Erik Rock, Stand Up and Say Something Proudly.

Erik Rock has nearly two decades of brand building experience in various industries including retail, development, land development, real estate, marketing, branding, and performance coaching. Host of his own show "Man on a Mission"- Erik is a man of his word and is a living breathing example of living to a STANDARD.

This conversation is packed full of some powerful lessons, stories, and a few emotional moments about a mutual friend. (We didn't expect to talk about)

Whether you are a long time listener or this is your first episode, I guarantee this is one you will want to revisit.

Take a look at all Erik is doing in the world over at his website- www.erikrock.net

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

I have this bizarre rule. I adopted this rule at a funeral, and this rule was because I wanted to say something at a funeral. It was my grandpa's funeral. I wanted to get up and say something, and I was so scared of what people thought that I didn't do it. I just I remained sitting there chewing on what I was going to say, how I was going to say it, and I never had the opportunity to say it because I was so scared of what people thought.

Speaker 2: 0:46

I was so scared of what people thought I was so scared of what people thought I was so scared of what people thought I was so scared of what people thought I was so scared of what people thought I was so scared of what people thought I was so scared of what people thought I was so scared of what people thought I was so scared of what people thought I was so scared of what people thought I was so scared of what people thought I was so scared of what people thought I was so scared of what people thought I was so scared of what people thought I was so scared of what people thought. And for those of you just to put some context to it, we're about to hit Thanksgiving. That is a good long run. That means there's consistency and that means his visionary mindset led to people recognizing he has a message that needs to be heard and he's making a difference. Eric Rock, welcome to the burn.

Speaker 1: 2:22

Well, the hell of an introduction, ben. Thank you so much. It's an honor to be here, especially with you. I look up to you. You are a legend, and it's guys like you that have really pulled me into the light and out of the shell that I was in.

Speaker 2: 2:35

Well, I appreciate you saying that. You know, everything with me is an iron sharpens iron mentality. You know, we have the unique connection to our dear, dear friend Ed Milet, who is one of the most impactful human beings walking the face of the earth today. You know, I think we would both agree, the fact that we can call him friend, we can call him a mentor, we can call him a confidant, just makes us better men.

Speaker 1: 3:00

He's a gift. He really is. It was amazing how he transferred energy to me just by being in his presence, and there's something to be said for that. Just making an investment in people that are doing what you want to do in life, paying some sort of ticket price, donating to their charity, finding a way to connect with people that you admire. Most people struggle with this, but I'll tell you, this is such a life hack that can get you to propel forward in so many unique ways. It's undervalued and it's worth its weight in gold.

Speaker 2: 3:27

Before we start diving into some of those action steps and the gold that you always look for and others to share with others. What is the burn for you? What is it that caused you to put in the work in order to build your businesses, which gave you a platform, which helped you build a very successful life and have an amazing story? But also I want you to touch on this as well, because I think this is important One of the things that I respect about you so much is as a coach. You're also the example of living a disciplined life. It's not just success in making money, it's a disciplined life in taking care of your body and your mind. You're one of those individuals who gets it done in all areas. So I know the burn is significant. What is that burn for you, eric?

Speaker 1: 4:16

Yeah, and I totally agree with you. The two most precious things you own, from my perspective, are your emotions and your health. Without those two things, money does nothing. For me, that's just a byproduct, which we've talked about. It's a byproduct of what I'm really after and for me, I'm a very obsessed human. Everything I do I obsess over almost to a fault, and for so much of my life I was told that it's not okay. People would look at some of my instincts and try to silence them or kind of contain them, get them smaller, and I felt like I was my whole life.

Speaker 1: 4:46

I was fighting for something I've never met my biological father. He abandoned my mother when she was pregnant with me and she was just a kid herself at a very young age, a teenager, I think she might have been 19. So I grew up in the world with no father and it's really important to have, I think, that male figure in your life, undeniable. I did have a stepdad, who I'm very grateful for, who entered my life when I was a young kid, but he was not easy to be around. It was a hard existence as a child for me, but I'm actually very grateful for it now. Nothing was handed to me. Everything was a fight, a literal fight as a child. And you know when you're a child and you're working for something I was.

Speaker 1: 5:28

I was working for something at a very young age. It instilled these neural pathways, I think, in my mindset that just made me stay in the pain longer than the next guy. Wherever your pain comes from in life. Mine happened to come from from a lot of these childhood experiences in myself, even though I still will say I'm blessed and was grateful because there were so many kids that had it worse but sort of wanting to be seen and wanting to be loved.

