Episode 459 Scott Adams: Talking With Writer, Boxer, Brilliant Guy @EdLatimore on Success

Date: 2019-03-21 | Duration: 1:00:51

Topics

Ed Latimore’s fascinating, inspirational life story and positivity Born in the projects, physicist, veteran, pro boxer, writer, mentor, tutor, teacher, popular Twitter account, perpetual seeker of knowledge

Rough Transcript

This is an auto-generated transcript and may contain errors.

Transcript

[0:06]

[Music] hey hey everybody come on in here I know you want to Tyler Russell Mark Carla and arleene and the rest of you Paulie and Kevin and ogga gather around make sure you run run I say to grab your cup your mug your flask your thermos grab it all and when you’ve got it you know what time it will be I think you do it will be time for the simultaneous sip will you join me please and lift your tankered for the simultaneous sip oh that is good um in a few minutes we are going to have a guest on Ed ladimer uh I’ll I’ll give more detailed

[1:08]

ladimer uh I’ll I’ll give more detailed introduction in a minute uh but while we’re waiting for him to fire up the Periscope and select the guest option um let us talk about some uh things in the news at the moment all right um so so uh apparently president Trump is getting a lot of uh push back for his horrible horrible comments about war hero deceased uh deceased Statesman and Senator John McCain and every time I watch somebody complaining about the president’s treatment of John McCain I always ask myself the same thing would they say that privately would any of the people who are complaining terribly about the president’s treatment of John McCain if

[2:10]

president’s treatment of John McCain if you were in a room privately with a person who is like oh my God it’s so terrible that he’s he’s uh bmer merching the memory of a of a uh of a dead person and and I keep saying to myself I don’t know that anybody would say that privately would they I mean literally would anybody say privately that that they personally are offended now I think most people when they’re talking about how horrible it is that we’re talking about um a a war hero in a negative way I think most of those people are assuming that somebody else is is offended could we make an agreement to simply be offended by things that offend us personally you don’t really need to be offended on behalf of other people who may may may

[3:11]

behalf of other people who may may may or may not exist um um Ed Ed laimer if you are listening U I think I’ve got a message from can’t see the guest option huh can one of you who is uh watching this on Periscope we’re waiting for Ed to join um but maybe uh can somebody explain in the comments where the prompt is that oh actually let me let me call on somebody who’s who’s on here yeah I’m going to call on a guest just to explain how to find and click on the guest button because I think it’s not not obvious so watch How I solve this problem using all the technology guest can you hear me good could could you tell me how you found uh because I haven’t used the guest option before where is the uh the

[4:12]

guest option before where is the uh the icon or the prompt to join as a guest there’s just a little button at the bottom near the left with two sort of smiley faces so Ed look for the icon that has two little smiley faces one superimposed on the other one click that and that should get you in um while you’re here did you have a question or a comment uh yeah I did want to question you about the the transgender thing in the women in sports oh before um before you do that somebody just made an important point and if you’re watching this you have to uh you have to watch this on the Periscope app not on Twitter Twitter will show the video live but you can’t join directly through Twitter so if you’re if you’re watching it on Twitter there should be a periscope um icon if you click that it’ll take you to the Periscope app and then that will let you join so I think I think that was was the problem so yes you were you were

[5:13]

the problem so yes you were you were going to make a w Ed is uh getting ready to join um you what was your comment about the transgender well I feel that your position on transgender women and like sports is sort of inconsistent with your position on abortion I’m not even sure they have anything in common well you say you stay out of abortion because we should go with what the majority of women want so if the majority of women say wanted to not have you know transgender women competing against them in sports shouldn’t we consider their opinion well here’s uh let me go back to uh rule number one rule number one in the Scott Adams universe is the anal IES are not the same as reason so those are just two different things so when you ask me that question here’s how it sounds in my head Scott you say that transgender people should be able to compete in women’s sports but how do you

[6:15]

compete in women’s sports but how do you explain the fact that oranges have Peels and I just say I don’t those are just different situations so I don’t I don’t accept that there’s any commonality in those two situations um however let me let me not you know try to use the trickery to get out of the question the the uh the issue is whether or not uh the majority can block the minority so we live in a world in which you wouldn’t want somebody to have said in the past uh we don’t want to integrate the military because the majority of the military says they don’t want to do it so you you would never take the majority opinion on a question of discrimination because you wouldn’t even have a question of discrimination if the majority was already in favor of it but is it discrimination right if is women discrimination they’re because they’re

[7:17]

discrimination they’re because they’re they’re biologically men so if women don’t want to compete against biological men which they don’t right now should they be forced to uh um nobody is forced to uh compete everybody can say I would I would rather not be on this team so I think what you would find is that it would be more like the Renee Richards situation which is Renee Richards was transgender and played women’s um played women’s uh tennis and it didn’t destroy the sport in fact she didn’t even become number one she she started when she was older but the the question is um if you were let’s say an MMA fighter or a female boxer that would be a situation where you definitely you know you would want to give all the competitors an option to not fight if they thought it would be dangerous and I think that that would be something that they would they would take that option but um if if the rules

