In this allied episode, Justin Breen, Founder and CEO of EpicFit Network, shares how he’s helping connect visionaries to serve humanity.
You will discover:
– Why you really don’t want to scale your business (and what you do want to do instead)
– How to succeed in building a remarkable company and a remarkable family
– Why you should avoid boring people, time vampires, and mediocre performers
Episode Transcript
Scott Ritzheimer
Hello Hello and welcome welcome once again to the secrets of the high demand coach podcast and I am here with yet another high demand coach and one who is short to fascinate you it is the one and only Justin Breen. Now he’s the founder and CEO of the exclusive connectivity platform be our epic network. His newest book, epic life, how to build collaborative global companies while putting your loves, loved ones first features a foreword from Dr. Peter Diamandis and has been the number one overall book for sales on Amazon Kindle. It also recently made the Wall Street Journal and USA Today Best Seller list. And I have to admit, I’ve been excited about this conversation Justin we met feels like months ago, I think it was. And it’s just a fascinating conversation, everything from what I learned from you to what I even learned from your kids. It was just cool. And so the idea of getting you on the show just seemed like an obvious and natural fit. And I’d love to kind of dive in explore a little of what we talked about in the past. I know it’s a big part of you and how you orient your life, but really take a look at some of the ideas from your book as well. So before we get started wondering what would you say some of the most important work you do today?
Justin Breen
Well, very grateful to be here. Yeah, I look at work as a human construct. And then every other animal just does what they’re supposed to do. They’re just being sub none of what I don’t really consider anything that I do is work. It’s just a pure, pure purpose. So I just spend time with my family or connect visionaries to serve Chemin de never, never get tired of it ever, ever.
Scott Ritzheimer
Yeah. And so what was what was the idea behind the book? Was this something that you had planned for a really long time? Is it something you’d always dreamt of doing? Why write the book Epic Life?
Justin Breen
Yeah. So I don’t, I don’t believe in randomness or things are just meant to be how they’re how they’re meant to be through timing. So I just actually finished third book, which is called epic journey. And epic life was second book. And it No, I just everything to me is based on pure gut intuition. And then when you spend your entire day talking to world’s top visionaries, or those that will do whatever it takes to become that person. They say things or they feel things that are just so profound, and then I have an ability to collect them, or write them down. And then I can, I can simplify it into a story or a book or a message like this. So it’s just pure connection. So that’s just what, that’s how my brain and heart works. So to create books out of that is a natural extension of my purpose in life.
Scott Ritzheimer
And as you’re sitting down, what was it that pulled there’s this there’s 30 transformational ideas, what was it that pulled them together into one piece of art, if you will? What was the resounding theme that you wanted readers to get out of the book?
Justin Breen
Well, out of that book, out of that, it’s a good question out of that book, talk to one to two visionaries, every single week that have let entrepreneur life, destroy their family life, or prevent them from having a family. And this will be in the third book, it’s not in the second, but it all ties, ties together. So the word business literally comes from the word by sickness, which means anxiety. So literally, that’s what so when people start talking about business, or scaling their business or business coach or whatever, it’s anxiety, coach, scaling anxiety. So I guess, technically, I have co founded two businesses, but they’re really not. They’re just more companies based on purpose. And then the byproduct is they scale and they’re profitable, but has nothing to do with business. Really, it has to do with purpose. So with the second book, when you talk to one to two people every single week that have let this life destroy their family or preventing them from having a family that’s a that’s not a good idea. I don’t think it is. So write a book about people that haven’t done that, or who have done that and what They wish they had had none. So that’s really what that book’s about.
Scott Ritzheimer
One of the things that you seem to have a knack for is pattern recognition. And so what would you say if you were to kind of split those into two groups? Those who who have, I guess there’ll be three technically those who have let the entrepreneurial journey the business journey destroy their family, and those who haven’t. I guess there’s some who’ve done both. But what is what’s the what are the characteristics that you find in Group A those who have and that you don’t find in Group B, those who have let it destroy their family.
