Summary

 

• Craig Clemens went from being a college drop out to making a billion dollars in sales. Be inspired and create something amazing for your own life. 

 

• Are you still in the pursuit of finding what it is you truly love doing? Or are you a copywriter who wants to make storytelling as authentic as it can be? Listen to how Craig Clemens applied what he learned from his mentor, the books he read and self-study he did using google.  

 

• “You need to frame it in a way that lets them know that by sitting through your story, and hopefully being entertained, that their story is going to end up a little bit better. That's the key to copywriting. That's the key to storytelling - telling the story with the listener in mind.” 

 

• If you are a young entrepreneur, a college student, a parent, a marketer, a copywriter or story teller… this episode’s for you. 

 
 

• Create a mindset of finding something that you love, learning and giving back, watch this episode today. Ultimate success is just one habit away. 

  

• Watch the video to get the full interview. 

 

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Inspirational Quotes 

 

Full Transcript

[The following is the full transcript of this episode of The Life On Purpose with James Laughlin Show. Please note that there may be small moments where grammar goes off track - this is simply due to the fact that the LIVE episode was converted to full long-form transcript.  For weekly motivation, please subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Youtube.]

 

SPEAKERS 

Craig Clemens, James Laughlin 

 

James Laughlin  00:00 

Welcome to episode number five with special guest Craig Clements, from community college dropout to copywriter with over a billion dollars in sales. Founder of Golden Hippo and host of The Greatest Stories Never Told Podcast.  John Rockefeller once said, "Don't be afraid to give up the good to go through the great." and Thomas Jefferson said, "I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have." Craig Clemens went from college dropout to a copywriter who did over a billion dollars in sales. He's also founder of the Golden Hippo. He was once kidnapped in the Ukraine, what a story you got to hear it. He's just an amazing individual with a massive heart and has so much to share. In today's episode we're going to look at and talk about the power of storytelling in life and in business. How to connect with your dream mentor. And how parenting is shaping the future of humanity. Sit back, folks, and enjoy the show. Here we go. The one and only Craig Clemens.  Craig a very Happy New Year. Thank you so much for joining me today. 

 

Craig Clemens  01:15 

 Yeah, The pleasure is all mine, man. So great to be here.  

 

James Laughlin  01:19 

Yeah. So tell me where are you joining us from today?  

 

Craig Clemens  01:22 

I am in Los Angeles, California.  

 

James Laughlin  01:24 

Nice. I'm what's been happening to kick start your year.  

 

Craig Clemens  01:28 

I am living the quarantine dream. I'm locked in my house with my wife and four yapping dogs, though, we did go to Miami for New Year's Eve. And that was nice to actually see people but you know, kept the masks up and didn't go to any parties or anything like that.  

 

James Laughlin  01:44 

Fair enough, and what does a quarantine day look like for you right now? 

 

On Fitness 

Craig Clemens  01:49 

So, I've been taking this opportunity to get really dialled in on my fitness. So, I got this Whoop band, which has been my number one purchase of 2020. And it forces you to input your sleep every day your workouts, if you meditate, you know, and then it asks you a survey what you did the day before to track what helped you sleep better or worse. So, you intermittent fast, if you do that you put it in. If you wear blue light blocking glasses, you put that in if you take melatonin you put that in, so it gets you in the habit of doing all this good stuff for your health, because of the accountability of the app and that's why I think it's so game changing. So, I've become a sleep hacking nerd, I put on the blue glasses and take all the pills. And you know, I've changed the amount of time I spend in bed from eight hours to nine hours because you know, the studies show that it's well worth losing an hour of work. And I can tell you I feel it in my energy man it's something I highly recommend to everybody is focusing on optimising sleep because even though you lose an hour of the day, I think you gain in the other 15 hours, much more. You know, power the mind and the body energy too. You know, more motivated workout and also more. What's the word I'm looking for? Accountable, diet-wise. Because if I go to eat breakfast, or eats some meal too late, you know, if there's like a driving by a pizza place or whatever, you don't get the urge to order that late night pizza, I think, "Well, I know from my whoop ban that when I eat something at 10pm, especially if it's carb heavy, it's going to screw up my sleep for the night. So, I just want to order that." 

