How FAILURE Can TRANSFORM Your Life | WATCH This! | with Josi Young

Michael: Hey! What's up, Unbroken Nation! Hope that you're doing well wherever you are in the world today. Very excited to be back with you with another episode with my friend, entrepreneur, and host of the Tack Room Talk Podcast, Josi Young. My man, how are you doing?

Josi: I'm great, man. How are you?

Michael: Man, so good. Been looking forward to connecting and doing this with you. You and I met couple months back at one of Cardone's events and it's divine timing, for lack of a better phrase, sometimes you're right where you're supposed to be at the right moment, and we take advantage of it, and then we end up in this kind of situation. So I'm excited to not only share your journey and your story, but your mission with this audience, something I truly believe in, which we will get into a little bit, but starting what's one thing about you that I need to know in order to know who Josie is?

Josi: You know, the people that really know me the most, know that I kind of tell it the way it is. You know, sometimes my wife is like, you have toned that down a little bit. I like people knowing where I stand, you know? I think in today's society people are, you know, I hear that phrase, fake it till you make it and I don't necessarily like that. I like people knowing where I stand and I'm not an a-hole by any means, but hey, like I'm gonna call somebody out if I don't agree with something. And that's the beauty about America is like, there's so many people that can have different views and stuff like that, but you know, people know where I stand in the aisle and so, I guess that's one thing to know about me.

Michael: Yeah. Honesty is my number one value. I believe in that over everything. One of the things that I have learned in honesty is to have a little bit more compassion in the delivery. Let me say, I've probably burned a few bridges, being honest in the more direct capacity but it's so important and I agree. We live in a very strange world right now where I think people are afraid to tell the truth and I think that's really dangerous. And that's one of the things that I always have loved and enjoyed about getting to do this podcast and sitting down with people like you is like, we get to tell the truth. And the truth isn't always like, f*cking pretty, man, the truth sucks sometimes and it hurts and it's not great, but at least it's real and you don't have to go to bed wondering.

Josi: There's one thing that I feel like is a God-given talent for me though is that I feel like I can connect with a lot of different people, that is a strong point of mine that I've been blessed with is that no matter what front you stand on, I feel like at some level there's a connection point with whoever it is on this earth. You know, I can connect with that person. And so, I thank God for that talent, not to say that we have to agree on everything, but at least we can compromise and come to a viewpoint that we can respect each other's terms, if you will.

Michael: Yeah. I don't think we have to agree on everything.

Josi: No, that's what makes this world beautiful, is that if everybody agreed on one point strictly alone, this world would be extremely boring and it would nose dive. Like you have to have direction on both sides that pulls it together for compromise.

Michael: Yeah. There's equilibrium, right? The universe is always seeking that. And I think that there are certain things I think uneligible that we can agree in, let's stop murder each other that'd be f*cking great. Let's stop killing each other. Let's stop hurting kids like, I think if we nail those two things, we'll probably be pretty good but you know, it's funny, I was having a conversation with a friend the other night and I was like, we live in such a divisive society right now, where it's like, even if you voted for someone I didn't vote for, like, I'm supposed to hate you and to me that's so nonsensical. We used to sit and have dinner with people who had opposite opinions and it was like, we break bread, we talk about it, we don't have to take it beyond that and now it's just a different world. Where does that come from for you? I know you said you've, it feels God-given, but I'd have to assume that that's gotta be implanted ingrained in you from childhood, from your parents, your community.

Josi: Yeah. You know, I was raised in a very rural community, very small community in Southern Idaho. My dad was raised in Utah and ultimately moved up to southern Idaho. He rodeoed professionally, come from a very humble background, not a lot of money, kind of made his own path and my dad excelled in the rodeo career. He was actually the first guy from the state of Utah to qualify for the National Finals Rodeo right here in Las Vegas, where they take the top 15 guys in the world. And so, he paved his own path and his own right. Still in the rodeo career, if you've done any history there's fame, but there's not a lot of money, if you will, you know, it's getting to be different now these days, the money's getting to be very, very good. But my whole time growing up, like didn't have a lot of money, very, very humble rural community where a handshake meant something. You look somebody in the eyes and you tell 'em something, you better step up to the plate and deliver, you know, on what you said and people held you accountable for that and if you broke a word with somebody like it was like taboo. You know, I remember, when I was younger, I'd have to feed animals before I went to school and come home right from school and take care of the animals again and stuff. So, I wasn't playing video games and doing stuff like that, you know, like I just had this very hardworking background that I was raised in and your word meant something. But having my dad in the spotlight too, like, he was on stages, he was in front of thousands of people when he would win and being interviewed and my dad would bring me up, you know, like he'd be holding me in his arms every once in a while, when he'd win these big events and exposing me to that stage, if you will, of being able to speak in front of people and stuff. And so, I was never shy, you know, like I always had that, I thank my dad for that, I thank my dad for actually putting me in those rooms and those stages where I was being sculpted into being able to have conversation, being around the adult conversation and my upbringing was humble, but it was also in the spotlight a little bit too like, it was kinda a little bit of both. From there, like, I seen my own goals and ambitions being sculpted because I seen what my dad was doing. And so, from there, I set my own dreams of wanting to go and do something big and it was an awesome upbringing, I can't say that I had a bad upbringing like we were very tight on money, but I didn't know that, you know? Just because my parents always was like that comfort zone of like trying to make things feel good. I was fortunate in that aspect, it wasn't until later in my career where I felt trials and tribulations.