[8:22]

take that option but um if if the rules if the rules of the sport are that women are in a certain league and the rules of society is the transgender is um is is let’s say taking you to your true gender or the gender that you prefer and the one that Society has decided collectively that we’re going to respect as long as those two rules are inforce that this is what it means to be to say that you’re a woman in society and the rules are that women are in this league you would have to change one of the rules to not let them compete now if somebody wants to talk about a rule change for that purpose that conversation’s not happening um and maybe it would but my point of view is that these things always look like there’s a reason to discriminate until we we go ahead and make the change and then time goes by and you say to yourself I guess it didn’t make any difference IM imagine going back in time to the conversation

[9:22]

going back in time to the conversation about women the women having the right to vote can’t you imagine being in a room you know back in whenever this was early in the 1900s can you imagine that the men were saying well if the women vote all hell is going to break loose it’s just going to be terrible and then women voted no that sounds like an analogy to me that doesn’t make sense with what well no here here I’m giving you examples not analogies I’m telling you that throughout time examples are always useful um throughout time whenever we thought the way you’re thinking now which is wait there’s a really good reason that we we should discriminate we’ve always had a reason but when we got past it we found out our reasons were pretty much in our heads and I would say that the Renee Richards situation um would be one of those uh try sending the guest again all right so the the guest option

[10:22]

again all right so the the guest option is turned on by default so every so right now I have five guests who oh Scott when I did it I had to authorize it to enable my microphone time I think there’s a yes uh there’s a different issue here I think he’s not seeing the option okay it is on has he updated I don’t know it could be oh maybe that’s it um because I just had update this morning is app updated yeah that option wasn’t in the old version of the app right all right um let me the part that people always argue with me is the part that we’re not disagreeing about so if I could change one thing about the world it would be for people to stop arguing with me while agreeing with me and oh [Music]

[11:35]

um the the thing that people keep saying to me when I talk about the transgender issue and my position that they should be allowed to play in the women’s leagues is that uh people keep saying Scott don’t you understand that that they will have more muscles and have an advantage and I say yeah we all understand that we all understand that that’s that’s not part of my reasoning all right I think Ed is is here I believe I just saw him joining and so Nicholas I’m going to drop you and go to Ed thanks for calling Ed will be with us in one moment Ed Ed Ed are you there ye yes I can hear you hey hello that took a little while but I figured it out sorry I was unclear in my directions I I I think you may have been using the browser version that doesn’t have that option I started I started with the browser and then I then I realized okay I had to download this app

[12:35]

realized okay I had to download this app so I downloaded the app and then once I went in with the app and now everything is all good we’re right here all right great well I’m glad to actually talk to you live I’ve been following you on Twitter um I I will tell the the viewers here that uh if you’re not following Ed on Twitter you’re missing one of the best follows so here behind me is Ed’s um Twitter handle and what I what I love about Ed is that he has uh one of the most interesting Talent stacks and we’ll talk about this in a minute which is a completely different sets of talents which when they’re put together are are really strong and I love his views on how to succeed how to see the world more clearly had to take more responsibility and I’ll let do some talking about that too but Ed could you tell the audience um some of your uh biography highlights you know where where were you raised and

[13:38]

you know where where were you raised and a couple of your career highlights so they they can catch up oh where was I raised you know it’s funny the the app on for for Android I think iPhone has it too the Tom hop app you know takes you back to post you’ve made over the years and I just I saw a post I made eight years ago where I was talking about where I lived and I grew up on a street called Mount Pleasant Road that’s right in the heart of like the worst housing project in Pittsburgh PA you know so so I grew up in in the projects and is I’m a product of that environment the the ghetto all that that type of stuff uh I got out when I was 18 and and tried college and and wasn’t prepared for it whatsoever at all you know I faed out in three semesters it was three fun semesters man it’s probably where I got my first taste of uh drinking which is which which got worse into my 20s and eventually I I got sober and put the bottle down and I really had to I probably was going to going to do something unforgivable or or

[14:40]

going to do something unforgivable or or irreversible uh so I stopped drinking at 20 28 or 27 2013 I old I was then and but during my 20s I started boxing and I was really that that really helped the change and really gave me something to to Chase and because when you stop doing something it was so that’s so integral to your personality you know like drinking was for me you have to replace that with something and fortunately I was very H my life was set up for success and that I was I was really getting even more serious about boxing I was taking another step at school I had just joined the military so I could get money to go back to school and then serve and build points on my resume and I was just starting a serious relationship and I was like okay I think there’s some uh some potential in this and you know it’s it’s still here today so I guess my judgment was sound but yeah that’s uh that’s The Abridged version there like from so didn’t did you you were a teacher for a while right

[15:41]

you you were a teacher for a while right did you teach physics oh so so what I am is I’m a a tutor with a with a school district around here and that has defaulted me to the role of teacher for a lot of the kids and now I have some homeschoolers as well because you do something well I’ve learned people talk when especially when it comes to their children and so I I’ve got a few kids and and I really enjoyed tutoring slash teing depending on on the situation and the student uh for physics math I I’ll do anything well or rather I used to do anything when I had to do it for money now that I don’t do it for money at all you know if it’s not physics or math I’m not really interested so all of my kids now are are related and or pursuing those disciplines so you’re so your your talent stack has um you know you went to college and you were a physics major right right uh you’re you were professional