 

James Laughlin  03:32 

 That's epic. I need to get myself one of those.  

 

Craig Clemens  03:35 

Yeah, I love it. I recommend it.  

 

James Laughlin  03:36 

Good self-gift for every entrepreneur out there. Look, I've been so impressed them. I came across your work through Brendon Burchard, you were on one of his big summits. And just hearing your story, the way you connect what you've done. It's nothing short of amazing and inspiring. So, what gives your life such meaning what drives you to do what you do? 

 

On Pursuing Your Passion  

 

Craig Clemens  03:59 

So, I was really fortunate when I was in my early 20’s I was kind of a maniac. I was drinking a lot partying a lot. I couldn't really get serious about work. I tried to go to community college, really just to make my parents happy. And I ended up dropping out to do telemarketing jobs, which were making me you know, enough money to have a car but that was about it. And I had a great mentor took me under his wing and he taught me marketing. He taught me sales, in print, you know copywriting and that's where I fell into and just seeing the way he built this team and was able to pass on the gifts that he learned really gets me inspired to do now in my company what he was doing in his company and build the best team around me and put the training programs in place for them to be their best selves. And, you know, I'm also really proud of the products that we make. So, for those I haven't connected with out there, we have a company. It's called Golden Hippo. And we partner with some of the world's top doctors, and build brands around their ideas. So. things like nutritional supplements, you know, with some of the world's top gut health doctors and skincare with some of the world's best cosmetic surgeons. And we do some things in the pet health space as well. So that's really exciting to build products that are used and loved by millions of people and their pets.  

 

James Laughlin  05:29 

That's incredible. I love it. And all very focused around human improvement, around looking after our health. Where can we go and find out more? So, for people that haven't connected with you, but are listening in today? Where can they go and find out more about your work?  

 

Craig Clemens  05:42 

You know, I've been really loving Twitter lately as a place to put the knowledge to the, I almost said paper, but you know, to the screen, I guess. And I'm quite active on Instagram as well. My Instagram is a little bit more motivational. My Twitter's a little bit more business. And I'd say my best content is between those two platforms.  

 

James Laughlin  06:05 

I love it. And going back to what you said a moment ago, I can totally relate as a young Irishman, I liked to dabble in the Guinness, and the party lifestyle. I spent a bit of time up but just north of you in Vancouver.  

 

Craig Clemens  06:17 

I didn't think Irish folks drank that much. 

 

James Laughlin  06:20 

Not at all.  Okay, yeah, You're absolutely spot on. But what was the turning point? So. you were this, young guy that was partying, loving life? What was the turning point? You find this mentor, who had something pretty cool to share. What fired you up to think, "Okay, enough of that stuff. I'm going to set that aside, and we're going to build a legacy."? 

 