Michael: What's interesting about that is like, they're inevitable, they're coming. Right. Well, whether or not you like it and it's funny cuz people will sometimes ask me, like, before we record, if they're like, I didn't really have a bad childhood. I'm like, f*cking great like this, of course this is a show about trauma and overcoming but it's really about looking at triumph and looking at overcoming and looking at what does it take to become the person that you're capable of being. And I don't know so I'm curious, I'm gonna ask you a question here. Many people who grow up with family members, parents specifically, who are in some kind of a spotlight, often feel like they're in a shadow. Is that something that you experienced?

Josi: 100%. Yeah. So, my dad was always in the spotlight. I'll give you a little bit of my dad's stats. My dad qualified for the national finals rodeo 11 times, just to give you guys some context on that, they only take the top 15 guys in the world to the National Finals Rodeo and most people worked their whole career to just get a qualification there. And he qualified 11 consecutive years, he was three times run to world champ. He's won the circuit finals many a times and basically it was like having Tiger Woods as a dad in the golf game, you know, like I had a very good coach. So, it was inevitable that's what I wanted to do, that's all I knew was rodeo, I wanted to rodeo.

And so, when I started rodeoing, I had some success, but it was a little tough like, I literally, my dad rode bucking horses, so like, I don't know if many people that are listening to this really understand the events and rodeo, but there's bucking horse-riding events and there's bull riding events, both are very what we call rough stock events. And they're very grueling, taxing, life-threatening events I mean, they're dangerous events. You're dealing with animals that are 1500 pounds so that nobody's gonna blow a whistle and tell 'em when to stop. Like, if you get in a wreck, you gotta get out of a wreck or you die and there's a lot of people that die in this event. And thank God I had a good coach, but on the other hand too, I didn't really have a passion for riding rough stock events. I wanted to rope, which roping is known to be more easier on your body and not as dangerous and stuff like that. But I had so much flak from my peers of like, man, your dad, he is the best. He's like one of the best guys in the world. Why do you not want to do that event? And I kind of shook off. I'm like, oh, I'm learning. I'm like gonna do it and stuff. I ended up like doing it out of peer pressure to start like, because everybody was like, dude, why are you not doing this? And so, I started getting on some bucking horses and learning the craft a little bit. I had learned the craft ‘cuz my dad, that was one of his occupations was teaching schools. People would pay for him to teach them how to do it, he'd bring in 50 people at a time, 25 people at a time, they're all paying 500 to a thousand bucks a crack for a weekend to come learn from him. And he would actually use me as a template for the dummies that we had, like, a Bella hay or a hardwood dummy that we use me for, like explaining body posture and how to get the right holts with your feet and all this stuff. So, I knew how to do the event, but I was just like, I didn't really have a passion for it, right? So, I started doing it out of peer pressure, you know, it wasn't really what I wanted to do, but so many people were giving me crap for not doing it because of who my dad was, I started doing it. And that was a time that was very daunting to me like it was scary because it wasn't something I was very passionate about, but I was only doing it because somebody else thought I should do it, you know. And I think there's a lot of people in the world today that do that kind of stuff, whether, it doesn't matter what field they're in, they kind of get pushed in a direction that people want them to do. Now, I'm not regretting doing that, but after doing it for some time, I started figuring things out. Once I started figuring things out, I started becoming better at the craft, and then I started getting more intentional about the craft, I was like, you know what? I really can do this. So, it was something that changed in my brain like, hey, maybe you can do this because before I was doubting myself. But now I'm like, dude, you can actually do this. I was 13 years old when I started getting on my first bucking horses, I probably weighed 85-90 pounds soaking wet like I was little. And that was little for that craft. And my dad did take care of me though, he put me on livestock that would, you know, wasn't gonna be like too much for me and sculpted me and stuff. And then once I started figuring things out, I started enjoying it. I started like, liking it, and then I started getting intentional about it, right? I'm probably gonna use the word intentional a lot today because it's such an important word because I think that any success that you gain in life has to come from the word intentional, no matter what like you have to be intentional about stuff.

Michael: I agree with that entirely. Intention is like such an important word and when I go look at my life when I was a kid, intention for me was survive like period, it was like, be out in these streets if you have to sell drugs, run with guns, get shot at by the cops. Do whatever you have to do but the intention is survived. And that works really well for me cuz I knew at least I was heading in a direction until of course it stopped working really well for me. And it not working well for me is, you know, looking at my life and my environment, not graduating high school family in prison for life, losing my three best friends and just being like, this is insane. Here's the thing, Josi, I don't think people really sit in cuz they're afraid of it. It's the truth, we're talking about honesty here. And the truth is, a lot of times you put yourself in this situation. And I'm not saying you're culpable, like, you know, not knowing that you're poor as a kid and dealing with things of peer pressure like you don't know you're f*cking 13, you don't know anything and you're foolish to think that you do. And if you do, you're probably like me and everyone doesn't like you cuz you're f*cking arrogant and stubborn which may possibly still be true, Josi, I'm not saying that it's not. But what I am saying is like, now I look at it intention through this scope of like, it is arguably one of the most important words in the entire world when you understand the role that it plays in your life. When you go back and you look at that those moments and those experience of not wanting to do it, falling under the peer pressure, like was this pressure from your father too, or was it just the community and you felt like, man, I wanna live into being this thing that maybe you didn't see but other people saw in you?