Justin Breen
Yeah, narcissism? Yep. narcissists are the ones that care more about themselves in this lifetime, as opposed to looking past their own life, their own body life. Narcissism. And true visionary looks well past their own, their own lifetime. And I don’t know, again, when you just talk to a certain type of person over and over, you can see the differences between the ones that really just care about money, which is fine, by the way, that’s fine. But then you can, you can see the rare ones that have a higher calling, they’re almost commanded. Well, now they’re not almost commanded, they’re commanded to do something that they don’t even necessarily understand. But they do it anyway. They do it anyway, to benefit to benefit the world. My favorite, I guess, story with that, and this is in the third book, but our company that it’s actually called Epic fit network now, which is funny. It’s not Brevik network anymore, but it’s funny, but the one of the chapters is called Adult kindergarten. That’s really what our company is, it’s just little kids who are adults playing around and having fun, but the actual kindergarten was event invented in, in Germany, Prussia in the 1800s. And then, and then the German Russian government banned kindergarten, they panned kindergarten, the year before the inventor of kindergarten died. And the inventor begged, he just begged the Prussian king, like, please don’t ban kindergarten, please don’t do that. Kids need this or whatever. But it went against the church who was too secular. And so then, after, after he died, the inventor, they eventually they unbanned it and then one of his relatives is one of his distant relatives was running. One of the schools he originally started. So like, that’s, that’s how I look at as a true visionary theory, someone who looks far beyond their own in their own lifetime.
Scott Ritzheimer
Yeah. So you’ve got a few principles, kind of the middle of the book that I found showed up a lot whenever we had a conversation when we first met. And the first one was to avoid boring people. What do you mean, what do you mean by that? And why is it so important?
Justin Breen
Well, I don’t so like our sons are, they’re both very good athletes. They’re 11 and 10. And then, so they have like youth baseball, and youth soccer and flag football. And so you go out into that world, and then you have the same conversation over and over about the weather or how your kid is doing, or complaining about the coaches or the umpires, and it’s it’s actually exhausting. It’s exhausting for me. But so like, I base not boring people on doing the opposite of those conversations with the people I talked to when I’m not at youth sporting events. And when I was in 1999, I just graduated college and was covering a Notre Dame USC college football game in the press box. I was a journalist then and ran into Skip Bayless Sue at the time he was the top sports columnist at the Chicago Tribune. He’s now on national television sports commentary. And so I’m like, Hey, can I send you some of my columns or whatever to look at? And he said, Sure. And then he looked at him, and then a day or two later, he called me and essentially, he said, the main role of a reporter or a journalist or basically anyone I think, to answer your question is to inform and entertain, inform and entertain. So you inform people of certain things and then you make that information entertaining. And I think that’s the key to life and then not boring people because you say something that’s interesting. And then you make it interesting with how you say it. I found that the right visionaries are people understand what I’m saying they really enjoy that. And then me personally, I’m not bored either. I don’t want to bore myself. I don’t want to bore myself, because that wouldn’t be good. I would get bored easily. So to inform and entertain and make things not boring, I think such an important key to life.
Scott Ritzheimer
You also recommended avoiding time vampires. What are the time vampires?