Craig Clemens  06:42 

Yeah, so I had a few turning points. And actually, when I met him, I did not set aside the heavy boozing and partying. But I had something else to do by day. So, for the first time, I was really excited about a place to apply knowledge. And that was in marketing and business, you know, school, you take what is it, you know, seven subjects that are predetermined for you, and never stopped to ask if you like any of them, if you're good at any of them. And even if there are subjects that you do, like, you're forced to learn in the path that they set out, you can't go down your own routes, you know. So, my rise in business, and I should say discovery of business happened really at the same time as the internet was coming on a high speed, and you could go educate yourself. So, I was very fortunate in that I can make discoveries online, and my mentor also would buy me all the great books and courses and marketing. So I was studying all the old legends, and I took my education into my own hands. But the reason I did it, James, is because I found something I was really passionate about. And Heck, if I would have stayed in school. Well, maybe I would have graduated by then, maybe not, you know, I was 22 I think when I met my mentor, Evan. But yeah, I probably would have just been spit out the other side of college into some career that had a $1 sign in front of it that looked good, but maybe wouldn't have been around my passion, you know. And I think that's why so many people end up miserable in their jobs, is because they go through this system that they didn't design, they had no part in choosing the outcome, because it's so forced, I think, I think in your last two years of college, you can kind of pick what you want to major in. But even then, you know, can you major in entrepreneurship? I don't think so. Can you major in copywriting, I don't think so if you major in marketing, you're learning stuff that isn't even applicable, you know, because the professors have never marketed a thing in their lives. So, you know, I think I was fortunate that I found something at an early age. But I think that's the sad part about the educational system is just people end up, you know, going down that route, and then and then they find themselves 30 years old, doing something they hate and stuck in it because it does pay the bills, you know, and then they want to find a side project or something like that. Fortunately, Now, again, thanks to the internet, you can go educate yourself and figure out a new path for yourself. And I think that's why the years of our folks where they would go have the same career until they retired at 59 are fading fast. And now people are having multiple careers across a lifetime. And I only see that accelerating.  

 

James Laughlin  09:25 

That's amazing. I think you're absolutely right. I look at my parents and they've been in the same career since they left school you know, they're in their late 50s now, and they've been doing the same thing. And for myself, I look at it similar to yourself. There's been lots of different pivot points and different things in entrepreneurial journey. I love that. Now, you had this mentor, this amazing mentor. If there's a young up and coming marketer out there or somebody who's wanting to write amazing copy, they're listening to this. How could they learn from you? How could you become their mentor? Do you have anything that they can follow or go and check out to look at what you could show them in terms of their marketing journey.  

 

On Mentorship 

Craig Clemens  09:59 

So, I get a lot of inbound and people asking for me to mentor them. And I have taken on a handful of folks. But what I would say, it's easier to say what not to do. You know, if you're just going to be your mentor, whether it's me or whoever, you know, don't ask them a question that they've answered on 50 different podcast interviews. And the thing that has become common, but it's almost a little overdone is offering to work for that person for free. And it's flattering. And, you know, I think that is something that you should mention, but don't think that that alone is going to get it, you know, what really, I think the best way to get someone to mentor you is to take their advice, doesn't need to be given to you directly. It could be their advice from a podcast interview or something they posted on a blog or in Twitter. Apply their advice, either have a win or a failure. If it's a failure, keep going, you know, until you get a win. And then reach out to them at that point and say, "Hey, James, you know, I was listening to the episode 43, or podcast when you talk about how you got to do you know, XYZ to optimise your life. And I started doing those three things every day. It's been three months. And now I am at this point. And I just want to say one, thank you. And two, can you answer this quick question for me about what I do next?". And then ask like a quick question, because the psychological principle is that once someone helps you a little bit, they are bought in. So, don't come out and say, "Hey, I did these things you said. Now will you be my mentor?". That's too much. It's too big of an ask, you know, like, one guy hit me up directly. And he's like, "Hey, can I can I work for you for free? All I ask is 30-minute phone call once a week where you guide me?" Yeah, I appreciated the ask of course. But, you know, the last thing I need is a new 30 minute a week appointment, you know. So, the way I think is better to get a mentor is go apply their advice, then let them know that you applied it and either, hopefully at a whim, but if you fail, that's okay, too. But if you failed, you need to let them know that you applied it exactly as they said, and still be grateful for it. And then ask them for a little something. And ideally, that's something they can answer very quickly, by typing or voice note, say, "Yeah, if it's faster for you to leave me a voice note or something like that, you know, whatever." because I personally love leaving voice notes. You don't have to write anything, and you can just bang something out, and it's off your list, you know? And then after that, go do what they say again, send them their success results again. And then maybe you ask something, then maybe you don't. Maybe you just let it let it chill. You know, maybe it's just a thank you. Maybe if you've had a big when you say "Hey, I want to send you a really unique gift." And then you go deep into researching their likes and dislikes and send them something really unique and awesome that they're going to remember, you know. 