Speaker 1: 5:52

Just the fight for that alone created an excellence in me and a standard to me at a young age. That was just rare, it wasn't common. I was obsessively clean. I wanted everything to be perfect. I was a straight, a student, even though I wouldn't say I was that smart. I found ways to get the best, even at a young age. Best grades, I always found a way to get the best of whatever, and through high school even on. But that obsessive trait went the wrong direction for a while but it was instilled in me at a young age because I was fighting for something that a lot of the kids around me weren't fighting for.

Speaker 2: 6:25

And so that caused you to have a burn. It's interesting because I had so much pain from my father after my mother passed away. My dad comes back in, drug addict, alcoholic, manic, depressive, bipolar, passed out on the couch every night. I'm like it was bad enough. We had 24 hour nursing care. Now you've got this guy where nothing is ever good enough, and it sounds like you embraced. What I embraced was it was a double-edged sword, because a lot of people say, gosh, that must have been terrible, but I wouldn't change it because it's actually given me the qualities that have made me successful. So the double-edged sword your word of using that as pain becomes a burn I mean that's been part of my burn as well. Like nothing is ever good enough, because I just want to embrace every day to honor my mom, and so it sounds like the same for you. Nothing's ever been good enough. It's this pursuit of being your best.

Speaker 1: 7:13

Yeah, somehow the way I've connected it has led me to like a word, the best word I would use to describe myself as indefatigable. It was actually a friend of mine that said you're indefatigable, and I never heard that word said before, but it was a word that actually really sat well with me because I am. I'm so relentless, and indefatigable is a better way to, I think, even say it than relentless, and that did come from childhood. It just did. I connect so many emotions and so many feelings that could steer people the wrong way. I can reconnect my soul very quickly to that. Eric Rock, I think that you know. Again, coming back to this point, I think there's a little boy or little girl that's trapped in every single one of us and they hold your dearest memories and your worst. They hold your best emotions and your worst, and if you can learn to steer that energy in the right place, it's like rocket fuel to a fire that's likely already burning.

Speaker 2: 8:06

So I'm going to go a direction here now and this is almost. It's making me emotional thinking about this, because there's a lot of emotion here you are not in any way, shape or form, going to expect I'm going to go this direction there's no possible way and I'm going to go this direction. But what just happened and I intended on going this direction anyway but what you just described is literally how I felt my whole life, because so it's almost like here this is the first time we've now we've met before, but this is the first time we've really been able to go deep in getting to know each other, preparing for these shows and doing these shows. But it's like, this is like a crazy, like man. We've known each other a long time.

Speaker 2: 8:49

The person that comes into my mind where I last had that type of an instant like oh my gosh, we totally get each other like this was Jesse Lee Ward, and I remember filming my podcast with her. She was driving to Vegas where you know, she had gotten a terrible diagnosis and she decided I'm still going to do my event where, like, she's literally in her RV and like she and I have this connection and she like, literally, she's like who are you Like? Are you like this brother of mine? And I feel like I just felt that with you and I wanted to bring up Jesse because of this, not because of that connection. That just makes this even stronger and more powerful. But I pay attention to the details. So, as much as you say you've watched and looked at things I've done, I've watched you and I remember it was like a group coaching session or a mastermind and somebody took video of it, but it was you, it was Jesse Lee Ward, and there was this live, real interaction of you guys talking and it was just you guys pushing and challenging each other and I'm like that's what it's all about. That's a group of highly successful people who it's a never finished mentality, it's an own it mentality, and I think I'll never forget Like I can literally see this visual of you guys cutting up, doing this. It was like on your story.

Speaker 2: 10:16

And so I'd like for you to share how amazing was Jesse Lee Ward in her example and how important is it to have relationships in life with not people who smack you on the back and tell you how great you are, but who challenge you to step into that next level of your greatness, who challenge you to stay uncomfortable, and I know her loss is painful. I never had the opportunity to meet her in person. She wanted me to speak at her events we talked about we'll have to meet and spend time and I never got the chance and it's just one of those things. I'm just like Mike. She was so special and I hear Ed and you talk about her. Tell me about Jesse, tell me about the importance of having people like that in your life.