[16:43]

right uh you’re you were professional boxer 13 one in one was your record right yeah yeah and every now and then I I I still think like oh man I might come back and then I remember how much work and energy it t it takes to compete even even at a mediocre level you know was putting in freaking 20 hours a week minimum and as as fights come get closer we’re looking at 30 hours a week and that’s just training time we’re not talking studying and physical fitness and all that or lifting and running and that’s way too much at this point because my time is valued in other areas so so now you have a book it’s called Uh not caring what other people think is a superpower it’s on Amazon you can get it and I love the title by the way um what one of the things I love about your uh your your tweets is that almost every time I read one I end up almost hurting my neck by nodding in agreement too hard like uhhuh uhhuh that’s it what you just said and I’m I’m

[17:45]

said and I’m I’m fascinated by where you came to your mindset because uh you started with every disadvantage right you you were in a poor terrible neighborhood you were born black in America and then you started drinking when you were a young man yeah you pretty much you pretty much were starting in a deep hole tell me what it was was there something about maybe your parents one of your parents was did somebody give you give you a leg up in terms of your mindset where did that start well well the the real thing that that really helped me out I was just writing about this is is boxing was really really prior to boxing and I started boxing late uh prior to boxing I was afflicted with fixed mindset I really thought that where I was was kind of what I would have to work with and I could not improve anything and one of the the reasons I was writing about this

[18:46]

the the reasons I was writing about this is is you know in high school I think I failed uh are really close to it many of my math classes if not all of them and now I have a Physics degree in a math Monitor and I think my math GPA was like 39 and and the reason I was able to do that and even have the confidence to go back after these horrible this horrible experience with math is I watch myself go from an uncoordinated really untalented guy in boxing and just by by little practice every day and and working with it because I got in the boxing because I wasn’t doing anything in my life so I go and do this and I’m like all right I’m either going to get beat out the gym or I’m gonna I’m gonna die I’m not gonna quit this at all and so I just watched myself get better and better and better and I said wow okay if I can improve my physical abilities this way what can I do for my mind right can can I do the same thing for M right and and that’s what where I came from now in terms of you know applying that to my

[19:49]

terms of you know applying that to my emotional or my my emotional you know makeup or the way I see problems or my my psychological disposition uh it’s very similar I I really understand that nothing’s going to kill me or okay there were things that are going to kill me I guess but the wor most of the most of the things that people freak out about you know I’ve seen people get killed man like like come on like how bad can can life be you know I’ve had to to still to to eat and all that well let me let let me drill drill down in a few things all right so so there was the first message and it’s very again it’s so compatible with things I’ve said and and felt which is that I I often advise people to find something that they can do well because if once you experience going from being bad as something to being good as something you often surprise yourself which is exactly your story here and I find that finding anything you can excel at just through practice because the

[20:51]

at just through practice because the person who practices the most is going to get in the top 10% you know all other things being equal so if you can practice your way into the top top tier of any any skill any knowledge any anything you suddenly think well I could probably do this again in a different area so did did you get uh any of your philosophy from either parent uh not well well some of it I mean like like I wouldn’t say it’s not accurate to to say I was raised in a single or to say I was raised by a single mother but but to say my dad had like a formative hand in my upbringing that’s also not accurate you know he was around and he exposed me to some stuff but for the most part I think I spent like 95% of my time my mom uh my mom my mom taught me not to be afraid of people I really and and afraid of things you know she she had a lot of flaws herself but the one thing I really took uh from my mom my mom was the kind of parent you

[21:52]

my mom my mom was the kind of parent you know if somebody was was messing with you outside you know we we went several times and lined up kids that would be picking and we would we would just fight you know we figured out there was no it was the kind of you know you either get your ass kicked by them or your ass kicked by me and you’re going to have to go back out and fight him anyway so you might as well start so that so that mentality of of facing problems uh is probably why I decided or or how I approach boxing to begin with and then that that little nudge kind of thing so it so it sounds like your mother told you to go at your problems instead of away from them yeah yeah you know I wasn’t and you know there’s always the genetic part you know I gotta remember that that my sister you know she didn’t turn out like me and we got the same parents right yeah but what made me me is there are some things you know I’m I’m also just I’m I’m I’m stoic I guess I don’t really get attached to to outcomes naturally that’s very I I

[22:54]

outcomes naturally that’s very I I trained it but I came with it naturally and then when you have that kind of perspective about okay it really doesn’t matter what happens combined with all right I got I do have to face it because right now it’s an inconvenience you you don’t have a problem let let me give you some of the things that my mother taught me and see if any of these ring ring true I came I basically came out of the birth canal hearing the words you’re going to college like you know none of my parents didn’t go to college there’s nobody my family had gone to college at that point but when we were born my mother said you’re going to college you’re going to college like we we didn’t even know there was another Choice the other thing she told us is that you could be the best at anything you want to be totally untrue but very motivational because because she she taught me a world where I had unlimited potential until I found out otherwise she also told me to make decisions even