 

James Laughlin  13:05 

That's epic.  

 

Craig Clemens  13:06 

And then you say, "Hey, James, as you know, I applied this, now I applied this, things are going really well. I was wondering if I could, if you could spare 10 minutes on the phone with me, I have this really interesting situation, I'd love to get you, you know, your take on it, or I know how to exactly word it." But then you ask for like a little bit of actual time that you see ease into it, you know, at that point, they're probably happy to help you out. Because everybody likes when they are able to put into play pieces of wisdom that are acted upon, especially if it leads to benefit for those acting upon them.  

 

James Laughlin  13:49 

Absolutely.  

 

Craig Clemens  13:49 

So I love when someone says, "Hey, Craig, I heard you talk about copywriting on this, this podcast on I use this technique. And I changed my headline with it. And I ran an A B split test and it lost and then I realised that I didn't quite listen to you, right. So, I went listen to again and I took better notes and I rewrote the headline. And the second time it was a 50% winner. So, I just want to say thank you." 

 

James Laughlin  14:13 

That's amazing.  

 

Craig Clemens  14:14 

That it's like Okay, awesome, man. You listened to me, you realise that you didn't listened right. You even went back and listen to it twice, and then you apply it and then you got to win. You know, that's like a double feel good thing when you're putting knowledge out there.  

 

James Laughlin  14:27 

That's beautiful. And it's nice for you to see your work being proliferated people listening, taking the advice, acting on it, getting the results. I mean, as an entrepreneur and a person who serves people, there's nothing greater.  

 

Craig Clemens  14:36 

Exactly. You know, we've all been in the other spot. We've all been the young person coming up. And we know that there's people who helped us along the way. And so, we want to return that. And same time when you get to a certain level of you know, presence on the internet, you're going to get a lot of inbound and so, think about that when you're reaching out to someone and be creative and be super respectful. And, you know, don't. Don't ask for the whole enchilada upfront.  

 

James Laughlin  15:16 

I love it. That's the quote right there. "Don't ask for the whole enchilada." I love it.  

 

Craig Clemens  15:20 

Yeah. Just ask for a beam.  

 

James Laughlin  15:24 

Excellent. I love it. Now, the one thing that really magnetise me to you was your ability to tell stories. And I believe, you know, a large part of marketing is actually telling a story. It's not about positioning yourself as the hero, it's about positioning yourself in the person's life and they are the hero and you become part of their story. So, the story that came up, I was blown away was when you were kidnapped in the Ukraine. And that was just insane. I'm going to put a link in the podcast for people who want check it out. You've said that story a few times now, I'll let people go and check it out. But what, you know, why is it so important? Why is the story that you tell if you're putting your business out there being an entrepreneur trying to connect with a new audience? Why is your story so important?  

 

On Storytelling and Copywriting 

Craig Clemens  16:09 

Well, you know, that's an interesting question. It's kind of a trick question, though. I don't think he meant it that way. But your story actually is not important to anybody. Unless they think hearing your story is going to help them. Otherwise, no one gives a shit about your story. So, you need to frame it in a way that lets them know that by sitting through your story, and hopefully being entertained, that their story is going to end up a little bit better. That's the key to copywriting. That's the key to storytelling - is telling the story with the listener in mind.  

 

James Laughlin  16:47 

That's beautiful. And do you see in your working life, do you see people and companies doing the exact opposite? 

 

Craig Clemens  16:54 

Yes, absolutely. All the time. You know, I talk about About Me pages or About Us pages. And this is a good example of what I mean when I say tell your story to please the listener not to please you. This is a good example. So your About Me page could go like this, here's you know, a typical About Me page. And let's pick it, give me a nice James give me give me an industry or something like that.  

 

James Laughlin  17:23 

That's, let's say, a golfing pro. Someone who's a golfing pro trying to get their new app right there to help other golfers become great.  

