off just a mental battle within you where it's, it's almost like that rebellious, inside, you know,

don't tell me I can't eat that. Exactly.

I want that chocolate, you know, even though it's gonna put me in the hospital or, you know, right, right, right, set you off in the wrong direction. It's, it's almost like a mental temper tantrum. Instead of saying, you know, I don't need that.

Andy Storch: 20:48

Well, let me give you another example, too. Because when you do, once you do choose to something, do something, even if it's not something you really wanted to do, you can also shift your mindset. So as I mentioned earlier, I did not want to do chemotherapy, I read all the research, it's toxic chemical, I didn't want it in my body. But I got to a point where my wife and I decided we felt like it was something we had, we really needed to do. And so once I decided to do it, you know, it was it was my wife, who was amazing at this, who suggested it to me that like, no matter what we decide, we go all in on that. And when we decide to do that, that's the course we're going to follow. So then we don't go complaining, I don't go and complaining every day, I have to do this. Instead, it's like, Oh, I'm so lucky that the you know, the medical technology exists, that I get to put this in my body that will kill the cancer cells and help me become healthier, you know, in the long run, like I get this opportunity. And so I feel blessed, I feel really, you know, this is a really great opportunity instead of gotta hate this. And I had those moments, right? I mean, it was truly awful. But how we talk about it, how we think about it can really help us get through things with that with the right mindset.

Mike Forrester: 22:00

Have you as you've modeled and lived out, having a positive mindset, you know, what does this create as an opportunity for me? Have you seen that impact your children in what they take on and how they take things on?

Andy Storch: 22:17

I think so, you know, you are a father as well, right? And you know, and you've been a father longer than me. So you know, as well as I do have not better that. We can tell our kids things all day long, right. But they really watch what we do, not just what we say. And so I think they're starting to model that I talk all the time about, you know, seeing things as opportunities about practice being important. I'm really, really big on having a growth mindset, which comes from the book mindset by Carol Dweck. And I try to, you know, my wife and I are aligned and trying to raise them with more of a growth mindset instead of a fixed mindset. So they believe that practice is important. And we can always get better at things. There's no such thing as failure, there's only learning and growth. So I talked about this stuff, but you know, they're still there, their own people, they're influenced by their peers. It doesn't always, you know, sink in, but I just want to continue to continue to model that, and I see it, you know, from them, sometimes you're like, Yeah, I just need to practice this more. Or, you know, this is not a big deal, or like, I get mad about something. And they'll be like, Dad, this is not a big deal, right? And like, Oh, yeah, you're right. So I won't say like, Oh, yes, I definitely see it. But it's, you know, I'm starting to see it little by little.

Mike Forrester: 23:28

Yeah. And, and that's the thing, I've, I've experienced it as well, as is having been in that victim mindset, you know, that fixed mindset, and then choosing to leave that and look at things differently from a growth perspective. It's like, I've seen it change my children. And that's where it's like, we have such power in how we live as to what, what example what pattern we're going to set. And so, yeah, you also giving your children the space to call you out on that, to me communicates that it's like, you've not only equip them to see the difference, but you've also given them that space where it's safe to, to speak to you in that way. So that's huge. Because that's not something that that most of us model, you know, it's like don't call me out on my writers. Yeah.

Andy Storch: 24:18

And I'm not perfect, right. But the other thing I would say, too, is and I learned this from other mentors, Father, friends of mine, like be willing to admit your mistakes. Yeah, I did this and I made a mistake. I didn't act correctly here. And I try to model taking responsibility for things I do, right and wrong. And because I want them to do the same thing and own their mistakes and always say like, Okay, what can we learn from this? Like, how can we get better next time?

Mike Forrester: 24:43

Yeah, definitely. So, as far as most of the folks that I've I've talked to you they have like a morning and or evening routine. You talked about having gratitude, you know, as part of your practice when you were, you know, going through chemo, do you have like a habit or ritual that you kind of go through in one of those few timeframes? Yeah, I'm

Andy Storch: 25:06

a big fan of the morning of the morning routine. I am a big fan of the Miracle Morning, which is a book by Hal Elrod. That book absolutely changed my life when I read it in January 2016. I remember I heard him on a podcast, and I had never read any personal development books done any type of personal development. I was already kind of a morning person, but I would like you know, read the newspaper and do some work or something. And that changed my life because I started practicing a regular morning routine. I started meditating for the first time. And I still practice the savers his routine that he talks about in the book, which is silence, affirmations, visualization, exercise, reading, and scribing. So I start every day, I make some coffee, I meditate for 10 minutes, I usually go for a walk, have my coffee, and I'll recite my affirmations, which are like things I want to remind myself about, and kind of my top 10 goals for the year and I memorize those and I recite those every day. And I find it really helpful, especially when you're really ambitious, you're an entrepreneur, I've got a lot of things I want to accomplish. And when I recite those goals every day, chances are they'll be a couple of where I'm like, I haven't been to the progress on that in a while, like I you know, so it's a good reminder, like, Oh, I need to get back on that or I need to drop it from my goals. And then I'll do some reading every morning, usually 15 or 20 minutes, I've got a journal that I use. To kind of track the progress towards my goals. I've been using the Freedom Journal by your friend john Lee Dumas for since the Kickstarter, I don't know if five years or so. And I have some other journals that I really like as well. And I've created my own. But I'm big fan of using that to kind of write my gratitude every day, write my goals out for the day, write my schedule out, because I'm not very detail oriented. And I'll probably forget meetings if I don't write it down and be like, Oh, yeah, I've got this podcast interview with Mike Forrester later, like I should, I should probably go to that. You laugh, but I have missed many meetings.