[23:55]

she also told me to make decisions even if I wasn’t sure to have a bias for action so it was always act you know it’s not about thinking it’s about acting and then she also taught us to figure it out ourselves so my college experience was figure it out figure out where you want to go and how you’re going to go there and I’ll I’ll help help you pay for it so th those are the big lessons I got um you seem also big on the um taking responsibility that that seems to be a theme that runs through a lot of your tweets oh for sure and and I also see the not caring what other people think is a superpower if if people only got one thing out of this it would be a superpower I I tell people all the time that um that my superpower is the inability to be embarrassed for example right so so for example we started this Periscope and I as your host did a very poor job of you know making sure that you knew what to click

[24:56]

making sure that you knew what to click and which app to use and stuff so you know I had to tap dance and in in any normal situation I should be embarrassed that I failed so hard in front of so many people but I’m not because I’m doing a periscope with you we’re providing value I’m having a good time and I’ve I’ll never remember that that I had some trouble you know uh getting the the tech to work so tell me about not caring what other people think how did you get to that point because most people can’t get their ego out of the picture how did how did you get your ego free from other people’s opinions how did that happen for me personally I was suffering for it yeah I really felt like I was wasting some of my friends can’t understand why I’m so hard on the way I lived my life prior to drinking and it’s because you know a lot of my drinking was centered around trying to be this guy that fit in I wanted I wanted to be liked I didn’t care about being respect so much as uh expected as

[25:59]

being respect so much as uh expected as I did about people wanting to invite me to a party or invite me out so that meant that I had to go I had to go harder than everybody I was like I wasn’t going to be the most respected but I was gonna be the most respected Drinker right I was gonna really push myself in in that realm right and right and then I woke up you know it all starts with the bad hangovers and you know the text you’re like oh I can’t believe I said that are you still going to be my friend kind of deal and and then and then it it gradually to upgrades to doing stupid like driving with some with some booze in your system to being flat out drunk and and I really I really sat and I looked at myself and I was like yo what what is all this for right like why I do this you’re smart enough to know so so what are you doing and and really I was I was trying to build an image an image I thought was what what other people would care about or something and and would make me be be liked and eventually I said you know what uh I I was 28 I said

[27:00]

said you know what uh I I was 28 I said you know I’m going to turn 33 one day I just happen to use that that number five years and but but now I’m I’m 34 and I said I’m gonna turn 33 one day am I gonna be doing the same or am I gonna have more options in my life you know I I I never imagine for example I’d be talking to you but I guarantee if I was doing the same stuff you’d have no interest you probably never heard of me people probably jail would have heard me and then that’s why been been famous and popular so so that’s where where came for me I was paying a significant price but it didn’t seem that bad until one day you know when I when I when I enlisted because I was still drinking when I enlisted and then I showed up to a few drills you know was still you know wreaking a booze man it must have been awful but but I went away for the basic training and AIT and all that and I I spent for the first time of my life I think I I spent it was like 10 weeks man uh 10 weeks in basic training no drinking lot of thinking though because

[28:01]

drinking lot of thinking though because you can’t talk and then 22 more weeks in AIT no drinking lot of thinking and I said yo I’m I am up like that’s pretty much uh where it came from and and when I got back man I tried to go out and party again I made a fool myself and and that was it that was the last drink I said you know there we go and and that’s related to not caring because that’s where I was paying for it right there in fact in the book you I got the chapter on soate which seems even though I wrote another book afterwards about being sober in my journey I got a chapter in there about how you use your time and its relationship to SRA because it was that it’s that important to me and that that’s what my pain point was yeah one of the things that uh nval raavan said on my Periscope was he said that in the old days you know if you went far back uh winning meant working hard and then if you you more modern times it really meant about you know what you’ve learned you know it was

[29:02]

what you’ve learned you know it was about your education that would be the key to success but he says that in modern times you know now and forward that the key to success might be your ability to handle your own addictions oh and that that might that might be the single most um you know most important variable because we can all we all have access to enough stuff that we could be successful if we were not addicted to something that would prevent us so um so my my great Revelation in terms of uh how other people thought about me was one one time I had a face laser laser treatment on my face to get rid of some spider veins and for a few weeks my face looked like it through went through the windshield of my car so so it was all you know black and blue it looked like I’d been you it looked like I’d been in a in in a boxing match with you and I hadn’t trained and for for the first two days I said I can’t go outside like this because everybody will look at me and stare but after a few days you get cabin

[30:04]

stare but after a few days you get cabin fever and you just say oh screw it I’m going to go to the mall and I remember walking through this crowded mall with hundreds of people walking past me and me with a face they was sort of like you know the Elephant Man you know got in the fight sort of thing and and I’m thinking to myself there’s no way that people can do anything but stare and and make fun of me or or at least stare and then I noticed that absolutely nobody cared nobody looked at me they all have their own problems and so my my illusion was that other people care about other people they care about their loved ones but they don’t really care about strangers are busy right us you know they got their own issues and their own problems you I I thought about something you said earlier about your your ability to not be embarrassed I was I was thinking about this and and I think I was in a fourth grade and a teacher went out of her way to make me cry in front of the class and I cried man I cried like a little man and I and since