 

Craig Clemens  17:31 

This is so funny, man because I always use golf as an example before but yeah, it's a great way to spin examples off. Okay, so a golfer has an app, right? Okay, so he's got he's probably a golf pro or golf coach. So, to start off, he could say you know About Me, "My name is Jimmy John. And you may have heard of me from my 17 PGA Tour wins, and you know, being the all-time money leader, Pebble Beach, and all that. And, you know, you want to know more about my accomplishments, you can go on my Wikipedia page.", right? So that could be one way to do it. That's what most people do it. But what I would suggest is something like this, say, "Hey, my name is Jimmy John and what most people don't know about me is I used to be a terrible golfer." And so, someone who is reading this that's either a terrible golfer and okay, golfer, they're like, oh, now they're, they're picked up because they know that there's this guy's a good golfer now. Now they're curious. So, it continues. "I used to be a terrible golfer. And I'd go out on the courts with my friends. And I would get laughed at and made fun of and pretty soon not even asked to come back because the other three people in my group would hit so much better than me. They were always waiting for me to get my ball into the net." I golf so I don't know. I don't think it's a net. I'm probably screwing up the terminology. But you say, "I used to struggle" and you give an example. You know, "I used to be" an example with emotion. So not just say I used to do bad scores. "I used to do bad scores, and I used to get made fun of and then I felt really sad because I stopped getting invited." So, he gives you emotion. "What frustrated me the most is I didn't know how to get better. I go to the driving range by myself. And you know, I'd hit 100 balls in a day and nothing worked. And then one day I was at the driving range. And I saw someone there hitting balls further than I'd ever seen before. And I walked around to try to get a glimpse at what he was doing. And I was just blown away when I noticed he only on one leg and I saw that he was hitting the ball in a unique way and in between we took his break, I asked him, 'Hey, what's your secret? How are you hitting these balls so far?' And he sat me down. And he said, 'Look, you know, it's not about what everybody tells you. It's about this, this other technique that I figured out when I lost my leg in a car accident.' And I asked him, "Can regular people do this, do this, too?' you know, and he said, "Absolutely, in fact, would probably work even better. So I started trying it.' and I added, you know, 50 yards to my golf swing. And then I went out my friends who used to laugh at me who are now asking me how I could help them. And since then, I went on to win a few golf tournaments you may have heard of what I'm more proud of, is that I've now taught over 10,000 people how to increase their golf swing. And I've had been so fortunate to helped people in every country, people of every shape, size, sex, increase their ability to play better golf, and have more fun on the golf course. And that is my real passion. And that's why I've built this app that teaches people how and I hope you'll be the next person to give it a try. And after you see well does for you, please send me a letter, I get letters every day. And they really make me smile. here's one from James in Christchurch, New Zealand.", then you can go into testimonials.  

 

James Laughlin  21:32 

I love that. That is powerful.  

 