Speaker 1: 11:00

Yeah, jesse Lee was a massive gift in my life, a lot of what I'm doing today. Somehow there's a thread of her and a seed of Jesse Lee that I connect to almost every scary thing that I do. A lot of emotions around this topic, but I met her through Ed Mylet and it was kind of like magic when we connected. I have this bizarre rule. I adopted this rule at a funeral. I've actually a lot of the bizarre things about me. They come out of how I've processed death. But as bizarre as that may sound because it always makes me reconstruct time and that's how I obsess over that and this rule that I created. It was because I wanted to say something at a funeral. It was my grandpa's funeral. I wanted to get up and say something and I was so scared of what people thought that I didn't do it. I remained sitting there chewing on what I was going to say, how I was going to say it, and I never had the opportunity to say it because I was so scared of what people thought. And I don't know, I might have been 32, 33 years old I'm 40 now, so it wasn't that long ago but I really was so afraid of public speaking in general, even at a funeral. I mean, it sounds pathetic now, especially what I'm doing with my life, but when I look back of some of the things that were profound in my life, this rule I adopted because I was so disappointed in myself that I said all right, the next time there's an opportunity to stand up and say something meaningful, I'm going to do it, I'm going to take advantage of it and I'm just going to raise my hand and do it. So I've adopted this rule, this I call it stand up and say something. And I pair that with another rule because I don't want to just stand up and say something for vanity reasons or to be look at me. I want to make sure that if I'm in the moment to say something, I'm going to bleed, I'm going to be vulnerable, I'm going to put my heart on the line, I'm going to leave it on the table. And it became this triggered thought and that was to bleed in every room I enter. So you pair up to stand up and say something with bleed. And it did become this powerful combination of thoughts that now they're like clockwork for me.

Speaker 1: 13:01

And I was at an event. It was the first event I'd ever been to in my life. I donated some money that went to Ed's charity foundation and it got me to an event with his book launch and that's where I first met Jesse Lee and I was in the crowd. Erwin McMahon has said I'm going to ask for three people in the audience, three questions in the audience, something. And just because I have that rule and my heart was pounding and I was so nervous, I just raised my hand and I'd been doing this a long time and I said something was on my heart. It was about my grandma who had passed away. It was something very, very heartfelt, something I'd been struggling with and it resonated.

Speaker 1: 13:40

A lot of people came up to me after that and one of them was Jesse Lee and she had tears in her eyes. She was pouring out crying. She grabbed me and she just let me know how special that was and that I'm a special person. Jesse Lee was able to see something in me that I didn't even know existed and that's where our relationship started and we just up to be honest. We never left each other. We spent a lot of hours communicating, talking. We create our own little mastermind.

Speaker 1: 14:10

She has such a powerful influence on everything you see today, ben, the combination of her and a few people really, but she was really the heart and soul of everything, one of the most powerful influences in my life.

Speaker 1: 14:22

There's a few people when I close my eyes and I look back and I can just smile now thinking about my grandma who passed away, my grandma who's still living today, jesse Lee, ed Milette. There's a handful more my cousin Trent, who taught me how to work out, even my mom and dad, just for some of the scar tissue that I adopted out of the years of things that most people might look at is something not great. That I'm like, no, it was such a gift. I wish they would have known to frame it differently, but thank God for that. But she was one of these people. She taught me to be courageous in a way that I'd never seen. I was on the phone with her the day she got the full body MRI scan back that said she probably has really bad cancer, like it lit up really bad. And, ben, I got to just say this Give this testimony to Jesse Lee. This is so profound. We were just with Dan Martell.

Speaker 2: 15:16

You had no idea I was going to go here.

Speaker 1: 15:18

No, I didn't. I didn't even know. You knew we were connected. I could light up about her.

Speaker 2: 15:24

I mean, I want to make sure that I it's awesome. Keep going, brother, keep going.

Speaker 1: 15:29

I was just with Dan Martell. I don't know if you know Dan.

Speaker 2: 15:32

Martell, I know Dan Welle, he's been on the show. Great guy.

Speaker 1: 15:35

Oh good, he's another great person, amazing human being.

Speaker 1: 15:38

We're just talking about this. The way she kept showing up but he was also on the call. With it was me, gerard Adams, dan Martell and Jesse Lee. We were on a call. We had this little mini mastermind that we created. It was just four friends that would get together regularly and chop things up and I was really lucky to be part of that. It's where I really A lot of what you see today.