Josi: You know, I will say that my dad was always supportive of whatever I wanted to do. He never pressured me into doing that, it was more so community pressure in that instance. Both my parents are very hardworking people, my dad still to this day is the hardest working person that I know with that being said, I feel like he can work smarter in some instances. And so that's where it's coming full circle, is I'm able to learn this stuff from my entrepreneurship and like the connections that I've made to kind of relay the message to him of how to make things easier in his older age. But at that point in time, you know, my parents were willing to do whatever it took. You know, I played baseball, I played football, played a little bit of basketball and they were willing to take me anywhere I wanted to go. But it's like we had limited funds to do that, like I remember in the rodeo career, like there's people that it's expensive to rodeo because you got livestock, right? You've got equipment and stuff like that, it's not like, If you wanna go play basketball, go buy a basketball and some sneakers and some shorts and stuff like that and try to find a crew to hang out with and learn from and then work your way up the ladder like rodeo. I mean, a bareback rig costs 500 bucks chaps cost well I just bought my, it's different now. I just bought my son a new pair of chaps and that it costs $2,500. I mean, it's ridiculous, just for a pair of chaps a vest is 500 bucks. And the stuff that try to like keep 'em somewhat safe. It's like stuff that you need, but they were willing to do whatever it took, you know? I remember when I was rodeoing, I was 13 years old and I was at a rodeo in show in Idaho that my parents took me to and I actually got hurt in the, I wasn't riding bulls yet or anything, I was riding steers and they had some wild steers there. And I actually got bucked off and the steer hit me with his head and the side when I was coming off and I broke. At the time it happened so quickly you couldn't see it, you didn't know what happened. Like if we've got it on video, actually still this day, but it just happened so quickly he didn't really know. And I come from a tough background. My dad was raised very tough, and my dad, I said, man, I'm hurt. And he says, well, toughen up. He says, you got a couple more events to work today. He's like, gather your stuff up. Let's go. And I was on the back of the bucking shoots and I couldn't get my air and I had the worst side I've ever had in my life. And I put my gear away I mean, I'm 13 years old, right? I'm putting my gear away and I just, it just felt like I could not get my air. And like, I'm starting to, like, I'm starting to like, feel dizzy and I was afraid to tell my dad that I didn't want to do anymore events, like I'm done for the day. And my dad was raised tough and so immediately that background of his was coming through with me a little bit. I think with every generation it gets a little lighter, you know? They lighten up a little bit, but he was still raised very tough, so I was getting some of that too and he says, let's go. He is like, get your horse saddled like, let's go. You gotta rope here in a little bit. And I told my mom, I was like, I'm like, I don't feel very good mom and she ended up having a conversation with my dad, and there's a little fight, you know, like mama bear was like telling dad like, no, it's done like, let's go home. And of course, my dad was upset and we gather the horses up and we're headed back home, and I'm lying in the backseat, and I had the worst side act I've ever had in my life, and I start feeling lightheaded and my mouth was getting dry and my mom was getting nervous and her sister was a nurse, an ER nurse here in Las Vegas actually. So, we live up in Iowa, my mom’s from Las Vegas, so all of her family lives in Las Vegas. She called her sister, on the way back to our house. And told her what happened and kind of telling the symptoms of what was going on. And she says, you need to get him to the hospital immediately. She says, what does he look like? And my dad and my mom looked in the backseat and I was just pale as I could be, my eyes were rolling back of my head and I was about to pass out, and they took me to the er and I had broken three ribs and I'd run one of my ribs through my spleen, completely ruptured my spleen and I was bleeding out internally. That's just the way I was raised, that's the way we were all raised, you know, in that area. And so, the doctor said, man, if you'd been here 30 minutes later, he had been dead. He had lost so much blood that that's wild, it was just, you know, so from a young age, like I started gaining that pain threshold. And that grit, you know, I spent a week in the hospital there and they took half my spleen out. On the other note, they were gonna take my whole spleen out but my parents, my dad was the one that was started, the company that I'm in right now, and it's a health business. My grandma's a naturepath for people. And so, he always questioned the doctors when everything was going on, you know, and they were gonna take my whole spleen out and my dad actually started asking the questions and they was able, he says, well, what if you just took the half out that was damaged, would the other half still work? And they're like, well, yeah, I guess it would. And so, he ended up ha actually saving the half that the doctors were gonna take out. So fortunate, like I was glad that my dad was there to actually, you know, have the balls to say, to question the doctors on this deal because they were gonna take my whole spleen out. But now I still have a half a spleen, which actually works as good as my whole spleen. So it's like a catch 22 there a little bit but that was my first experience with adversity in that industry.

Michael: Yeah. You know, it makes me think, I remember I had this high school football coach, and he would always ask us this question. He'd be like, are you hurt or are you injured? And man, in all fairness, like I don't have children, I will never let them play football like if I do, never, because dude, I remember one time I was playing, and it was our senior homecoming game, we were getting stomped. My friend Sam played for the opposing team; they end up winning a state championship. And Sam, to this day, I still talk to people, I love this guy. Smokes me, blindsides me, like, dude, and I'm seeing stars. I'm upside down. I'm like, about to throw up in my mouth 100%, all the signs for a concussion, right? Come outta the game for one play, get some water, coach goes, are you hurt? Are you injured? I go, I don't even know what day it is, dude. What you talking about? And we go right back into the game. I finished that game and I mean, who knows how many injuries, concussions, broken fingers, broken feet, toes, the whole nine. And it's like, you know, there's interesting you say that ‘cuz there's something about that, I don't know what it is, but there's something about having that grit to tough through that physical pain, that it changes you. I don't know what it is. And I don't wish it on people, I don't want people to get hurt like, it sucks. I mean, you know, it happens all the time where humans were going to get hurt. But there's something that creates resiliency in you.