Craig Clemens  21:36 

So yeah, so it's an interesting story, but it's hooking them because it says it used to be a bad golfer. No one can relate to the pro golfer, you know, I've friend Russell Brunson, you might have heard speak at Brendon's events. And Russell describes this really well. He says, when people come across your material, especially if you're, say doing something in personal branding, or coaching or instruction, they see you as being at the top of the mountain. And they see that climb being so high, impossibly high, you know, like, you'd have to be Edmund Hillary to get up that mountain, right? And your job is to come down off of the mountain, take their hand and lead them up with you. And so, you saying that you used to suck at golf is you coming down the mountain to where they are meeting them right where they are. And then as you tell the story of how you got better. They are learning along with you. And that is the key to storytelling is to let the audience learn along with you. It's like you think of any great movie? You know, let's say Moneyball, for example, about you know, Brad Pitt is the coach that gets the baseball team to the top, you know, if it started with them winning the World Series. No one cares, you know, but it starts with them as the crappiest team in baseball. And that's the journey people love those journeys, they like to be a part of that journey. So, when you're telling your story, you need to make people a part of that journey. And so that's, that's why one of the things I tell on stage is that kidnapping story, because I'm already up on the stage. And then I say, I go right into the story. You know, that's another technique is to go right into it. And I say, you know, "It was 4am and I was in, you know, foreign country in Odessa, Ukraine. And I'm surrounded by four thugs and they're kicking the crap out of me." People like "Oh, shit." then their hooked because it's interesting like. "What? How did he go from there to back on the stage?" Me coming off the stage. And not only am I off the stage, I'm on the you know, I'm on the ground getting beat down. You know, so you're not just coming down off the mountain and just standing there like you're even worse off and then the audience is because people then think that "Wow, they can come from this you know, beginnings to do that. Then that is something that be easy for me to do." You know, it's like my close dear friend, Sean Stephenson, may he rest in peace. The guy was born with a degenerative bone disease. It was uh, you know, max height, three feet tall. And he's, you know what, roll out on the stage in his wheelchair, and just, you know, drop bombs, to increase your confidence and he's the best public speaker I ever had the pleasure of seeing and the crowd would just would be like, "Wow, this guy who is three feet tall in a wheelchair is this confident? This energetic, this charismatic? Then what's my excuse?" You know, so? Yeah, and if people haven't checked out Sean Stephenson's work. His old speeches are all online, everything he tragically passed about a year and a half ago from accident, you know, and he left a lot of gifts, though. So, check him out.  

 

James Laughlin  25:30 

Thank you for sharing that I'm going to go and check that I've never came across his work. So, I'm excited to do that. Thank you for sharing that nugget.  

 

Craig Clemens  25:36 

Yeah, it's going to blow your mind, man. He’s the best.  

 

James Laughlin  25:40 

That's amazing. And it's interesting, because when I hear you speak, Union Pipe lessons, it seems very naturally you'd like to teach and guide and mentor, just through your spoken word. And often, that's a gift that's imparted upon us from our greatest teachers. And our greatest teachers are often not the people we see at school, but the mums and dads that sit around the dinner table with us when we're toddlers. So, I'd love to learn a bit more about your mom and your dad and, and how they have impacted the man that you've become.  

 

On Parenting 

Craig Clemens  26:08 

Yeah, absolutely. So as you know, James, my dad recently passed just a couple months ago. And you know, it was tough, because my dad was an amazing dad. And I think the most impactful thing I learned from him is that "You can do anything you want. And nothing can stop you." So, our house was too small as a kid and my dad got out a hammer and called his brother over. And they added on a second story to the house with their own hands. You know, there were very few things that he didn't do personally on that house. I remember what he was like stuffing the insulation into the walls. And, you know, there's a picture of us, me and my three brothers with the front porch walkway, the cement. And we have a two by four and the three of us brothers are like move the two by four across the cement to smooth it out with my dad and his brother supervising, you know, my dad was not a contractor. He was an engineer. He worked on rocket engines, and he designed the solar panels that power the International Space Station. He designed not exactly the panels, he designed the system that got those huge solar panels into space, because they had to, you know, fold up, you know, you can't bring them in like, you know, 50 trips, right? Yeah, you got again, I'm up there. Quick. So, he designed the system that got him up there. And that was another thing too, just seeing him do these things that had such a big impact. But he was so humble, no one knows who he was, you know, you can't Google his name or anything like that, you know, but he was working on the technology that was, you know, literally putting humans in space, year-round, you know, because the space station that had power and then seeing, you know, at the homefront. It was a it was a pain in the ass to because if our cars or bikes or motorcycles broke down, there's no fucking mechanic. That means that I'm in the garage all weekend with him fixing the car. You know, I remember my clutch went out in my in my Mustang convertible and I was raised pretty frugally. Also, it was a very old Mustang convertible, but not old enough that it was cool. Like 15 years old, but not like, you know, 30 years old, or it would have been one of the cool ones. But yeah, clutch goes out. That means I'm in the garage with my dad all weekend. And he doesn't even read the manual. He just knows how to do it. You know, because that's just what he did his whole life is "if something's broke, you fix it yourself." You know, "If something needs doing, you just do it, you don't complain, you just get it done." And that's a philosophy that I try to exercise in anything.  