Justin Breen
Well, it’s an interesting thing. I’m 47. Now, when we last talked, I was 46. And it really took 47 years. And then success is progressive realisation of a worthy ideal Earl Nightingale. So you just keep getting better at, you know, connecting visionaries to serve humanity. But one of the really key learnings and there’s nothing right or wrong with this, but most people, they talk and they talk, and they talk and they talk and they say, oh, I want to do this, I want to do that overwhelming majority of society talks and doesn’t actually follow through or do anything with it, they just talk. And that’s a true time vampire, someone who just talks with no action or no investment, or no connection. It’s not narcissism is just a lack of commitment to themselves. And me personally, I can’t help someone who can’t help themselves. The key to life is helping if you can’t help yourself, how are you supposed to help others? So where I see it is in this world, not as much anymore, but I used to, you have people that quote unquote, talk about coaching or, or whatever that whatever that term is, but they’re not coaching themselves. They’re not investing in themselves. They’re not take Yeah, so it’s like, it’s the ultimate hypocrisy, I think there’s and there’s a lot of folks in that space that are like that. They talk about things, and then they don’t, you know, they don’t raise their own investment rates. So they offer these free things forever, which is just a sales funnel. And sales means dull and dirty. That’s what the word actually means. And it’s kind of sad to me, because it’s people who don’t believe in themselves asking others to believe in them. And I’m like, Well, why would anyone believe in you if you don’t even believe in yourself? So that’s the time vampire, they’re actually wasting their own time, with their own lack of belief in themselves.
Scott Ritzheimer
I think what’s hard about that group is that there is a part of them that wants change, like he doesn’t matter. Doesn’t matter. It’s not it’s not a narcissism. So there’s this there’s almost this feeling like you feel for them, right? If they were just jerks, it’d be easier to write not art, but but they there’s this kind of there’s this heartthrob sad story behind it, and it kind of moves you in and can pull you into their their own thing. Why? What is the what is the impact of, of giving time vampires your time it does it? Does it have a trickle effect? And it’s not like this, but Is it contagious? Right? And can it shape the way that you think?
Justin Breen
Well, if you’d asked me that five years ago, I’ve had a different answer. I essentially ignore that now. But you have to learn like you have to. You have to like the first I guess, quote unquote, networking group I joined was $250 a year and then there was 500. Then there was 1000, there was 2000. And it was 5000. That was 10,000 a year, then there’s 25,000 a year. And then with our company, it started at 10,000. Then it went up to 15,000. We just raised it to 25,000. Because our own a year because our own members asked us to raise they they asked us to our own members asked us to raise the investment. Probably because they don’t want to deal with time vampires. They want people who take action. But that’s the trick. The trickle down effect is like attracts like and dislike attracts dislike. And so for whatever it’s worth talk is meaningless to me without it without an answer. So we’re about to be named one of the top five masterminds on the planet, by a magazine that’s in first class, airport lodges and private airports. We have our own TV channel. Now with 30 million reach. We’re about to be on Apple TV and Roku. I don’t even know what that means. We have our own MBA program affiliated with Oxford. We have a philanthropic wings, now we have our own app. So like that’s all a byproduct of ignoring time vampires and then raising investment because that one eliminates time vampires and attracts people that want to take action and make investment and those people want to hang out with people that take action and make investments so but again, it all goes back to the beginning is believing in yourself. You can’t I mean you can but I can’t ask someone to believe in me if I don’t believe in myself and I know at the very highest level, like have confidence in myself is off the charts no matter what. It’s an unbreakable. Unbreakable vision it can be. It’s malleable, but it’s unbreakable. Can’t can’t be broken. And a true visionary can never be broken ever.
Scott Ritzheimer
One more question here. And then I’m going to shift gears up for us a little bit. But one of the things that you a big point that you make in the book is this idea that many mediocre people don’t like high achievers, high achievers don’t like mediocre people. It kind of sums up so much of what we’re talking about here, right? But if we have someone who, who’s sitting, and they’re just kind of taking inventory of their life and relationships, they’re at the beginning part of this journey. What would you encourage them to do? What are some of the first steps they can take toward moving toward a better network with high achievers to spur them on?