[31:06]

like a little man and I and since that moment I have never had a problem being embarrassed that that like that was my reset point so wow you know not being embarrassed that that was that was easy for me you know taking risk was easy for me being a fool was easy for me uh what was hard for me to deal it was feeling rejected and feeling like I was an outsider like people didn’t want me around to this day to this day I still have a fear of like throwing or organizing any type of party because I don’t think anyone’s gonna show up because why would they want to come hang out with me and and that’s that’s even weird to hear come out of my mouth because even hear right now I’m looking down it’s like I mean I’m sure a lot of them are here for you but then you know there people and people follow me on Twitter and I think like why would people want to spend their time you know hanging out with me so so we all have hangups about about this stuff it’s just how do you manage it and my way of managing it was very destructive and then I went and found a better way I said okay if I can’t be like let me let

[32:07]

said okay if I can’t be like let me let me be the coolest most respected accomplished dude ever and and that’s working out for me that’s a much better way because I still have the insecurity but but now now wouldn’t you say i’ I’ve had this observation before that successful people are usually successful because of a flaw not not despite a flaw I mean they have to overcome whatever obstacles as well but I would say in my own case that I’m never satisfied with my own success meaning the moment I do something I had planned to do I say well that’s great but it really wasn’t that much and and then I’m you know so so I have this impossible to satisfy myself type of Personality which on you have some version of that so wouldn’t you say that there’s a a flaw that drives successful people oh absolutely because here’s the thing if you if you like everything about yourself what the hell

[33:07]

everything about yourself what the hell are you gonna try and improve you know right and and that’s what all success comes down to is you know I was trying to make something cool happen for me or the world and uh here it is and and even the people who are out there you know like like the Elon musular world who are trying to trying to genuinely create something that is going to affect and benefit Humanity you he’s he’s got to be that guy is too driven to not have some issues man like all have something that is like yo you know if if you don’t do this man you know you know you’re gonna be a piece of right that kind of thing it’s like sitting there in the back of my mind so you you go do these things you know it’s like working on the gym you know people people complain like man running is hard and I’m like yeah but being fat is hard hard like that’s the respon I can I can deal with with you know killing myself on the treadmill but I can’t deal with is like feeling

[34:08]

but I can’t deal with is like feeling like people are pointing at me going yo that dude is got a gut like you know and and everyone’s got their own in security but and however they use it to push them well here’s what I think I think you can use it uh to push you positively or constructively or you can use it to in the most destructive ways to make yourself feel better some people some people become leaders you know all right so so um Having learned what you’ve learned you’re you’re at sort of the perfect spot of your life and you have the perfect life Arc to give useful insights and advice to somebody who is let’s say you and you at age 14 so if you were going to talk to let’s say a kid with who didn’t come from a good sit situation and is still in a good situ in a bad situation and you are going to give them the most important uh advice something that would change the way they frame their

[35:08]

change the way they frame their experience something that would be you know doable something you could actually act on that would improve your life what would that look like what what are some of the things you would say to somebody 14-year-old who’s got the same challenges or something or similar to what you had they’re trying to make it out I I would tell them to figure out where where where they’re like like their natural motivation is and then try to become like an ass kicker like a top 10% there like when I was younger I always I loved communication and telling stories and teaching that was just natural to me you know and so I’m I think one of the worst things I did was try to get away from that for a long time and now it’s it’s naturally where I where I find peace at you know I’m at I’m at peace talking to a bunch of people teaching people being in front public speaking there’s no nervousness there that that’s my my natural Advantage if I had focused on that you know something something that would have

[36:09]

know something something that would have taken advantage of that ability I would have I would have ignored a lot of and I guess I did to some extent you know I I was fortunate enough to to when I was 14 go to another High School across town in a very different area and get exposed to a lot of different stuff and one of the things that that kept me out of it and you know I didn’t NE I didn’t like sports that much but I said let me play football because I’m going to stay away from all that so so that was just like a a secondary way to go about it you know I I didn’t go where I was strongest which was this kind of communication leadership role I went and play sports and and tried to play sports anyhow is probably a better way to put it uh the other thing I would tell him bid find someplace uh where you’re where you’re naturally interested in trying to motivate and get strong is man you get in the gym I above all things I think when you when you watch your body improve you you see that’s a thing you can control and put some time into and

[37:12]

can control and put some time into and it pays you back quickly people notice your whole life you know can can go from Zero to Hero just by spending six months you know taking care of your nutrition and yeah that that’s exactly what I wanted to hear you say because Fitness and um and nutrition are unique and that it’s something that 100% of people can succeed at you know there aren’t there aren’t many things where you could put a lot of work in and you’d just be guaranteed to to have a payoff and that’s one of them and the thing that people don’t understand is how much Fitness influences the way they think the the kind of challenges they’re willing to take the amount of embarrassment they’re willing to take you know every every bad feeling that you have that that limits you is decreased after a good workout you know you actually just feel like a different person after you work and most importantly here’s something that I that I did not lean on that hard at the

[38:13]

I did not lean on that hard at the beginning of my boxing career but but absolutely saved me in the end uh when you’re in the gym and you’re trying to maintain yourself you you kind of sto doing a lot of that’s going to take away from the gains you have made like staying out all night drinking you know that is one of the the things that the fighting really did for me at the at the beginning when I was an amateur i i i adhere to like you know you don’t drink the week of the fight right and that was hard that shouldn’t have been hard not drinking a week but as I became a pro and I and it got really serious that was one of the big factors I said yo you’re trying to do this thing seriously now uh you probably should just cut out the drinking entirely you know right well do working on your body just just puts you in a place where you don’t even have time to to do a lot of other that would that would R you down so so the other things that I see you doing productively is that you are a a seeker of knowledge which is and tell me if