Josi: It's engaging a piece of your mind that you've never engaged before, I truly believe that. There's a lot of people in this world that have never had to go to that depth, you know? It's crazy, you know, like, I don't know what it is, I have a lot of friends that are, I've never been in the military, but I have like a lot of friends that are ex-military guys, and it's just like, they're like, dude, and they're like, you're one of the guys that we connect with that has never been in the military. And I think it's some of the same mindset is because like, if you're out in war and you're getting shot at or you get an injury like you can't just be like, Hey, time out like I'm gonna get off the field, you gotta finish your job. Right? And the same in rodeo, like if you get hurt and you're in the middle of a war, or you're in the middle of a fight, nobody blows a whistle and says, Hey everybody stop, you gotta get out of the fight before you get some relief. And so it's kind of the same mindset a little bit but that was one of the first things that sculpted me.

I had in high school I was riding bucking horses and I had a horse throw me past my riggin and broke my wrist off, and my hand didn't come outta my r and wrapped my arm around my r and I was stuck to him.

Michael: Is the riggin the thing you hold on rig, like you put your hand underneath it?

Josi: Yeah. So, they're fitted to our hands, so they're tight, it's hard to get 'em out. Right. And so, I broke my wrist off there and I end up coming back the next day and roping, I had a cast on and I put the reins of my horses ranged through the crotch of my arm and come back and I just figured it out, you know? I was like, man, I'm not gonna not rope. I can't ride bucking horses, but I'm gonna rope. and it's just that mindset of like figuring stuff out. And then, that was like the first things that come, like these little injuries along the way is what creates the mindset of fortification for business of figuring sh*t out.

Michael: Here's what's so interesting, it's not even just the physical injuries. It's the mental injuries. I got third place, even though I worked my f*cking face off. The thing that I'd been working for the last six months just crashed and burned, can't make payroll, had to let go of the whole team, close the business, got the debtors on the line, they repoed the car like all these things have happened to me. Right? I'm just like, okay, now what? And I think that a big thing that I love talking about on this show is resiliency. I'm a huge, huge fan. I don't think people understand how big of a fan of Kobe Bryant I am. And one of my favorite quotes of all time is he goes, winning is everything. And like, it sits in my soul when I think about that because you have an opportunity in life to go and create everything you want, man. It's like right here. But we have so many reasons, so many excuses that we can leverage. And dude, most of your excuses are totally valid, I will never take anyone's excuse from them. People could look at you and go, man, that guy's dad was really hard on him. You know, that guy's mom was really hard on him. His community is really hard on him. And I'm not saying those things aren't true, but I am saying like, there's something about, and let's be clear. This isn't like, boys don't cry bullsh*t. This isn't man up bullsh*t. This is like, life is on the other side of hard decisions And I'm curious, what do you think is the most important lesson that your parents taught you?

Josi: Finish what you start. You know, like I feel like finishing the job is such a big thing, like completing the cycle. My dad's such a good a huge testament of that these days. I feel like, you know, there a person can get caught up in like, having these big ideas and starting something and then like, having something like halfway done and then moving on to the next thing. My dad and my mom both, like, when they start something, they finish it. When they tell somebody they're gonna do something, they do it. You know, and it's like, I really feel like that is so important like, I heard Brandon say this a again, the other day and it resonated. So, like Brandon Dawson with Cardone Ventures, he's a huge mentor of mine, business mentor, and he's became a great friend of mine. And he said this a couple weeks ago in Miami when I was around him, of completing the cycle. Like, that's everything. If you put something in your mind, obviously it's in your mind for a reason, you're passionate about it like complete the cycle, see it through. And guess what, if you do that with everything you do, and you start running out of time in the day and you're like, what does that make you do? It makes you get intentional about what you start because so many people start all these things, right? You start all these things and you, and you finish the cycle. Now your day becomes filled up with all this stuff. Now the things that you start, you better be intentional about what it is that you start. Now, that's where real progress happens because coming back to the word intentional is be intentional about the things that you pick to start. And once you start 'em, then finish 'em. Finish 'em.

Michael: That's so important. That is not a lesson I learned in childhood. You know, it was this thing where I was alt dude, just constantly all over the place. And then you factor in growing up in the streets, not having a male role model of any capacity around me except violence and drunks. Right. And so, I was just like going from thing to thing to thing to thing to thing constantly include friends, women, cars, clothes, the whole nine. It was just like, what's next? What's next? What's next? And it wasn't until I got some clarity and I was like, okay, wait a second, what do I actually want? Can I make that the marker? Can I move towards that aggressively? Can I know that on a long enough timeline, I believe that if I don't give up, I'll like bring it to fruition. A lot of that was healing, like being able to sit down and have real conversations. Be honest, not lie, don't hurt people, don't steal sh*t. Just literally reframing so much of it because what I was shown as a definition of manhood is what you see in movies. Right. And it's abandoned father, he's not there. Drug addict mother. She's not there. Growing up on the streets. My boys are my community, right? They're getting locked up. We're getting shot at, I'm f*cking selling drugs cuz I don't know better. So, I get kicked outta high school, the whole nine. And then it was like failure after failure, after failure, after failure. And it wasn't until I was like, I'm going to define who I am as a man and I'm going to go in this opposite direction, that things started to change. And a big part of it for me was just learning how to be emotional. Learning how to be a man, learning how to take care of things. Learning how to cross the finish line, complete the cycle. Right. I'd be remiss not to ask this question, I think it's really important, especially for people listening. Growing up in this tough guy environment with a sound like an incredible father driven, probably pushed you in ways that you don't even understand to this day, right? In the lights having this powerful mother in this environment that just in some capacities, probably like my environment, spewed toxicity about what it meant to be a man. What did you understand about manhood as a kid that you don't believe today?