 

James Laughlin  28:58 

I love that. And so those things that you were doing as a child and we can all reflect back to our childhoods and think of things that mom and dad made us do. But actually, you're reflecting back and not really they were great lessons that dad was imparting upon us in a really practical way. 

 

Craig Clemens  29:12 

Yeah, I have a good friend. I got to give him credit. I don't know this guy. So, he's a, whatever, he won't watch this. His name is Brad, he's a he's a very famous musician. He was in the band, Linkin Park.  

 

James Laughlin  29:29 

Okay, brilliant.  

 

Craig Clemens  29:31 

So, my favourite parenting lesson I learned from him. He's got four kids, he's the best dad. And he says, "people when they think about parenting, you always imagine that you're gonna be sitting down with your son or daughter and saying, 'Hey, you know, this is what you should do in this situation, etc, etc, etc' but it's actually not like that. The way that you teach your kids is by example, they learned from watching you and seeing exactly what you do with your life, with yourself, with your spouse, that is how kids learn." And, you know, that was really motivating for me now, trying to get into fatherhood myself, you know, Sarah and I are trying to make some babies as we speak,  

 

James Laughlin  30:16 

Giving you some Irish luck, buddy. 

 

Craig Clemens  30:18 

Thank you. So, you know, just just thinking about that, and then I'm happy, like, I'm doing the health work now, you know, because my kids now they're going to see me in health optimization zone, they're not going to see me 15 years ago when I was smoking cigarettes, and, you know, living on in and out burgers and things like that, you know, I'm having in and out burger once in a while, by the way, but you know.  

 

James Laughlin  30:41 

I'm with you on that. I love that. So, you're taking what you've learned those beautiful values and beliefs and lessons you've learned from your dad, and you're now starting to think about the legacy that you're going to create for your future generation of kids.  

 

Craig Clemens  30:55 

Yeah, you know, I think also our job as parents is to step it up a notch, you know, so my dad was raised in a cult, the Jehovah's Witness cult, and he wasn't allowed to have any friends that weren't a Jehovah's Witness, you know, they didn't celebrate birthdays, Christmas, anything like that, he had to go door to door with a tie on and try to convert people. And he had a miserable childhood. He told me that there was a time when he was going to commit suicide, and he was going to take his stepmom with him, he had a really miserable stepmom. And, you know, he overcame that, and gave us the best childhood he knew how. And he took us on all kinds of adventures and taught us how to ride motorcycles and, you know, was just a fantastic dad in many ways. And there's some things that I'm sure he would agree that he could have probably done a little bit better, you know, like, there was no "I love you" in my house. You know, I started saying I love you to my parents when I was in my 20s. I thought, what, why does this never happen? All the other parents say this, is this a good thing, like it was really strange at first, but then I realised I can take the initiative. You know, so I did that. In my own family, I started giving my parents hug because there were no hugs in my family until I started in my 20s. And, you know, I'm going to raise my kids now with more verbal and physical affection. So, they are more natural at it with their kids, you know, so we keep improving, we keep levelling up, and that's what humans do. You know, I think that's part of the reason why humans keep levelling up, you know, now we got these, and we used to not have it so good, you know, and I think that's partially because humans keep levelling up in parenting, because we keep parenting better and better and better. So, the kids keep getting better and better. Which makes society better and better, you know, just, ignore that Donald Trump thing that just happened, other than that, society does, I think. But I mean, you know, the poverty rates are, definitely there's still tons of work to be done. But you know, poverty rates are going in the right direction. You know, I think education is starting to go in the right direction with things like Khan Academy and just the internet itself, you know, more career oriented, post grade school educational programs, like, you know, Code Academy and things like that, you know, so yeah, I'm excited for the future. And I think it's our job to contribute to it and as many positive ways as possible.  