Speaker 1: 16:00

Jesse Lee was able to expose and pull out of me. In an alignment with Ed, there's a lot of pieces that got me to come out of my shell and step into the light and really burn a lot of unique bridges behind me. But every time we met, jesse Lee was going through so much pain and we would get that behind the scenes truth. She would present herself to the world like a warrior and she really leveraged that which she was fighting through to inspire people and which was, to me, incredibly inspiring. She didn't shrivel up when she got the worst news a human can get. She just grew into a really a monster of impact and I really was. Every time I think about what she did, it's like man. She forced me to stop playing so small, stop thinking, caring what people thought I called them the barbarians. We're so afraid they're going to stone us to death, but they're not. It's fake. It's an imposter in our head that's lying to us. Jesse Lee was the one that really taught me and held my hand and really challenged me to go for it. I can't tell you how many times we were on a call where she was actually sick but she would show up. She wouldn't cancel, she even put A week before she passed away. She put the screen on pause on a call and she had no idea what was about to happen to her, which is just so tragic and she was sorry. Guys, I got to throw up real quick. I'm not feeling good and she had these kidney stones. It was wretched for her what she was going for, but for her to continue to show up, I cannot explain what kind of courage and strength and that just insanely contagious spirit that would come out of her and everything she did, every person she interacted with. It was so much transparency and so much real passion, and she was a gift man. She's still living. I feel her in this room. I feel her everything, everywhere we go, everything I do. I really take people like her with me and now that I have the eyes to see, this is what's great and I really challenge people. Now I have so many gifts to give because of people like Jesse Lee.

Speaker 1: 17:56

I only go near people that really move the needle in my heart and my spirit, my soul, and it doesn't mean you have to be above me pulling me up to be that type of person. If you're a young, hungry person that is just getting your start, if you want to win in life, if you want to leave it all on the table, if you want more like, I, can speak to you. But I can't be around toxic stuff, people that waste time, people that lie, people that are gossipy, they talk shit I can't go near. I just refuse to put anything toxic in my peripheral vision or in my clear and front vision. I just won't do it and I think about Jesse Lee and I think about death. And it clears all the pieces off the chest table that don't matter and it only leaves stuff that has value.

Speaker 1: 18:38

And again, like all, this connection to pain is what becomes like rocket fuel in me. But I'm so aware of the clock I could have cancer in my body right now. So what it does is. It doesn't stop me from doing what I'm about to do. It changes how I love you, how I connect to you. I'm in this moment. It makes me be where my feet are.

Speaker 1: 18:57

I'm so much more passionate about every person I interact with because I realize, like there's no promise tomorrow. This is going to go by really fucking fast. It's scary how fast life screams by and I wish I could talk to that younger Eric Rock and say slow down. I was so wanting to become so much in life and do so much business that I didn't enjoy any bumps in the road. I was just screaming past.

Speaker 1: 19:20

Part of me now is wanting that same tenacity and aggressive nature to grow.

Speaker 1: 19:25

But I want to feel it all. I want to live in these moments every day and really like breathe, like joy into the pain, into the fight, because you know as you grow and there's demand grows for you, you get pulled it from a thousand different directions. It can seem so overwhelming Like this is where you have to be really clear on how you use your time, where you spend it. But when you're getting pawed at and there's a large demand for you, likely you're starting to make it, or you've made it or you're on your way to riches, baby, because it's all about demand. You want demand for you, but when so much demand happens, I feel like for years I was spinning and now, probably more than ever, there's more demand now for me than ever. My ability to be happy and enjoy this is crucial that my mindset is toned for that and somehow, some way, all these people that keep coming to my life, that are gifts, are giving me things, that are giving me clarity on that, and Jesse Lee was one of the most profound of anybody.

Speaker 2: 20:18

Man, I'm so glad that in preparation for our time together, that you know, and a lot of times for me when I prepare it, it's what's the connection? What have I seen? What are the memories? Sure, and just like that, that's what hit me. I'm like I remember watching that on the story and it was like that was powerful.

Speaker 3: 20:37

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Speaker 2: 21:20

Gerard Adams has become a dear friend. We're in a mastermind together. I mean, you talk about just unique, amazing human beings and I just I wouldn't forget it. And so I was like I know Erickson have no idea I'm going to bring this up, it's going to be blown away. That I did and I hope everybody listening we could go other directions in this interview. I'm only going to ask one more question because I think we'd be doing a disservice to Jesse Lee to go anywhere else than just leaving.

Speaker 2: 21:50

If you heard those words, the impact that somebody's life, because she had the courage to give a hug, she had the courage to say you're a gift. She had the courage to say what a powerful story. And how many times going back to Erick saying, be where your feet are. How many times are you moving so fast through your life that you don't give that hug? You don't say what needs to be said.

Speaker 2: 22:14

I hope you listen to what Erick said. His rules are I'm going to stand up in a room and I'm going to say what needs to be said or what's on my heart, and I'm going to put my blood in that room, which means I'm going to give my emotion and my passion and I'm going to say that I know Erick and I know that he's going to be a great person and to be an Erick that is so powerful and that's how you honor a Jesse Lee ward, that's, that's why all of these invitations are coming, that's why you've been on a stage every single week since May and that's why people are pulling through all of your arms, your legs, even though you got big muscles. But I, just I love hearing your story and how you're taking these individuals that have fueled you and leaning into what was once a vision, you being a visionary to now being your reality. Brother, it is powerful to hear it.