Josi:  That's a great question. You know, being vulnerable I struggle with that today. You know, I feel like it's okay to open up and tell your inner circle how you really feel, it doesn't necessarily have to be your inner circle, it can be anybody because like, listen, like people resonate off of failures, they don't resonate off of wins. You know, like it so true. It hits home with people when they see other people fail because in today's society, like whether it be social media, whether it be people talking on stages, whatever it is, everybody talks about winning. Oh, my marriage is so great, you know, this and that. Like, look at us, we never have any problems. You know, like bullsh*t, like anybody that says that they don't have any problems with their marriage or their family life. I say problems, struggles. Struggles is a better word. Somebody that wins 100% of the time, that is complete bullsh*t. Like people resonate with failures. I share with my team and my business about my failures and my past because they get it. I want to share with them my journey on where I got to, where I was and what failures I had to go through. I was always taught, be tough, you know, always win stuff like that, don't show your weakness, things like that and man sh*t, but it's okay, hey, guess what? I've cried before, I've shed tears, I don't do it very often, I don't do it in front of a lot of people, but it happens, you know? And I've lost a lot, but it's in my losses that I've gained more knowledge, way more knowledge, because I was fortunate enough last year to go and sit in the same room as John C. Maxwell. John is one of the guys I started following through. Brandon ‘cuz John is one of Brandon's mentors and now John has become one of those mentors that I follow and want to take into my life and exemplify that in some way. And he shared in front of my crowd, it was a very tight-knit group of probably 30 or 40 people. His talk on ROF, everybody talks about ROI and business return on investment. And I'm going, oh my gosh, I don't know this acronym, this ROF acronym, all these acronyms in business that we learn. I don't know what ROF is. And it turns out that nobody else in that room knew what ROF meant either until he told us it's Return On Failure.

Michael: The greatest gift.

Josi: It's the greatest gift. I mean, going back to what Brandon teaches. First you have to acknowledge the failure, accept it, and then you have to act on fixing that and then put a tax speed behind it, right? And so that's where real growth happens. I would say in today's world, it's okay to, to be vulnerable and to really look at yourself like as far as a man goes, I mean, I'm a man's man, I'm a gritty dude, you know? I'll be in the trenches. If one of my buddies needs me like life or death, man, I'm there, I'm a gritty guy. But it's okay to be vulnerable. It's okay to admit your failures. It's okay, because like, really, that's where we all grow. You have to acknowledge it. You have to. If you don't, you're gonna be stuck in your same egotistical way and you're gonna be complacent and stuck the rest of your life.

Michael: My thought in real time is like, if a cowboy is telling me to be vulnerable, like what the f*ck else do you need to know? But I get it and so much of it for me has been that there are people who I knew 10 years, 15 years, almost 20 years, even a handful of people who knew nothing about me, they didn't know about the pain, they didn't know about the suffering, the abuse, the homelessness, the drugs, the, the putting myself 50 grand in debt, the getting the car repoed, they just didn't know. And I kept it silent and man, that sh*t ate me alive. You know, there are certain things the body holds onto these memories, these emotions, these experiences. The hardest thing that I've ever had to do was around men and manhood specifically when I was 30, I forced myself into what I would call to this day, the most uncomfortable situation I've ever been in. And it was walking into a men's circle where there were six of us every Wednesday talking about f*cking emotions. Dude, it was gnarly because I had to take all that bullsh*t outta my head about what it meant, that word vulnerability did not exist in my vocabulary, in my nomenclature, in any capacity until I'm sitting in this room with these guys and I made the decision to do this because I remember one day I was sitting, I was like, I have no real relationships with men. Never been around a father. My stepdad's a piece of sh*t. The only guys I ever hang out with are, they're drinking and partying and f*cking their way through life, they're chasing money in girls and cars and clothes, this is a reflection of my life. There's gotta be something different here and that vulnerability element, man, that was a game changer. And so, I really love that you said that.

Josi: Well, I think a guy has to exercise it too. You know, I mean, I feel like that's probably something. I'm just gonna be honest, that's something that I struggle with, like, doing it more like I need to exercise it more. I like to dive into these things and I like talking about them thing, these things because it reminds me of what I need to do more of, you know? But you asked the question, and it reminds me, it's like, it's okay to be vulnerable. And that's something I want to put out there to the world right now is like, man, I'm not a perfect guy by any means, I am one of the most least perfect dudes on this planet. It's like, man, if you can take a step in the direction, like it'd just be a percent better in this direction as long as you don't go the other way, making progress.