[39:14]

of knowledge which is and tell me if I’ve got this wrong but it seems far more than the average person you are actually testing your environment all the time to pick up a new skill a new way of looking things read a book you know have an experience uh am I reading that right are you are you absolutely in fact that’s one of my problems right now and it’s a good problem uh is I said when I finished school I was GNA you know be done with school and and get get to focusing on other things in my life that need to be taken care of and and I really should keep focus on those focusing on those but I really want to go and and start working towards because because I asked myself I don’t I don’t remember why read this but the but the author said that instead of asking kids what they want to be when they grow up we should asked them what problems they want to focus on what problems they want to solve and so that that always stuck with me and I just kept thinking about the the problems I’m interested in and and why I was drawn to physics as opposed to other

[40:15]

was drawn to physics as opposed to other disciplines and so so now I’m like all right when can I start my my uh post my my uh Graduate Studies I guess and and I know that I I shouldn’t do that but I’m drawn to it so instead what do I do I I read books and and I try to I still do problems on my own to make sure my mind stays sharp and I’m always listening I just discovered the um PBS has this great series on YouTube uh where they where they just break down different physics problems and stuff that that’s been like the best Discovery ever is that I can just plug my phone into the auxiliary cord I don’t have the um I got the old Cadillac at the the 2010 people who know me and follow me know I take pictures of my Cadillac I’m a big big fan of this car uh but it doesn’t had a Bluetooth in it so I plug in the auxiliary core and I’m always listening to to the podcast about you know the math mathematics and physics and I’m my I’m moving to Portugal and uh in the summer and so now I’m picking up Portuguese and that’s great because I

[41:16]

Portuguese and that’s great because I spent a lot of time working on my Spanish uh there’s just so much to learn I’m not going to live long enough to learn even a tenth of what’s important but I try you know and and I really feel like part of that is my Natural Curiosity but another part of that is I really feel I feel deprived of of a childhood where I was had the ability to be exposed to things I think a lot of kids you know people forget or maybe they don’t forget because they I tell them sometimes I didn’t I didn’t play any like pop warner sports or was none of that because cuz my mom had this weird issue where she wouldn’t she didn’t want us to want me to be known as just another black a kid right so I didn’t play any sports but I also didn’t get exposed to like any type of like I wanted to play chess I learn piano or something things like that none of that right so so now I I guess I try to make up for it as an adult where I can do those things and I can take myself wow so I’m watching some of the comments go

[42:16]

so I’m watching some of the comments go by people uh somebody said they bought 12 copies of your book and it was amazing and somebody else said you should turn it into an audio book oh yeah I’ve been meeing to that yeah uh because hearing it in your own voice would be more impactful I think now the the the things that you can’t you can’t really change are you you were born curious and as was I which makes it easy to learn new skills because you are naturally curious I worry about people who are not naturally curious it seems to me that might be the biggest maybe the biggest obstacle anybody could ever have is is to not be curious I wonder how how how uh predictive that would be of people’s success uh intellectual curiosity is the most important thing to me when when evaluating you know that that when I was looking at my girl uh when I first met her I was like oh what an intellect what a curious person you know I I’m not really interested in like what you have

[43:18]

really interested in like what you have learned or or what you have accomplished I want to know what you are interested in doing and what what steps you’re taking in that direction you know because we all have different obstacles and our different points in our journey but you know what are you doing to advance on yours you know so that is that’s what’s important to me and intellectual curiosity ensures that you’re always going to be discovering different ways to improve your life I think when I look at people who are who are stuck H A lot of them are stuck because because aside from not acting on the advice they get they don’t find any advice so they don’t they don’t find they don’t see people who are living in certain way they’re just not exposed to anything beyond what they know so how could they know anything beyond let’s go home and WIP so when I hear you talk and I look at your your tweets and your advice and stuff I I always see a theme which I like to put in my own words which is

[44:20]

like to put in my own words which is systems are better than goals now I’m sure I’m sure you’ve had both but when you talk about you know Contin ously sampling new things that’s a system that doesn’t have a specific outcome but you know it’s going to be better than if you didn’t do it right so that’s that’s a good system is that you’re going to come out ahead you just don’t know how um so I see that in everything you do I see a systems kind of a thinking you know how do I how do I train you know it’s not it’s not about starting with the wind it’s how do I train now uh and so what else is there anything else that’s in your top three things you would tell the 14-year-old you um those always the those are those are like two generals and I’ll give them one specific one you know to quote that old song man never trust a big button a smile you don’t don’t do that uh if if if you can if you can avoid if you can avoid dating the wrong people and

[45:21]

avoid dating the wrong people and picking up alcohol uh then that’s me personally but but really avoid the wrong people man that is a well well let me I’m looking I got look at some of your tweets and I want to just unpack one so you had a recent one just 11 hours ago uh and you you tweeted that people really have uh the ass backwards nerve to think that their problem with you is your concern so that that gets back gets back to your not being bothered by other people’s opinions I love that one I think you’ve talked about that one enough but um just going to pick another one one [Music] uh oh here here’s here’s one I love your personal future should make you excited if it doesn’t then something is very wrong I I always give the advice that you should have at least one project going on in your life it could be your side project but one thing that could really change the world or change you you know either one whichever excites