Speaker 1: 23:06

I really appreciate it, man. Thank you, ben. This has been an absolute gift and I would just challenge people no matter what you want in life, it doesn't really matter what you want Anything is possible. For me, like this idea of a stage. It was my biggest dragon. Literally my biggest dragon in life was this stage, this metaphor of the arena, which was one of my favorite quotes, this man in the arena, this concept, the thing I like to leave people with is you want to be the man in the arena. You want to be the woman in the arena. You don't want to be the person on the sidelines barking at the person who's in the arena. You want to be the person in the arena, the one that's in the batter's box, the one that gets to have punches thrown at him and throw punches at someone. You don't want to be some gossiper on the sidelines. You want to be in the fight, and that is one of the most beautiful places to find true happiness, joy and fulfillment. You want your life to be happy. Go slay scary dragons and if the dragon is a stage, then go build your own stage. Find a way to get on someone else's stage, do whatever you have to do.

Speaker 1: 24:03

But I did that. I teed up my dragon right in front of me and I said I'm going to do this and I made huge investments in it. And I've realized this and I've always kind of known this because I'm an investor. I always put my money into things and it changes how I care about them, excuse me. It changes how I research them. It changes how I love them. You put money in the game, skin in, blood in. It changes everything. There was no difference here. I had to put, I had to go write the checks, make the investments. And the second I did that, my whole world changed. Because so many people try to do this on the free or in the safe zone and I just think it's so much harder. You have to go all in, and for me this is just an example of that. But I literally built the stage so that I could go out and speak and do the scariest thing for me every single week, weekend and week out.

Speaker 2: 24:48

And if I can do it, anybody can, because there's nothing special about me no-transcript, and the credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is barred by dust and sweat and blood.

Speaker 2: 25:01

Who strives valiantly, who airs and comes short again and again, who knows the great Enthusiasm's, the great devotions and spends himself on a worthy cause, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls that know neither victory nor defeat, nor defeat. Eric, this has been so special. Like I said, it's like we know each other far beyond and look forward to continuing to build Our relationship and our friendship, and I appreciate you coming on the burn. How can people stay connected with you and all of the powerful things that you're doing in the world?

Speaker 1: 25:34

Yeah, thank you, ben. You know Instagram is an easy place for me to continue to put my heart on the line that you can watch and stay connected to. It's Eric with a K, eric Rock lol is my handle there. My websites, eric rock net.

Speaker 1: 25:47

This next chapter, my life, is all about impact, so I'm going everywhere I possibly can To impact and I'm really particularly the bigger why for me is children. Beneath the surface of all that I'm doing is Realizing that this next generation has a lot of obstacles, unique obstacles that I didn't have as a kid, that you didn't have as a kid, and it's gonna take a lot of normal people like myself to step up to the plate, to get in the arena and To really stand up to this evil that I think is destroying innocence here in America and around the world. Um, that, it's a profound statement. It doesn't mean I'll wallow in it or I'm depressed over it, but I'm indefinitely in a fight and I am more happy here than ever. I want to make sure you connect that dot, but I challenge people to do that, and so, through impact and through winning is my approach to making sure the butterfly effect of all the lives we connect to somehow filters down to the children that have this unique battle ahead of them. I promise you.

Speaker 2: 26:42

Eric, thank you so much. Thank you for your heart, your fire, your passion, how you're showing up in the world. Thank you for continuing to honor Jesse and be willing to step into that emotion with me today, even though I know it was unexpected. So thank you so much to each and every single one of you for tuning in for another episode of the burn. This is why I love doing what I do having the opportunity for you to hear an amazing story From somebody who has a burn that ignites that why and purpose. It causes them to show up on the days they don't want to do it, and especially after they win.

Speaker 2: 27:16

Please share this episode with somebody that needs to hear it. Please share this episode with somebody who's struggling to stand up in that room and say what needs to be said. Please share this episode with somebody who needs to leave their blood in the room to have the impact that they're destined to have On this world. I appreciate every single one of you, your continued support of the show. In the call, in the call notes, we'll have everything ways for you to watch, to watch and listen to man on a mission, eric's podcast, to stay connected with Eric, and we look forward to seeing you next week for the burn.

Speaker 1: 27:50

Yeah, I appreciate you. Thanks so much, ben.