Michael: And inevitably you will go the other way. I think that's just a part of the game. You said something that sparked a memory, I've been fortunate enough to have Tom Bilyeu be in my life as a mentor for a very long time and he talks about failure quite frequently. And he said something one day that just, it got implanted in my brain and it actually, one of the things that happened when he said this to me was, it kind of gave me a little bit of permission. He goes, failure is the most data rich stream of information on planet Earth. And you speaking about John Maxwell, who I've luckily also had the privilege of being in rooms with and learning from. You talked about failure and sharing it with your team. What is one of the failures that you've had in your life that transformed you, that has led you to where you are today?

Josi: You know, I've had many failures in my life. When we go back to my professional career, you know, I had worked so hard to when I started, I got full ride scholarships to go to any college I really wanted. I could have went to some better colleges if my grades had been better so that's a failure for sure is my grades. But I didn't apply myself I wasn't intentional, I'm a very smart guy, it's just like, where do you want to put your intentions, right? And I went and rodeoed at college for a couple years, but ultimately decided I wanted to go to the professional ranks and make a career out of rodeoing. So, I went and did that and I had rodeoed for a couple years and didn't make the National Finals rodeo, I'd had some success on the circuit level, but when I finally made the National Finals Rodeo, like here in Las Vegas, I was one of the top 15 guys in the world qualified for the National Finals Rodeo. I'm like 25 years old young cat, single, like, I mean, I'm living life large, right? Like, this is awesome. I'm sponsored by Mirage, you know, hosted an after party with Lady Gaga, like, just freaking living the life, right? I qualify for the National Finals Rodeo, the very first, the very, it's 10 go rounds, the very first go round, I break my pelvis. I'm like, you wanna talk about, bring me down to freaking level? Well, I actually end up, I was talking to the doctors. I says, Hey, I says, am I done? And they said, well, they said you're not gonna hurt it any worse. So, they said, but it's obviously probably pretty painful. I said, yeah, it hurts. I says, can I still ride? And they said, well you're not gonna screw it up anymore. But they said, if you can handle the pain, I end up riding five more go rounds with a broken pelvis. You know, you're talking about riding bucking horses like this is a very physical event. And I rode five more go rounds ‘cuz I come in number five in the world, I had a shot to win the world that year. And so I kind of put it out there on the line and that felt like a big failure to me to like throw in the towel. Like that was tough for me, this is something a little kid dreams of from the time he is a born, that he knows anything about Rodeo it's like qualifying for the Super Bowl if you're a football player, like getting that Super Bowl ring, right? And it was just like, it crushed me like I literally like stayed in my room for two days straight, didn't even go to the performances like canceled all my autograph signings. I just felt like I'd just let the world down. I was the only guy from the state of Idaho that had qualified. I felt like I let my state down, you know? Everybody had put money on me, betting on me and it was tough, man, it brought me down the sides. I'm kind of halfway choking up right now, because it was just like, crap. But that's a materialistic thing, you know? That's something that I kind of got to thinking about. It's like, you know, there's a purpose for this happening. This is a failure, but what is the reason for this? And I end up coming back from that the next year. You know, I had to sit out about six months and I end up finishing the next year out, kind of getting some practice, feeling good. I come back the first and next year feeling great. I'm in the top 10 in the world. Going after it. I'm like, all right, this is my year. We're gonna get back to the National Finals Rodeo. Let's do this. I went to Arizona, getting ready to go to a big tour rodeo in San Antonio. I was gonna go down there and practice at this rodeo. I go down there, I win the rodeo after the whistle, horse tried to jump a fence with me and I got off of him like trying to stay out of a wreck and cracked the front of my shin on a piece of solid pipe and tib fib brake, broke my leg off in Ume, Arizona. Stuck a rod and four screws in that I'm done for the year again. I'm like, h*ly crap. I'm like, all right, here we go. You know, like trying to hype myself up. Get past this failure, you know, like this is like mentally taxing on me and I'm trying to stay positive. I'm trying to like, keep myself upbeat. So, I come back the next year having a great year. July comes around, I'm in the top 20 in the world, doing great, feeling good. My legs healed up. Go to Preston, Idaho, on my way to Cheyenne, had a horse run me down the gate, hooked my toe in the slat, my left leg, and trapped it, and broke my left leg off. I just got healed up from my right leg and my pelvis. And you want to talk about right then and there? Like I literally felt like God was like, no, you ain't doing this, you like, I didn't even know if God existed at that point in time, I had prayed so much. I was trying to do things right; I was trying to do things. I'm like, what is the freaking message here? I was so lost. I was like, Jesus like I went to a low spot, like got like just max credit cards out, you know, I had no way of making an income cause I'm freaking crippled. Like just got like broke in debt and just really didn't know what the hell, you know. But at that point in time, it allowed me to be at home and it allowed me to like kind of sit back. I gained a relationship with my now wife, you know, was able to, ‘cuz I would go to hundred rodeos a year all over the country, right? I mean, you think about that a hundred rodeos a year in 365 days, that's a lot of traveling from east coast to West Coast, Canada all over. And so I was able to like kind of relax and gain that relationship and actually start a family. But I was also able to like start diving into the family business a little bit. And I feel like, you know, like there's things that are presented to you that you're not really aware of at the time, but if things happen to you in your life, you gotta sit back and you gotta be like, you really gotta assess that, hey, why is this happening? Especially when you're trying to do stuff, right? When you're trying to like, hey, maybe this ain't the path that you're supposed to be on, right? What is the path that I'm like, that really is intended for me? Because we all have a plan for us. I firmly believe that every single person that's put on this planet has a plan, you know, like, what is that plan? We we're not just like, here's the blueprint, it's up to us to find that path. And I did, I found that path, I was able to kind of start diving into the business and now, I have a beautiful wife and two children that I love dearly and now I own it. I own the business that I started diving into.