[46:22]

you know either one whichever excites you because I wake up sometimes into a boring life too you know I just got to guess stuff done I got some deadlines but I’ve always got it might only be 10 minutes that day that I did a little research I purchased an item I need to get something done I talked to somebody I made a phone call but I always have one little project that could change the whole world if it worked yeah and you know usually it doesn’t so it sounds like you’re always looking for that thing to to pull you well I I try to because look if if you don’t have something to get you out of bed man I I feel I can’t I can’t imagine that you know and and i’ had those once again you know I always talk about my life pre-drink post drink right the the best part about post drink is like every day man I feel like I gotta make up for for you know pre-drink and yeah so so so every day I’m I’m I’m working on on

[47:24]

every day I’m I’m I’m working on on something to put out there into the world or some way to improve myself that’s going to help me put something out better you know to the world now let let me ask you a a very if you can give I’m going to ask you an impossible question so be before you answer just know that if if you could answer this question it would be the greatest answer of of any question because it would unlock such potential so let me ask the question and see if I’ve got my assumption right first um I’m looking at one of your tweets where you say success shows you who who’s really rooting for you and who was hoping you’d fail not all of your quote friends are going to be happy you make it and it will show now I’ve made the comment that there there’s something called that I call cultural gravity meaning your friends are either helping you or they’re dragging you down and um I feel like I had low cultural gravity because even though I was born into poor circumstances I was surrounded by people

[48:25]

circumstances I was surrounded by people who were literally rooting for for me to succeed and I could feel it all the time now in your where where you grow up did you think that people were rooting for your success or maybe working against it oh well okay let me let me preface everything I’m about to say with the following statement I experienced little to to no no active interference in my progress right now in terms of past iive you know people not really you know the environment I was around the attitudes that that I was around oh man the the hardest part I think about getting out of of a circumstance like that is as a child is not just falling into it it’s around you every day and you’re reminded every day that this is the future for 99% of people like you and well well let

[49:25]

99% of people like you and well well let me but let me let me ask the a specific question I’m I assume based on the fact you have a degree in physics that you were a good student in school do were you ever did you ever get mocked for that oh oh absolutely when I was a child yeah yeah yeah oh for sure and and and and how and and how did you overcome that because so here’s the here’s the uh the question that could unlock the universe I’m hoping the answer is not it’s just something about you that you were unbothered by is is there a technique is there a mindset is there anything that can free you from other people trying to drag you down by mocking the thing you’re doing for Success well I you know I used humor a lot I tried to be I tried to laugh at them laugh at myself and and and still though understand deep down inside that this was better so so you need you you need a

[50:27]

was better so so you need you you need a dream I guess for for yeah you need a dream to use a cliche term something you’re going after otherwise you know that that social pressure can can wear you down I think one of the best things that happened to me when I was a child they kept me from to come into and trying to become friends and really try to make it in with a lot of people around me is is I I want to just different stuff I I couldn’t play sports I wasn’t trying to be a sports guy I you know I was terrified to get my ass kicked at home so I was I I tried to stay away from doing anything that was remotely like bad at question Mar I was a kid I didn’t even swear you know and because I was afraid they were gonna call my mom and my mom she ain’t care right I it was just an ass kick so those things you know I had some deter but what I wanted was just a different life I wanted something more man I I would Tre to my video game do you think so you you know you know the concept of

[51:28]

you know you know the concept of emotional uh no emotional intelligence meaning the ability to um give up on your current pleasure because you got something bigger you’re working for and I hear that I hear in you an emotional uh let’s say emotional intelligence that is unusual meaning meaning that when you started boxing for example you knew it was going to be a lot of bad hard work to to to maybe get to something good you joined the military which is a lot of risk and work and sacrifice but for something better so you could get your school paid for do do you think and when I hear you say you you had something better in mind for your life so you could take the mocking about you know being good in school that Rings true with me because every now and then I was I was V Victorian of my tiny little class and so so all throughout school there there would be you know people would call me a nerd and you know whatever negative word they could come up to come up with for being a good

[52:30]

up to come up with for being a good student and I always thought to myself someday you’re going to work for me there there was never one time in my life I didn’t have that that recording going in my head and it always sounded the same in my head yeah you’re laughing now check back with me in 20 I didn’t think that way but I always did say you know I probably am not going to end up in prison or with kids when I’m 18 you know I used to think that that was my you’re gonna work for me it was I’m not GNA be you know in prison with you that kind of deal but but but I’m really I mean in term you want to talk about about luck and there are some things that I’m really grateful for and one of the things I’m grateful for is that when I was when I was 14 going into High School in in Pittsburgh we have I don’t know if we still have it we haded a magnet system as long as you got a lottery magnet system so the was a school across town completely different environment and and my mom got up and we