 

James Laughlin  33:36 

I'm with you on that. I think parenting and the future of humanity there's such a strong connection with the micro lessons that we teach our kids around the dinner table that's going to impact the macro future for humanity and I'm glad you're a hugger. It won't be so awkward when I see you when you come to New Zealand I'll give you a big hug I'm also a hugger so that's good 

 

Craig Clemens  33:56 

Yeah. Depends on when though. You know, because I noticed is that the elbow is now mainstream. I don't know if it is in New Zealand. Do you guys do the elbow or what is? 

 

James Laughlin  34:06 

We did the elbow during lockdown? We went to like a six-week lockdown back in like April-ish.  

 

Craig Clemens  34:11 

That was it? You guys are full Np lockdown now? 

 

James Laughlin  34:14 

No lockdown. 

 

Craig Clemens  34:15 

Oh my gosh, I'm so jealous, man. so jealous. I should just go and quarantine for 14 days to one of these countries that has no lockdown.  

 

James Laughlin  34:23 

Come do it. Yep, spend two weeks in a beautiful hotel in Auckland or Christchurch.  

 

Craig Clemens  34:27 

That's very tempting, very tempting.  

 

James Laughlin  34:32 

Yeah. I'll do that want to see you next time just to be safe. And for those that are listening on podcast, we're elbow pumping right now, just so you know. And I've got one last question for you. So, what's your definition of living life on purpose?  

 

On Self-Evolution 

 

Craig Clemens  34:49 

So, I think that life purpose is something that is a little bit overrated. I think people think they must find this big purpose to life and be on this big, great mission. And you know, that might sound a little hypocritical, because I just said that it's our job to, you know, be the best stewards of our children and move humanity forward. And then and you know, I think that's true. But I also think there's something to be said, for making the most of your own time for yourself and not being what's the word I'm looking for complacent. You know, so I have a sleeve tattoo here, and the theme is "self-evolve". I don't know if it's visible. But at the end, it's got the man, you know, transcending off the earth. And then I have the earth is fading into this hourglass, and hourglass is getting pinched. And the theme is that you only have so much time on this earth to make yourself into this guy.  

 

James Laughlin  36:00 

That's epic, I love it. 

 

Craig Clemens  36:02 

So I don't think it you know, is anything wrong with, you know, not wanting to save the world, or, you know, not wanting to go have some grand mission to give back or whatever like that. But I do think it's really something we should be doing. To honour our lives is by making the most of it. And becoming the best person that we can be on this planet. Even if it's just for your damn self and your kids and your people that are around you, you know, you don't i don't have to save everybody else. I mean, more power to people to do that. And, you know, I have charities that I'm a big fan of, but yeah, I think start with you. I'm talking about the man in the mirror. Okay, I'm not going to. 

 

James Laughlin  36:54 

We're seeing the vocal beauty of Craig Clemens right now. Oh, that's so beautiful. I think that for a lot of people that have just listened and heard that it does take the pressure off and realise that you can have micro passions, micro purposes throughout life that can be within your own family, in your own life. They don't have to be massively philanthropic, they don't have to change the direction of humanity. That's, that's a beautiful way to look at it. So, thank you for sharing that.  

 

Craig Clemens  37:19 

Absolutely.  

 

James Laughlin  37:20 

Well, thank you so much for taking the time and I cannot wait to connect with you in person when you come down here to New Zealand. 

 

Craig Clemens  37:26 

Oh, man, I'm pumped. I'm looking forward to it. And yeah, thanks for having me on the show. It's been a lot of fun. I really enjoyed the conversation. 

 

James Laughlin  37:41 

Thank you so much for listening in today and investing in your own personal growth. Please hit that subscribe button. I would love, love, love, If you'd leave me a rating and review as it really helps me to impact more people. I've got some amazing guests lined up in the coming weeks. And folks, it's that time. Get out there and live life on purpose.