Michael: Yeah. You know, its that old Tony Robbins thing, right? Life's happening for you, not to you. And that's a hard thing to reconcile, man. It's so difficult because it feels like when failures start mounting, it feels like the world is against you. And I'm not saying it's not cuz dude, f*cking life is hard sometimes. Dude, you're sitting in this moment and for me, I remember dead set exactly where I was I'm sitting in my bed and it's 11 o'clock in the morning. I'm at that time, 350 pounds, I'm f*cking chain smoking cigarettes, drinking, getting stoned, and I'm watching the f*cking CrossFit games, man and I'm just like, my car had just got repoed, I had a $80,000 Cadillac. I'm 50 grand in debt. I had made a million dollars. You know, my little brother says to me, don't talk to me. I called him one day. I was just trying to connect. I hadn't talked to him in a while. He goes, dude, you're not my brother. You've never been around.  F*ck off. Leave me alone. Don't talk to me. And it was just like, why does this keep happening? Every single time I'm like, I'm trying to do things right. And he was like, wait a second. Maybe I'm in my own way.  Remember I was in Indonesia, living down there for a bit, couple years back…

Josi: Like just off a whim?

Michael: Yeah. I'll just go to Indonesia. Well, I lived in all-over south-Southeast Asia for a couple years, lived in South America for a while, and just being adventurous, going for it and seeing what's out there. And I remember one time I was sitting on the beach and it was like, I heard this voice in my head, like, not in a crazy way, but like pay attention. It was like, you need to leave this place. It was like energy; you know what I'm saying? There's energy and I didn't, and the next day I'm in cross the irony, I'm doing CrossFit cuz it became a huge part of my life for a long time because I wasn't paying attention, slipped and tore my f*cking MCL in Indonesia and I was like, I'm going home. And it's like, dude, the things that turned into this next thing turned into this next thing, but it also gave me the space and time to like build Think Unbroken to what it is today to help coach more people to write the books, to start the podcast, I couldn't do anything else. So, I'm sitting under a desk with like a hand recorder with my knee in one of the, you know, these things, the ankle to the thigh brace. I'm in this guy. I started the first podcast right then, that was almost five years ago. I think I try to go back to that frequently, man. Life's not against you, but you gotta pay attention to the signs.

Josi: Well, I think too, like you did something that a lot of people don't think of and that's pivot. Like it puzzles me, like, I see so many people have something bad, like they have something bad happen to him, guess what? We're all dealt a bad hand at some point in time, every single person. I'm not a big, even though I've used them, I'm not a big advocate of excuses, you know, like they're easy to use, but I've even used 'em and like step back and be like, you know what? Accountability I shouldn't have. I need to do this, this, and this. But guess what? Like, everybody has something going on in their own life that is not up to far, it sucks, but that's part of the plan because if you didn't have that sh*t, you wouldn't get better. So, like, what are you gonna do to take the effort to get better? Right. And so, like that makes me happy hearing you, like, yeah, I'm stuck to a chair. I can't freak go do anything. It's like, guess what? There are people that need to hear my message. And so, you got behind the mic, you got behind the pencil, you started doing some stuff. And I think that's a huge lesson that people need to take in and take to heart is everybody has the ability to do what we're doing. It's just like, you gotta take the step.

Michael: What are you gonna do about it? I love that you said no excuses, that anyone who's listened to this show for any period of time knows I live by one moniker. No excuses. Just results. Josi, when I'll tell you what my life looked like when it was full of excuses and I'll show you what my life looks like today and I promise it's not the same thing. You know, and speaking of, you're doing something really beautiful in the world right now. You're your background. It's funny. Life's happening for you, has led you to this place where you're creating impact that's gonna change America. And I know we're almost out of time, but I really want to talk about this. Tell me about the initiatives you have with Grant and Brandon and what you're trying to do for American farmers. This is something I believe in so much, this is a huge reason why I wanted you on the show not only because you're an amazing human, but because we're living in a world right now in this country where people who are in these rural communities who are the backbone of America in a lot of ways, they make our food, they make our clothing, they give our produce, they're getting the short end of the stick and you're on a mission to help change that because you're pivoting.