[53:32]

environment and and my mom got up and we got the first lottery pick uh for that and I I got to go to a school now granted now now I had a new challenge which was uh part of that school did feed into a a different Hood but I wasn’t around those cuz and it was an hour and a half bus ride uh every day there back oh oh hold on hold on I I feel like we I feel like we just hit like the key to everything and I may I may be missing this but you had a mom who was willing to completely upend your situation and make you go an hour and a half to school to get a better situation this this is very much um a systems long-term planning I mean your mom sounds like she was modeling what you have taken as as a life philosophy which is this is going to be seriously hard right now well let’s let’s let’s uh you know give credit what credit is do to do sometimes you know I I I I said earlier in passing

[54:34]

you know I I I I said earlier in passing my sister is not like me I mean she she’s doing all right better certainly but but one of the big differences is that I had this unpleasant experience in the middle school and elementary school and in my neighborhood and I didn’t want any more of that and I knew that if I stayed there I wasn’t going to get more so I I pestered and I said that’s where I want to go at the very least I said I don’t want to go around here so we’re going to go and put the lottery in you have to like go down to the uh Board of Education and you know put your name in and all that oh so wait you saying I had it completely I had it completely backwards it was you talking your mother yeah now my sister didn’t want to go my sister went to the local school and so she ended up you know she still got all her friends are from there and and really uh going to that school is is one of the things that I credit with me not turning into a total scumbag because what do you what do you think about the idea of uh charter schools in are you up

[55:35]

idea of uh charter schools in are you up on that I’m not a big expert on that um but I hear such good things about that as far as I understand it and I’m sure I’m going to get not get this completely right and someone in the comments is going to kill me but as far as I understand it it it’s still just another curriculum um that is mandated by someone else and my big thing while I’m a big fan of homeschooling is that it you you’re not moved on the pace of your peers you’re moved on the pace that you’re on and what your parents feel is important I mean these are the people who decided hopefully decid anyhow that your life was important enough to produce so they should get some say or and certainly more say than I think uh most people have and how it’s directed and what you’re exposed to and how you’re you you know I I have to say I started out the first time I ever heard about homeschooling you know when when it first started being in the news my first

[56:37]

first started being in the news my first impression was feeling sorry for those kids because they you know didn’t get a regular school experience but I realized later in life and I heard more about it and I saw more kids who went through homeschooling I don’t think I’ve ever seen a homeschooled kid who was messed up right because people the wrong idea it’s not like it’s not like you know you’re sitting in a room and your parents are your teachers and that’s all you know your only now granted they are like they should be instructing you but it’s not like that’s your only exposure like like my girlfriend was homeschooled in a homeschooled Co-op it was a neighborhood of people and then and to be part of that Co-op uh one of the parents brought a skill set that they would teach to you know the kids and then they they switched off and and then they were just raised in a different environment there wasn’t you know PE people always talk about you know they need socialization I’m like have you seen the people that come out of regular school like it’s not like it’s not like that’s doing a great

[57:38]

that’s doing a great job yeah yeah if if I look at my school experience if I had never heard of homeschool and somebody said well how was your school experience I’d say you know normal good no problem went about the way you’d expect but then you actually if you actually think about it cuz you just get used to your own experience like you’re you just think whatever you’re doing is the normal thing but much of it was horrific much of it was just horrific and I wouldn’t have had that if I had been homeschooled lot of a lot of stuff as they say you know you can’t unsee or unremember man school is not and when I talking about the normal taunting man I mean we used this just between the fighting and and the fight is a big thing because that’s one of the things that set me back is when I was coming out of uh Middle School where I was supposed to be learning we were too busy dealing with disciplinary issues so I never I’m like oh man this algebra thing is bust my ass Well turns out no one ever I never learned Algebra I was too busy dealing

[58:39]

learned Algebra I was too busy dealing with kids getting kicked out on fights having be broke up right all right so uh we’re coming to the end of the uh our hour here and this was great and I want to remind everybody uh if you’re not already following Ed ladimir on Twitter you’re missing one of I I put you in my top five whenever anybody asks me who they should follow on Twitter I I usually have a you know several names but you’re always in my top five um and always enjoy seeing your tweets I love your story I love what you’re putting back into the universe Ed I love I love the the positivity and and what I’d call the the useful thoughts that you’re that you’re projecting into the universe they’re amazingly useful so I appreciate you very much I hope everybody goes and buys your book and follows you uh and say the name of your book again I’m not caring what other people think is a superpower Insight from a heavyweight boxer and also if you’re struggling with

[59:39]

boxer and also if you’re struggling with any type of addiction my my other book uh sober letters to my drunken self is about the emotional transition that I that I made from you know being an alcoholic to being sober now for five years and I I hope a lot of people get a lot out of that I wrote that book you know is a piece on my heart man I wanted I wanted to give something back that was really help people that’s very valuable and I would say um my startup makes an app called the interface interface by whenhub in which experts which could include addiction counselors or just people who are experts in in any field can take calls for people and people can charge for those calls anything they want so and if you ever wanted to use that someday you probably would have a built-in audience and I could help you promote that and uh but I’ll just throw that out there you don’t need to answer about that um and um say goodbye everybody bye Ed see you thank you for having me all right thanks

[1:00:42]

having me all right thanks Ed all right that was our show for today and I will talk to the rest of you tomorrow