Mike Forrester: 26:53

That's my plan or two before I

Andy Storch: 26:55

started using the planner and writing it down, and so it's bad. And then I'll usually try to get some exercise throughout the day, you know, go to the gym, five, six days a week, ride a bike, go to yoga, I'm a big yoga, big, big yoga fan, lift weights, that sort of stuff. And then my evening routine, is I take out the same journal and I'll write down some notes from the day what went well, what are my wins for the day? What didn't go well, what do they learn? What do I want to get done tomorrow. And then I'll have I'll do some more reading, I have a you know, a fiction book, usually at the bedside table and, and talk to my wife as well. So not a huge evening routine, but I usually have that journal to kind of jot things down and, and, and recount the day. And I think that's really important to have a way to rewind, unwind. And again, like I like reading fiction at night, it's like more relaxing. And I find sometimes when I don't read, it's harder for me to go to sleep. So it's just nice to be able to read a little bit.

Mike Forrester: 27:47

That's awesome. And the one thing that I want people to understand is that it's like while this may be your routine and what's set out like in, in Miracle Morning, yeah, it's a guide. Right? What works for you works for me may not work for somebody else. And what works for them may not work for me, but works for you. And so just like how we make Cognizant, intentional decisions, as the same thing, what fills you up what helps you to be energized and focused? And while you and I have to write stuff down, somebody else may or may have that memory that's um, you know, it trap?

Andy Storch: 28:25

Absolutely, yeah. Yeah. But it's really good. The whole point is like, start the day with some intention and some time for yourself before you get into reaction mode, which is really, really like getting up before my kids, you know, I get up at like, 530, my kids usually get up around seven, this morning, they get up earlier, so that I have that time to sit with some coffee, to read a book to make some notes to write my journal before they get up. And then I'm making them breakfast and taking them to school and all that sort of stuff. To have that time to yourself to work on yourself. You're learning your personal development before the day gets crazy.

Mike Forrester: 28:58

Yeah, and you walking with coffee, man that that will not work for me wearing my coffee. So just just an example there to say look, set something be intentional. Like Andy said, it doesn't have to mirror or match what either of us are doing laid out, but just have something in place and it makes a huge difference. Andy so I know you've got the the event coming up in November. With that, would you mind sharing how people can can look into that? And then how can they also get in touch with you more?

Andy Storch: 29:35

Yeah, so if you go to my website, on your career on your life calm and that's the name of the book, and we've got free bonus resources there, including those three questions I mentioned earlier, including one called the five steps to owning your career. I think I have my morning routine in there as well. You can go to on your career on your life comm slash bonus. And you put in your email, you get all that stuff for free. We're also going to send out information about A virtual summit, which will be coming in early November, we've got a bunch of great speakers lined up to help people truly own their career, a lot of great sessions, it's all free to sign up. There's some upgrade packages as well, if you want to get more access live q&a and things like that, but it's free to sign up and attend, you know, some of the sessions. And my whole goal with that is as it is with, you know, aligned with my whole mission, which is to help more people take ownership of their career, take ownership of their life, live life more intentionally, and really get the most out of life, just like I'm trying to do every day. And so I want to share more perspective, share more of your information, share more inspiration, and help more people take ownership of their career. And again, it's, it's free to sign up, just go to on your career on your life.com there should be information right there on the site.

Mike Forrester: 30:43

Yeah, and not to forget, he has two amazing podcasts. So like he talked about, check him out there. You want more tips, ways to, you know, just improve your career and your life. Definitely check out both of the podcasts. So, Andy, thank you so much for joining me today for sharing. You know, where you've come how you got through the cancer because I think for so many people, it's, it's the, you know, myself included, those things that have come up that trip us up, and they become, you know, from a small little curb that's offset becomes like a large mountain in our way. And it's just our perspective and our mindset on it. And I appreciate you providing examples, how you've gone through that. And then again, how you're keeping yourself in a healthy state to continue on, just driving the way you are. So I really appreciate it. Thank you, my friend.

Andy Storch: 31:39

Thank you so much, Mike, I appreciate you giving me time and a place to share some of this stuff. I hope it's helpful, you know, for people listening. Remember, nobody cares more about your career or your life than you do. So you've got to be the one to set the vision for where you want to go to set your goals to make a plan to start taking action. If it's a major challenge or you know health whatever it is like you got to take ownership of that and be the one to do everything you know, do the things that you need to do to put yourself in a position to be more successful. So you know, take whatever the one or two things you have takeaways from this and write them down and go take some action from that because nothing's gonna happen unless you start taking action. Most definitely.

Mike Forrester: 32:17

Thank you again, my friend.