Josi: Absolutely. You know, I got involved with, Grant and Brandon with Cardone Ventures two and a half years ago with my own business to really learn how to grow and scale it. I've really dove in and just put my whole life in order with that and put everything on the line with them and the results are astronomical with that being said, I've implemented everything that I've learned there, and it's done wonders for our business. I've became part of the Inner Circle with Brandon and ultimately Grant and Brandon are actually helped me buy the business from my parents. My parents started the business 22 years later I buy it from them, they said they're never gonna sell it. I'd get it when they died, but that's not the way we wanted things like, I wanted them to be comfortable. Brandon helped lay that pathway out and actually get the business bought. And I ultimately wanted to be partners with Brandon and Grant because they're doing such great things in the world today and they're so knowledgeable about growing and scaling business. I feel like we have something that it needs to be shared with the world because we not only change lives, we save lives with silver lining herbs. You know, we're our bread and butters in the horse industry, but we also have a dog line and a human line both and herbal medicine is awesome. But with that being said, when I went into a partnership with them, I told Brandon I was sitting in his office in Scottsdale. I said, Brandon, I said, there's a group of people in America and North America that need to hear this message. And he said, what's that? And I say, it's real America. I said, it's your farmers, your ranchers, your real America people, the cowboy industry, they don't know the logistics of growing and scaling a business. The nuts and bolts of systems, processes, data collection, everything that safeguards them into growing and scaling their business and really gives them a voice in today's community. We've been taught as a whole because I've was raised in rural America. I mean, yesterday I was leaving to come down to fly down here and I left the office. I mean, I'm working in the office all the time now, but I still have a bunch of horses at home that I left in the barn and I was like, man, I called my farmer out there at south of town. I'm going out there to pick hay up so that I have more hay so my kids could feed while I'm gone like this is like, my kids are still working in this. I live in rural America. You know, so anyways, he says, I believe that. Let's start a vertical. And so, we started that, we launched this vertical called 10X Farm and Ranch. And yes, it's called 10X Farm and Ranch, it's to help farmers and ranchers in the industry, but there's so many connected businesses inside the farm and ranch industry. It could be western wear stores, it could be farm and ranch apparel stores. It could be, you know, tractor implement companies. It could be logistic companies, it could be, you know, anything inside rural America. But I said, there's so many big companies evolving, whether it be your big tech companies or whether it be companies from across sea or Chinese companies, they're all coming and they're buying this land up because you have all these farmers and ranchers that have this big legacy, properties, farm properties, ranch properties, they've been in the families for generations. And now the younger generation don't really have either they've never been taught or there's no pathway painted for them to take it over. And they're selling out to these big tech companies or big companies overseas or whatever. And it's like, listen, people, they're not making any more land, we said this earlier, they're not making any more land. You can only develop so much land before you run outta farmland and ranching land in this country. And I'm gonna tell you what, if you put your farming and your ranching and depend on that, on other countries to import into this country, now they dictate you. We have to keep our farming and our ranching going here in America or we're gonna be controlled by another country and that is important to me. And this, Grant and Brandon talk about collaboration as a new currency, I have collaborated with them because they have a big mouth piece, they reach a lot of people. And not only that, but I truly believe everything that they say and I've implemented in my own business, and it works like wonders. It's done, it's changed my life, it's changed my company's future, everything. And so, I'm like, dude, we gotta implement this into this rural America industry because it is so crucial. People can't survive off lab process meat, it's not healthy.

Michael: Yeah. I agree and that's a rabbit hole. We have to say for another conversation but I fully agree and I've had some of the top experts in health in the world on this show, and they all talk about one thing being more important than probably almost anything else when it comes to your mental health and that is the food you put in your body. I see this pivot that yet again, another pivot, an opportunity in front of you to face the fear of climbing a Mount Everest here and just saying, you know what? I'm gonna go for it. And I think the intention, your word for the day that you're using to help. In a lot of ways save this country, but in a lot of other ways to help save the livelihoods of the American people. You know, one of the things that I always hope to do with this show is to give people tools to help them understand other possibilities, to change their mindset, to go and do the scary thing, to maybe not ride the horse again after you break your pelvis but what can you do to continue to push yourself forward towards the life that you want to create. Your story and your mission are powerful, I appreciate you greatly. And you know, before I ask you my last question, do me a favor and tell everyone where they can find you and learn more about your mission?

Josi: Yeah, so, my main company is called, Silver Lining Herbs and our website there is silverliningherbs.com. And then, you can follow me on Instagram @josiyoung82 and also Facebook just keep following. I'm gonna keep promoting what we do. I urge people to look where their food comes from. Like I don't expect people to really dive in deep on that but just have an awareness of that. And I just want to encourage the farmers, ranchers, rural America, to get involved in really knowing more about growing and scaling their business because you can leverage the other side if you know more about the more you learn, the more you earn.

Michael: Yeah, and that applies here too. And that's why, you know, I give people information from different data sources. Your failure as I hope, become data sources for others to step into their successes for them to win. And even sitting here next to you, your intensity and your presence has felt, and I love that. You and I got to connect and I believe this firmly, the universe helps you find people who are in alignment with you, based on your energy and your purpose and I feel that with you, my friend so I'm happy to be able to share your story, your journey and promote what you're trying to do to help make this country incredible and sustainable because I do not want to, I'm gonna just plant my flag now. I do not want to eat process bullsh*t meat. I will not do it. I don't believe in it, but that's I'm gonna get canceled, so I'm gonna stop there.

Josi: You're in my inner circle. You come to my house and you can enjoy beef with me. I'll always be raised my own beef. We need to have a steak together, brother.

Michael: Yeah. My last question for you, what does it mean to you to be unbroken?

Josi: Yeah, man, this is something that I've kind of lived by my whole life, you know. You're not broken until you're dead. You're just not. I've been physically broken on every aspect. I mean, I've got a rap sheet when I go into get physical exams with a doctor I've never been to before like, I can't fill up the papers fast enough, you know? So no matter what happens in your life, like get a grasp on your inner feelings, get a grasp on your mental clarity, and really have a path of where you want to go, be intentional about where you want to go that's something I always come back to zero on, is like, Hey, what is my intention for this? And it's a nonstop for me as well. And no matter what happens in this world, no matter how bad your struggles are, no matter what things you break, no matter what feelings get hurt, you're never unbroken until God calls you back.

Michael: Beautifully said my friend. I love that.

Unbroken Nation, thank you so much for listening. To find out more about Josi, go to thinkunbrokenpodcast.com, all of his links will be in there as well as information on his podcast. Go to thinkunbroken podcast.com.

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