Justin Breen
Write the check? Yep. Yep. Yep. Write the check. Yeah. So again, most people make excuses their whole life, they’re not willing to. I mean, that’s most of the world. If most of the world was, if it was boring top vision or M planet, then most of the world would do that. But most of the world makes excuses their whole life. My father was 6161 when I was born, he’d be 108. Now, World War Two hero shot down multiple times in combat, many times without a parachute, he’d get back into a plane. In the third book, I just finished there’s this graphic. There’s a diet graphic for those listening, watching, but so he he watched his best friend, good friend, good soldier friend killed in a plane crash. His friend’s face melted off, his legs were burnt burnt off. And then 20 minutes later, the commanding officer asked my dad and his soul defended go on a bombing mission. So they said, okay, so most people aren’t, well, that’s what it it, you either can do that, or you can’t. So and that is the way I look at. That’s the way I look at the decisions in life. Most people don’t look at it like that. They’re worried about investing another $500. But a true visionary. That is the art and mindset that they have, they will do whatever it takes no excuses ever. And then, many times the follow up question I get to this is like, Well, what about other people? I go, No, no, I don’t I connect visionaries to serve humanity. So if there are 1000 people listening to this, and only one understands it, that’s all that’s all that matters to me. Because that person will help the other 999 Even though the other 190, 999 don’t even know they’re being held. But my entire focus is on the one out of 1000 that will do whatever it takes to help the others.
Scott Ritzheimer
Amazing. Justin, I’ve got one more question for you. And then we’ll make sure folks know how they can get connected with you and then network if they’re a fit. And that question is this What is the biggest secret you wish wasn’t a secret at all? What’s that one thing that you wish everybody watching or listening?
Justin Breen
Oh, well, it’s interesting, the word secret. You know, with with this book, I just finished. I can’t I can’t reveal it yet. But like the person writing the foreword, it’s a very big deal. And it will be marketed heavily and and I mean, the book will change the world because I I risked everything and then put pure love and intuition. Okay, pure love. So the reason I mentioned that is because as I’ve been LaPage has been sending the book to people, there’s no Slyke I don’t care about it, whatever it sells. Like, it doesn’t matter to me. So like, I don’t even like the word secret. Like, to me, that’s a competitive word. We’d like people that need trademarks or whatever. Like, I don’t care about any of that stuff. There’s no at the highest level, there is no competition, only collaboration, there are no secrets. So everything that I’ve written in that in the in the newest book, like, I’ll gladly share that I don’t. So I think maybe that’s the biggest secret is that there are no secrets for the greatest visionary are no secrets. Why would you hide anything that would help humanity? I mean, that’s, again, a true visionary would never do that a narcissist pretending to be a visionary would, or they would try to kill the competition, but not not a true visionary. They would the guy, the person who invented kindergarten wouldn’t try to hide him. And I don’t think he would, he wouldn’t try to hide that from fescue. In fact, he would have begged the king to please reinstate kindergarten. So I guess that’s the secret is that at the highest level, there are no secrets. So the good question, the question by you.
Scott Ritzheimer
Fantastic. Well, there’s some folks listening to this And as you mentioned, what you’re saying is resonating with them and a level that they’re not even sure they’ve quite figured out yet. How can they learn more about you or take the next step as a visionary in their life?
Justin Breen
The website is theepicfit.com, theepic fit.com
Scott Ritzheimer
Fantastic. We’ll get that in the shownotes for everybody. Go ahead and check it out. Well, Justin, thank you so much for being on the show. Just an honor and privilege having you here with us today. And for those of you watching, listening, you know your time and attention mean the world to us. I hope you got as much out of this conversation as I know I did, and I cannot wait to see you next time. Take care.
Contact Justin Breen
Justin Breen is the Founder/CEO of the exclusive connectivity platform BrEpic Network. He has 20+ years of experience in the media business, has won dozens of editing and writing awards, and is an author of countless viral stories. BrEpic clients have appeared in the New York Times, NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, CNBC, Forbes Magazine, Reuters, and numerous other media outlets worldwide. His newest book, Epic Life, features a foreword from Dr. Peter Diamandis and has been the No. 1 overall book for sale on Amazon Kindle. It also recently made the Wall Street Journal and USA Today Bestseller lists.
Want to learn more about Justin Breen’s community of Visionaries at Epic F.I.T. Network? Check out his website at theepicfit.com
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